The Sicardi Gallery has functioned as an internationally known museum source for Latin American art since it was founded by María Ines Sicardi in 1994. First located on a small stretch of Kipling Street, and currently tucked into a quiet niche behind the McClain Gallery on Richmond, the gallery has long been on the lookout for a more permanent home.

Today, the gallery is directed by a partnership between Sicardi, Allison Ayers and Carlos Bacino, who bought property in Houston's Museum District about five years ago — before the economy turned sour.

Now, after a lengthy delay, construction is underway on a brand new space in the heart of the district. Things are moving fast — the slab has been poured, the steel frame is erected, and by the beginning of next year, neighbors will notice a different feel near the Menil Collection.

Designed by Brave / Architecture (you might recognize their work from area YMCA facilities or the nearby De Santos Gallery), the new Sicardi Gallery will boast two exhibition spaces — a main one on the bottom floor with a smaller gallery on the second.

The directors foresee that the gallery's programming will expand and evolve with the new building.

"We work with both masters and with mid-career artists," said co-director Ayers, and she hopes that the new 5,200-square-foot building and the separate galleries it contains will allow the gallery to incorporate the classic with the contemporary, opening up conversation and curated projects between artists from different parts of the Hispanic world.

The gallery also expects the new galleries to allow dialogue between different generations of artists, creating an environment where visual commonalities can be recognized and appreciated despite the individuals' drastically different backgrounds.

"We travel throughout Latin America a lot and, especially in Mexico City, we're overwhelmed with what's going on in art and architecture," said Ayers, who wants to bring that innovation to Houston.

Drawing upon the "Latin American thing for outdoor spaces," the design features an upstairs terrace and an outdoor facade that will serve as a screen for video projections. Plus, the gallery is collaborating with soon-to-be-neighbor Dillon Kyle Architecture on an outdoor area in between the structures that will serve as a community space.

Look for the new gallery on West Alabama and Mulberry Street in early 2012.