A written release notes the dedication "also kicks off Earth Day 2006 by showcasing the sculptures in a drought tolerant, environmentally conscious garden."

In extemporaneous remarks from the podium Dr. Gumbiner told the crowd:

Dr. Gumbiner: ...Some people want to know why the museum is here. It's here because there isn't anything like it in the United States...We're the only museum that is exclusively Latin American contemporary fine art...

Our mission is to educate the people of the United States in Latin American contemporary art...In addition to our mission of educating people to this art and bringing it to their attention, we tried to build this museum, our museum has worked on a business model, in other words, we try to give people the most for the money they invest in the museum...and therefore we built this museum on the adaptive reuse of a skating rink that was built in the 20s, we wedded it to a silent movie sound stage that was built before that, we renovated that, we built it from the inside out...

I think this will eventually be one of the most outstanding and sought-after museums in the country because we have something that no one else has. One of our challenges, of course, is to get the city and the state and the county to realize this and to get behind the project but I believe that will come as we work on it...

When we're done, we'll have more exhibit space, we'll have a few good reference libraries, we'll have a film viewing space, we'll have an expanded store, an expanded restaurant, and we'll have a full blown museum where people can come and have a cultural experience, a dining experience and a shopping experience.

Believe it or not, polls have shown that the number one hobby of people in the United States is shopping. [audience laugher]...So we're trying to be more than just a museum because we realize that only a fraction of one percent ever go to museums, and so therefore we're trying to integrate the cultural aspects of the different countries where we get our artwork from and draw people in for other reasons, draw in the business community, draw in the people that use culture and art as the center of their social life, various groups of people. And we're doing a pretty good job of that, I think, and that's the only way to bring people to the arts is to bring them here to their own interests, not to our interests, and so they become acquainted with the arts.

So I'm looking forward to a very successful museum and I think things will change dramatically as soon as the museum is finished. It's very hard to visualize what it's going to look like up front when we don't have landscaping in, we haven't finished, there's a big water element up there, a big fountain, this, that and the other thing, and when it's all done it's going to be, I think, spectacular, and it's going to be something that Long Beach will be proud of and will draw a lot of tourists and people to the area and I thank you all for coming. [applause with standing ovation]