Ella Fontanals-Cisneros began collecting art in the early 1970s with a primary interest in works from Latin America. Over the ensuing years, as the Collection has grown and developed, its scope has broadened. What started as the acquisition of artwork for personal enjoyment has matured into an ambitious life-project.

There are four main areas of interest that have been systematically increasing in recent years:

• Geometric Abstraction from Latin America
• Contemporary International and Latin American Art 
• Contemporary Video 
• Modern and Contemporary Photography
 

The following are institutions where works from the Collection have either previously been or still are on loan:
 

• Centre Pompidou-Metz, France
• El Museo de Arte de Banco de la Republica, Colombia
• El Museo Del Barrio, New York
• Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami 
• Fundación March, Madrid 
• Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Germany
• LACE, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles
• Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami
• MAXXI-The National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome
• McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• MoCA Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
• MOLAA Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Santiago, Chile 
• Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid
• Museum of Arts and Design, New York
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas
• Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami
• Pinacoteca, São Paulo
• Tate Modern, London
• The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• The Stenersen Museum, Oslo
• Wallach Gallery, Columbia University, New York
• Whitechapel Gallery, London