Arte Público was founded in 1979 by its current director, Nicolás Kanellos, who taught Hispanic literature at Indiana University Northwest during the Chicano Movement.

Already having established himself as co-founder and editor of Revista Chicana-Riqueña since 1973, he was motivated by communal concern regarding publishing accessibility.

[2] In 1994, they created Piñata Books, their children's and young adult literature imprint.

[5] In 1990 an initial meeting was held to establish Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage, also known as The Recovery Project.

This project seeks to recover and expand access to manuscripts and printed materials created by Hispanics in the United States from colonial times to 1960.