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For other uses, see Mexican Museum.

The Mexican Museum (or El Museo Mexicano) is a museum created to exhibit the aesthetic expression of the Latino, Chicano, Mexican, and Mexican-American people, located in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2022, their exhibition space was permanently closed at Fort Mason Center; and they are still in the process of moving to a new space at 706 Mission Street in Yerba Buena Gardens.[1]

History

The Mexican Museum of San Francisco was founded by San Francisco artist Peter Rodríguez in 1975.[2][3][4] He was inspired to create this museum in order to fill a void in the public's access to Mexican and Chicano art.[5] The museum was originally located in San Francisco's Mission District on Folsom Street in 1975.[6]

The museum's new location was planned starting in 2015 to be built at 706 Mission Street across from Yerba Buena Gardens, as part the 53-story Yerba Buena Tower project, which will consist mostly of luxury condominiums.[7] The entire relocation project was envisaged to cost $500 million ($30 million of which was for the museum), and was scheduled to open in 2020,[7] however this was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of funds.[1][8] The city of San Francisco has granted the Mexican Museum a 66-year lease for its future use of the site, renewable for 33 years.[9]

About

The museum holds a permanent collection of over 16,000 objects including Pre-Hispanic, Colonial, Popular, Mexican and Latino Modern, and Mexican, Latino, and Chicano Contemporary art.[9][2] It has one of the largest collection of Mexican, Chicano and Latino art in the United States.[5][10]

Authenticity of artifacts

In 2017, archaeologist Dr. Eduardo Perez De Heredi wrote a report which stated that 96% of the museum's 2,000 pre-Columbian artifacts may not be authentic and could only be classed as "decorative"; thus only 83 pieces of 2,000, or just over four percent could be certified as “museum-quality.”[11]

Perez De Heredia, said the rest of the pieces are still being studied, and may turn out to be real or not. “This is just the process . . . We have two years to finish examining the collection,” said Dr. Perez De Heredi.[12] He points out that U.S. museums often receive high-end forgeries as donations and the authentication process is meant to sort those out.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Janiak, Lily (November 10, 2022). "Real estate developer's unlikely partner: a ballet school". Datebook, The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  2. ^ a b "Peter Rodriguez (1926–2016)". Artforum.com. August 5, 2016. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  3. ^ Hamlin, Jesse (2008-01-27). "Mexican Museum still searching for a home". SFGate. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  4. ^ Hotchkiss, Sarah (2024-03-29). "What's Going on at San Francisco's Mexican Museum?". KQED. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  5. ^ a b Spotswood, Beth (2015-06-30). "Mexican Museum founder still fighting for art at 89". SFGate. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  6. ^ Gaura, Maria Alicia (1995-11-20). "Turmoil as Mexican Museum Turns 20". SFGate. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  7. ^ a b Dineen, J.K. (March 10, 2015). "SoMa condos poised to be S.F.'s most expensive ever". The San Francisco Chronicle. ISSN 1932-8672.
  8. ^ Waxmann, Laura (May 22, 2024). "After scathing audit, S.F. grants Mexican Museum more time to launch its downtown space". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  9. ^ a b Baker, Kenneth (March 13, 2015). "Cultures entwine in vivid forms in Mexican Museum exhibition". The San Francisco Chronicle. ISSN 1932-8672.
  10. ^ "San Francisco museum to have largest US collection of Mexican and Latino art". The Guardian. 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  11. ^ Kinsella, Eileen (July 7, 2017). "A Staggering 96% of the Artifacts in San Francisco's Mexican Museum May Be Fake, The report found that only 83 of 2,000—or just over four percent—of the museum's pre-Columbian artifacts could be authenticated". ArtNet.com. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  12. ^ a b "San Francisco's Mexican Museum Looks To Clarify Recent Study". KPIX-5 CBS. CBS Broadcasting Inc. July 13, 2017.

Further reading

External links

37°48′24″N 122°25′51″W / 37.8068°N 122.4308°W / 37.8068; -122.4308

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