The Mexican Museum Introduces Additions to Its Arts & Letters Council

Following the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' unanimous final approval of the new building project and its future museum home at Millennium Partners' 706 Mission Street in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Arts District, The Mexican Museum is proud to announce the latest additions to the Museum's esteemed Arts & Letters Council. The Mexican Museum, the premier West Coast museum of Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano and Latino art, culture and heritage, introduced its Arts & Letters Council and its Honorary Chair, renowned Mexican American film actor, director and producer, Edward James Olmos, in June.

"The membership list of our Arts & Letters Council is a Who's Who in the world of Latino art and culture, and each member staunchly supports the future growth of the Museum and the development and construction of its new facility," said Andrew Kluger, chairman of The Mexican Museum Board of Directors. "Both the council and the Museum Board are obviously very pleased that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' gave its final stamp of approval on the new building project in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Arts District."

With the addition of 10 new artists and educators, the Arts & Letters Council now includes 61 accomplished arts and letters professionals from the United States and Mexico. For a complete list of Arts & Letters Council membership, please contact us. New council members include:

Juana Alicia - Berkeley-based artist and educator; co-founder of the San Francisco Early Childhood School for the Creative Arts and the East Bay Center for Urban Arts
Yreina Cervantez - Chicana mixed-media artist in California and pioneer of the Chicana mural movement
Miguel Condé - Mexican figurative painter, draughtsman and printmaker now living in Spain
Richard Dominguez - Texas-based comic book artist and freelance storyboard illustrator
Manuel Neri - Sculptor, painter and printmaker, second generation member of "Bay Area Figurative Movement"
Robert Trujillo - Stanford professor and curator of Special Collections at the university
John Valadez - Famed Los Angeles-based realist painter and muralist of the urban landscape
Patssi Valdez - Los Angeles-based Chicana artista and early member of the avant-garde ASCO art collective
Linda Vallejo - Los Angeles-based painter and sculptor, with pieces held by several public museums
Emigdio Vasquez - California-based Mexican-American artist and muralist recognized as one of the pioneers in the Chicano art movement

The financial support of the community continues to be needed to ensure that The Mexican Museum, which is the only San Francisco museum to be named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, achieves its proper place in the vital San Francisco/Bay Area arts arena.

"To continue the tremendous momentum of public support for The Mexican Museum, we invite people from around the world to become members or to upgrade their current membership levels to the new Builder's Society level," said Museum director, David J. de la Torre. "The Builder's Society membership category enables individuals, businesses and organizations to support the museum for $1 a day."

About The Mexican Museum: Founded by San Francisco artist Peter Rodriguez in 1975 in the heart of the Mission District, The Mexican Museum is located at Fort Mason Center, is the realization of a vision to exhibit the aesthetic expression of the Mexican and Mexican American people. Today, the museum's vision has expanded to reflect the evolving scope of the Mexican, Chicano and Latino experience including art, culture, history and heritage. In 2012, The Mexican Museum became an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the nation's largest museum network. The museum currently has a permanent collection of more than 14,000 objects reflecting Pre-Hispanic, Colonial, Popular, Modern and Contemporary Mexican, Latino and Chicano art. For more information, please visit: http://www.mexicanmuseum.org or call (415) 202-9700.

The Mexican Museum is open Wednesday - Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., located at Fort Mason Center, Building D, Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street, in San Francisco. FREE Admission. The Museum offers a wide variety of programs, including Family Sundays, exhibitions, special events, lectures and public programming throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Spanish classes for all levels are currently being offered for children and adults. For current class schedules and registration information go to http://www.mexicanmuseum.org

The Museum is currently preparing for the completion of its permanent home, which will be built in downtown San Francisco's Yerba Buena Arts District and is expected to open in 2017.