The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) is a contemporary art museum in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. MoAD holds exhibitions and presents artists exclusively of the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

, one of only a few museums of its kind in the United States. Located at 685 Mission St. adjacent to the

St. Regis Hotel St. Regis Hotels & Resorts is a luxury hotel chain owned and managed by Marriott International. History In 1904, John Jacob Astor built the St. Regis New York as a sister property to his part-owned Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Exhibiting luxury and ...

in the Yerba Buena Arts District, MoAD is a nonprofit organization as well as a

Smithsonian Affiliate Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational stra ...

. Prior to 2014, MoAD educated visitors on the history, culture, and art of the

through permanent and rotating exhibitions. After a six-month refurbishment in 2014 to expand the gallery spaces, the museum reopened and transitioned into presenting exclusively fine arts exhibitions. MoAD does not have a permanent collection and instead works directly with artists or independent curators when developing exhibitions.

Mission

MoAD "celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora."

History

MoAD was developed as part of a public/private partnership led by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. In 1999, the City of San Francisco created a mandate to include an African-American cultural presence in the last vacant parcel of Yerba Buena Gardens. San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown appointed a steering committee to determine the mission and scope of a cultural facility within the complex. The African American Cultural Institute grew out of a research and development process that began in 2002. The new museum was renamed the Museum of the African Diaspora to reflect a broadened scope and mission, and incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. The space was designed by the Freelon Group within the

, a 42-story skyscraper that apart from the museum consists of luxury condominiums and a five-star hotel. MoAD opened its doors in 2005. Linda Harrison was appointed as the executive director of MoAD in November 2013. In June 2014, MoAD underwent a six-month renovation that created more gallery space and refreshed the museum's overall look. By October 2014, MoAD was named an official

. Harrison left MoAD in 2018 to head the

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Af ...

in New Jersey. Monetta White, who has been involved with MoAD since its inception in 2005, was appointed as executive director in December 2019.

The Original Museum of the African Diaspora

Before 2014, when the MoAD revised its mission to center on contemporary art, the museum used to introduce visitors to the original African diaspora—the original movement of ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' (from the earliest human remains found in Africa)—to eventually all inhabited regions. The museum asks visitors "when did you first realize you are African?" The museum espouses the scientifically accepted idea of

panethnicity Panethnicity is a political neologism used to group various ethnic groups together based on their related cultural origins; geographic, linguistic, religious, or 'racial' (i.e. phenotypic) similarities are often used alone or in combination to dr ...

, wherein all humans have a common African origin.

Emerging Artists Program

The Emerging Artists Program at the Museum of the African Diaspora was launched concurrently with the celebration of the institution's 10th anniversary, and receives support from the Institute of Museum and Library services. * Tim Roseborough and

Cheryl Derricotte Cheryl Patrice Derricotte is an American visual artist working mostly with glass and paper. She lives and works in San Francisco, California. Early life and education Derricotte is originally from Washington, DC. She holds a Master of Fine Ar ...

, 2015–2016 *

Nyame Brown Nyame Brown is an artist from San Francisco, CA whose multimedia work explores the intermingling of African-American pop culture and the larger African Diaspora. He received his BFA from The School of the Arit Institute of Chicago and his MFA from ...

, Helina Metaferia, Lili Bernard, and Angie Keller, 2016–2017

Past exhibitions

References

External links

*
New African Diaspora Museum in 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museum of the African Diaspora Museums established in 2005 Art museums established in 2005 Museums in San Francisco History museums in California African-American museums in California Anthropology museums in California Museums of human migration 2005 establishments in California South of Market, San Francisco Museums of the African diaspora