As Education Director at SFMOMA, I oversee all educational and public programs offered at the museum, coordinating a team of ten staff who annually deliver over 650 programs to an array of audiences. Our programs introduce educators to our collections and exhibitions while offering techniques and resources for incorporating works of art into classroom curricula as well as providing a forum for dialogue and exchange between educators.
As soon as I joined SFMOMA in 2005, it had already established itself as a leader in art-based education. For instance, its Helen Hilton Raiser Collection of contemporary architecture and design boasts many radical pieces such as Fumihiko Maki’s Metabolist architecture or capsule designs by Supertsudio or Archigram that promote explorations of spatial justice and social inclusion.
SFMOMA boasts a growing program of community art projects and events, such as Joshua Sofaer’s Urban Scavenger Hunt to discover hidden artworks throughout San Francisco; or their collaboration with elementary schools on an educational program that brings community art directly into classrooms through projects combining art with socially responsive pedagogy.
SFMOMA is an iconic cultural hub located at the core of San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. When they moved into their current building in 1995, education was placed at its heart; expanding spaces, multiple entrances, and an education center enabled back-to-back classes of schoolchildren to receive orientation tours within an hour compared to one class per hour capacity at their previous facility.
