THE MEXICAN MUSEUM

The Mexican Museum, founded in 1975 by artist Peter Rodríguez, is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) cultural institution dedicated to Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Latin American, and Latino art. Over its history the museum built a permanent collection spanning approximately 2,500 years of history and more than 16,500 objects from pre-Hispanic through contemporary works. After long-term galleries at Fort Mason (closed in 2018 in anticipation of a move), the museum has been planning a new, larger permanent home at 706 Mission Street in the Yerba Buena/Yerba Buena Arts District. In recent years the organization has continued public-facing activity through digital exhibitions, partnerships, loans and traveling displays while it pursues the build-out, fundraising, and institutional readiness required to open the new facility. Since 2023–2024 the museum has been the subject of city oversight and media scrutiny concerning timelines and grant compliance for its downtown relocation; the museum has issued public statements disputing aspects of the audit while continuing fundraising, conservation, and programmatic work aimed at opening its new site and expanding public access to its collection.