SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is proud to announce the continuation of the popular Ford Free Tuesdays program, an exciting partnership between the Museums and Ford Motor Company Fund. For the fifth year in a row, the Legion of Honor will participate in Ford Motor Company Fund’s national program, which affords visitors to the Legion of Honor free general admission every Tuesday. In its first year at the Legion of Honor, Ford Free Tuesdays admitted over 90,000 visitors to the museum free of charge and attendance on Ford Free Tuesdays has been growing steadily. In 2004 alone, over 600,000 visitors have benefited from the program across the country.

Nationwide the Ford Motor Company Fund, through their Ford Free Museum Days program, allows people in five diverse cities to visit partner museums free of charge. Along with the Legion of Honor, other participants include the Art Institute of Chicago, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

With the opening of special exhibitions in 2005 such as Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet! The Bruyas Collection from Montpellier and Artwear: Fashion and Anti-Fashion, Ford Free Tuesdays, as Harry Parker, Director of Museums for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco notes, “will allow us to reach a broader and more diverse audience, and encourage first-time visitors and others who may not normally visit the museum to venture to the Legion and see what it has to offer.”

Ford Free Tuesdays at the Legion of Honor have been made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund since 2001. “Ford Motor Company Fund is very pleased to continue support for Ford Free Tuesdays at Legion of Honor. This program continues to engage visitors in San Francisco and Northern California, offering a special opportunity to view the Museum’s important collections and exhibitions free of charge,” said Sandra E. Ulsh, President, Ford Motor Company Fund. “At Ford, we are committed to enriching our communities through programs like Ford Free Tuesdays and to providing broader access to the arts for children, families, students, and all visitors to the Museum.”

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco’s Lincoln Park, the Legion of Honor is considered by many to be San Francisco’s most beautiful museum. It houses the city’s collections of European paintings and decorative arts, as well as art of the ancient world, and works on paper from the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. The Legion is also home to a wide array of major traveling exhibitions as they pass through San Francisco. Highlights of the 2005 exhibition schedule include Artwear: Fashion and Anti-fashion (14 May–30 October 2005) and Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet!: The Bruyas Collection from the Musée Fabre, Montpellier (22 January–3 April 2005).

Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, supports programs that enhance and enrich the communities where Ford Motor Company does business. Ford Motor Company Fund is committed to creating educational opportunities that stimulate creativity and promote cultural diversity. In 2003, Ford Motor Company Fund contributed more than $50 million to educational pipeline initiatives and cultural programs, including nationally touring exhibitions and performing arts events. For more information on programs made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund, visit www.ford.com.