SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Awaiting final approvals for the construction of its new home at 706 Mission Street in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Arts District, The Mexican Museum, the premier West Coast museum of Mexican, Chicano and Latino art, culture and heritage, announces that it is seeing tremendous results with its new membership campaign, “¡Adelante! The Mexican Museum Moves Forward.” The Mexican Museum, which is the only San Francisco museum to be named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, continues to receive strong community support.

“Adelante is a lively Spanish term for progress and momentum that means Move forward, Let’s go,” said David J. de la Torre, Director of The Mexican Museum. “The number of new memberships and financial donations to The Mexican Museum has increased substantially over the past 30 days. The community is showing their full support and saying it’s time to move forward!”

Support: Community. Local businesses like Casa Sanchez have hosted community awareness events attended by community and business leaders, all of whom express overwhelming Latino community support. “The Mexican Museum enriches the Bay Area’s vital arts and culture scene,” said Carlos Solórzano, Chief Executive Officer of the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco. “The construction of its new, permanent home in the multicultural Yerba Buena Arts District family will not only add flavor to this vital district, it will also drive tourism dollars for local businesses.”

Support: Businesses. “The Museum is more alive than ever, and we will keep working to make sure that it has a home of its own in the Yerba Buena Arts District in downtown San Francisco,” said Andy Kluger, chairman-elect of The Mexican Museum Board of Directors, Honorary Consul to the State of Hawaii for The Republic of Mexico, business executive, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. “It is clear that the Bay Area community supports the construction of the Museum’s new home at 706 Mission Street in the Yerba Buena Arts District. I encourage everyone in the Bay Area to show their support by becoming members of the Mexican Museum.”

Support: Art Community. The Yerba Buena Alliance fully supports the addition of The Mexican Museum to the Yerba Buena District’s world-class museum community. “The Yerba Buena is home to some of the finest, most diverse art and cultural organizations in the City and the world, such as the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Museum of the African Diaspora, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Museum and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts”, said Virginia Grandi, Membership Services Coordinator for the organization, which is dedicated to strengthening and sustaining the diverse, dynamic District. “The addition of the Mexican Museum will benefit all people who live, work and visit this neighborhood, promoting modern and contemporary art and celebrating the rich legacy of pre-Hispanic, Mexican, Chicano and Latino art.”

Support: Tourism. “The Bay Area is a world-renowned business and travel destination, in part due to our rich blend of multicultural experiences,” said Joe D’Alessandro, President and CEO of San Francisco Travel. “There is no doubt that having The Mexican Museum housed in the Yerba Buena Arts District will increase the number of visitors and tourists to this area and benefit Bay Area businesses.”

At The Mexican Museum: Progress continues Adelante! with the hiring of Gregory Johnson as project director for the proposed 50,000 square foot museum. Johnson, who is well-known for his vast experience and expansion-related successes in the Bay Area arts scene, was the project manager for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s (SFMOMA) new building in 1992. He then went on to serve as SFMOMA’s director of facilities. Johnson also served as project director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum’s expansion and renovation project and is currently working with the Walt Disney Family Museum, The Oakland Museum of California and Angel Island Conservancy’s development of a new orientation center.

The Mexican Museum collections include more that 14,000 objects that span Mexican, Chicano and Latino art, heritage and culture, from pre-Hispanic times to the present. However, limited space at its current Fort Mason location has never allowed the Museum to showcase all of its pieces. Along with the benefits of the new Yerba Buena Arts District location, the move to the new facility in the District will triple the Museum’s current exhibition space.

“As we move forward, the financial support of the community is needed to ensure that The Mexican Museum achieves its proper place among other members of the vibrant San Francisco/Bay Area arts arena,” added de la Torre. “People can help by becoming members of The Mexican Museum or by upgrading current membership levels to the new Builder’s Society level. The Builder’s Society membership category enables individuals, businesses and organizations to support the museum for $1 a day.”