The Asian Art Museum began in 1959 when Chicago industrialist Avery Brundage donated his vast collection of Asian art to San Francisco on the condition that the City build a new museum to house it. In 1960, a $2,725,000 public bond issue was passed to convert the west wing of the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park for this purpose; the Asian opened its doors to the public in 1966. In 1969 Brundage made another large gift of objects and money to the new museum. While maintaining support from the City, the governance of the Museum became self-supporting.

In 1975 Brundage died, bequeathing his remaining art holdings to the Asian, making it one of the largest museums outside Asia devoted exclusively to Asian art. The Museum has continued to acquire important works, and today the collection contains more than 12,000 objects spanning 6,000 years of history and representing more than 40 Asian countries.

The Asian Art Museum regularly organizes major international exhibitions and presents a wide range of entertaining, educational programs and performances celebrating Asian art and culture. Since 1975, the Museum has organized and hosted dozens of large exhibitions of international stature, featuring prized works of art from countries including Japan, Mongolia, China, Korea, India and Tibet.

Through a long-standing relationship with the San Francisco Unified School District, a series of field trips, in-class lectures, teacher workshops and docent tours is fully subscribed to by all grades. For younger children, the Asian offers a storytelling program centered around a specific area of art. For the general public, the Museum provides demonstrations, films, concerts, readings, performances and festival celebrations appropriate to the various Asian cultures represented in the collection.
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday & Sunday 9:30 AM - 5 PM, Thursday, Friday & Saturday 9:30 AM - 9:00 PM; closed Mondays

Admission: $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for ages 12-17, free for children under l2 and memebers; last admission is one hour before closing

Location: The Asian Art Museum is located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, off of John F. Kennedy Drive between 8th and 9th Avenues.

For tickets/information, call: 415-379-8801
Hours to call: 24-hour information line
Please Note: The Asian Art Museum will be closed to the public from October 7, 2001 through fall 2002 in preparation for their relocation to the Civic Center.
Visit their Web site at: http://www.asianart.org