Asian Art Museum Open for Business

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- San Francisco's Asian Art Museum will keep its doors open and maintain operations despite financial challenges faced by the Asian Art Museum's Foundation, which is the private fundraising arm of the Museum.

"The Museum is fortunate to have the support of donors from around the world. Donations from individuals, the Museum's board, and our corporate and Foundation partners remain strong" said Jay Xu, director of the Asian Art Museum. "I want to assure the Museum's visitors, our 17,000 members, and all of our donors and hundreds of volunteers that the Museum will continue to be a leading center for Asian learning in the future."

While the City solely owns the Museum's building and its collections, the City and the Foundation jointly fund the Museum's staff, facilities, and operations.

The Museum continues to maintain its role as a vital source of Asian art and culture, averaging nearly 300,000 visitors per year. Like many other cultural organizations in California and across the United States, the Foundation is facing challenges stemming from the economic downturn and related market disruptions. The Foundation is attempting to renegotiate its debt financing with its principal creditors.  As a measure of prudent management of fiscal responsibility, the Foundation has engaged outside professionals, and, with City officials, has begun to work on these negotiations.

"While this has been a difficult situation, it will have no impact on the Museum's core operations," said Tony Sun, chair of the Asian Art Commission and Asian Art Museum Foundation, the Museum's dual governing boards.

The Museum looks forward to welcoming visitors to its current critically acclaimed exhibition, Beyond Golden Clouds; Five Centuries of Japanese Screens, on view through January 16, 2011, as well as the upcoming major exhibitions Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance, on view February 25 through September 11, 2011, and Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts, on view Oct 21, 2011, through April 8, 2012.

About the Asian Art Museum

The Asian Art Museum is a public institution whose mission is to lead a diverse global audience in discovering the unique material, aesthetic, and intellectual achievements of Asian art and culture. Holding more than 17,000 Asian art treasures spanning 6,000 years of history, the Museum is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art.

• Information: (415) 581-3500 or www.asianart.org.
• Location: 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

SOURCE Asian Art Museum