Get to KnowThe Women Shaping San Francisco Arts and Culture
Meet some of the incredible San Francisco women who are breaking boundaries and pushing artistic expression to the limit.
San Francisco is a city that has always rewarded the bold, the iconoclastic, and the revolutionary. We're proud of our generations of women trailblazers who made their mark in fields as varied as architecture, politics, and professional sports. But what about the women who are changing San Francisco right now?
Allow us to introduce you to a number of San Francisco women who are doing just that. These pioneers are pushing the limits of artistic expression, creating and curating unbelievable works that you can experience during your next visit to the City by the Bay.
Emily A. Beeny
Barbara A. Wolfe Curator-in-Charge of European Painting at the Fine Arts Museums and Chief Curator of the Legion of Honor
Emily A. Beeny curates not one museum, but two! Her expertise on European painting helps shape the collections of both the de Young Museum and the Legion of HonorOpens in new window.
Emily is marking the Legion of Honor's centennial by bringing a fresh and inclusive lens to its collection that spans centuries and cultures. Visitors can look forward to new exhibitions that reevaluate overlooked women artists.
The Legion is really San Francisco’s jewel box: a place full of treasures, stories, even secrets. I’m eager to find ways to bring more of that magic alive for our visitors." - Emily A. Beeny
Abby Chen
Head of Contemporary Art and Senior Associate Curator, Asian Art Museum
Abby Chen has made the Asian Art Museum an essential platform for emerging, established, and historically underrepresented voices from Asia and the Asian American community. She leads the largest curatorial team at the Asian Art Museum, and helped acquire works by Bernice Bing, Zheng Chongbin, Jenifer K Wofford and Rupy C. Tut, among others. Chen’s next major exhibition, a collaboration with award-winning designer Jenova Chen, will debut in spring 2025: a first-of-its-kind immersive gaming exhibition.
Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher
Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design and Head of the Department for Architecture and Design, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher is here to show that modern art isn't only found in galleries; rather, modern art is all around us in unexpected, even seemingly unartistic places. The upcoming Get in the GameOpens in new window exhibit, which she co-curated, will examine how sports permeate culture, bring people together, and offer a critical lens for conversations about gender, race, national identity, and the human body. This highly anticipated exhibit will be on display through Feb. 18, 2025.
Eun Sun Kim
Caroline H. Hume Music Director, San Francisco Opera
With a resume that includes the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, and Houston Grand Opera—to say nothing of her international engagements—Eun Sun Kim brings an unbelievable amount of experience and a global perspective to her job as the Music Director at San Francisco Opera.
Joanne Lee
Executive Director, Edge on the Square
Edge on the SquareOpens in new window is a new contemporary art hub in the heart of Chinatown, led by Executive Director Joanne Lee. Since its inception, Edge on the Square has collaborated with more than 50 BIPOC artists and 30 local merchants and vendors. The hub hosts exhibitions, music events, and cultural gatherings year-round. Their Contemporary Art Festival features an array of original art experiences, ephemeral installations, family-friendly activities, creative performances, panel conversations, culinary delights, and interactive exhibitions.
Dr. Soyoung Lee
Barbara Bass Baker Director and CEO, Asian Art Museum
New to the Asian Art Museum for 2025, Dr. Soyoung Lee is a leading scholar of Asian art and culture, from its diverse history to its contemporary direction and future possibilities. She was the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first-ever curator of Korean art, and has been a Visiting Scholar at nearby Stanford University.
Jenny Leung
Executive Director, Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
Jenny Leung is known for her commitment to cultural diversity, equity, and arts access, as well as for expanding the Chinese Culture CenterOpens in new window's programming. She also led the efforts to purchase the Center's future home on Chinatown's Grant Street.
Pam MacKinnon and Jennifer Bielstein
Artistic Director and Executive Director, American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)
This award-winning duo always ensures A.C.T. is rolling out a fantastic season of plays. First on is Nobody Loves You (February 28 to March 30), then Two Trains Running (April 15 – May 4), followed by Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors (April 22 to May 3), Co-founders (May 29 to July 6) and, finally, the award-winning Kim's Convenience (September 18 to October 19).
Joen Madonna
Executive Director, ArtSpan
As the leader of ArtSpanOpens in new window, Joen Madonna is responsible for organizing one of San Francisco's most popular cultural events: SF Open Studios, which connects audiences to local art and artists.
Since its launch in 1975, SFOS has grown into a month-long, citywide celebration of art with more than 800 participating artists. Art lovers can gain unprecedented access to local creators during the event, as galleries, studios, and workspaces open their doors for all to explore. The event has attracted more than 100,000 visitors! Will you be among them?
“San Francisco is a magical place that reinvents herself with the desires and drive of her people." - Joen Madonna
Tamara Rojo
Artistic Director, San Francisco Ballet
Tamara Rojo's inaugural season at San Francisco Ballet was a record-breaker. The premiere of Mere Mortals and revival of Swan Lake were such hot tickets that both runs were extended.
Early in Rojo's tenure, the Ballet received a historic $60 million donation that will be used to fund new works, attract top talent, and revolutionize what audiences can expect from the nation's oldest professional ballet company.
Jessica Silverman
Founder, Jessica Silverman
Jessica Silverman is more than a gallerist; she's an entrepreneur! Since founding her eponymous art gallery in 2008, she has built a national reputation and been a champion of Bay Area artists. Her gallery, now located in Chinatown, is currently showing the works of artist Davina Semo. The exhibition focuses on bronze bells of various shapes and sizes, which hang throughout the space.
Monetta White
CEO, Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)
CEO Monetta White has led MoAD's successful efforts to expand its global reach and digital audience, creating new opportunities for Black curators and artists. This year’s exhibitions include Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors and Radical Black JoyOpens in new window, an exhibit showcasing designs, artworks, and environments dedicated to the global necessity for Black people to cultivate domestic interiors not only as spaces of revolutionary action, but also of radical joy and revolutionary rest.
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