# Museum of the African Diaspora

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) is a contemporary art museum in San Francisco, California. MoAD holds exhibitions and presents artists exclusively of the African diaspora, one of only a few museums of its kind in the United States. Located at 685 Mission St. and occupying the first three floors of the St. Regis Museum Tower in the Yerba Buena Arts District, MoAD is a nonprofit organization as well as a Smithsonian Affiliate. Prior to 2014, MoAD educated visitors on the history, culture, and art of the African diaspora through permanent and rotating exhibitions. After a six-month refurbishment in 2014 to expand the gallery spaces, the museum reopened and transitioned into presenting exclusively fine arts exhibitions. MoAD does not have a permanent collection and instead works directly with artists or independent curators when developing exhibitions.

## Mission

MoAD "celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora."

## History

MoAD was developed as part of a public/private partnership led by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. In 1999, the City of San Francisco created a mandate to include an African-American cultural presence in the last vacant parcel of Yerba Buena Gardens. San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown appointed a steering committee to determine the mission and scope of a cultural facility within the complex.
The African American Cultural Institute grew out of a research and development process that began in 2002. The new museum was renamed the Museum of the African Diaspora to reflect a broadened scope and mission, and incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. The space was designed by the Freelon Group within the St. Regis Museum Tower, a 42-story skyscraper that apart from the museum consists of luxury condominiums and a five-star hotel. MoAD opened its doors in 2005.
Linda Harrison was appointed as the executive director of MoAD in November 2013. In June 2014, MoAD underwent a six-month renovation that created more gallery space and refreshed the museum's overall look. By October 2014, MoAD was named an official Smithsonian Affiliate. Harrison left MoAD in 2018 to head the Newark Museum in New Jersey.
Monetta White, who has been involved with MoAD since its inception in 2005, was appointed as executive director in December 2019.

## The Original Museum of the African Diaspora

Before 2014, when the MoAD revised its mission to center on contemporary art, the museum introduced visitors to the original African diaspora—the original movement of Homo sapiens (from the earliest human remains found in Africa)—to eventually all inhabited regions. The museum asks visitors "when did you first realize you are African?" The museum espouses the scientifically accepted idea of panethnicity, wherein all humans have a common African origin.

## Emerging Artists Program

The Emerging Artists Program at the Museum of the African Diaspora was launched concurrently with the celebration of the institution's 10th anniversary, and receives support from the Institute of Museum and Library services.
* Tim Roseborough and Cheryl Derricotte, 2015–2016
* Nyame Brown, Helina Metaferia, Lili Bernard, and Angie Keller, 2016–2017

## Past exhibitions

| Exhibition | Date |
| Let Your Motto Be Resistance | April 4, 2009 – June 14, 2009 |
| The Art of Richard Mayhew | October 10, 2009 – March 7, 2010 |
| African Continuum | April 20, 2010 – September 26, 2010 |
| Art/Object: Re-Contextualizing African Art | October 7, 2010 – January 17, 2011 |
| Textual Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition, Contemporary African American Quilts | January 27, 2011 – April 24, 2011 |
| From Process to Print: Graphic Works by Romare Bearden | May 6, 2011 – July 3, 2011 |
| Soulful Stitching: Patchwork Quilts by African (Siddis) in India | July 15, 2011 – September 25, 2011 |
| Collected: Stories of Acquisition and Reclamation | October 7, 2011 – March 4, 2012 |
| Choose Paint! Choose Abstraction!: Celebrating Bay Area Abstract Artists | March 22, 2012 – September 23, 2012 |
| Tuareg and Anima: Photographs of GRACE by Elisabeth Sunday | October 5, 2012 – January 21, 2013 |
| Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection | October 5, 2012 – January 21, 2013 |
| The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, Where Art History Intersect | February 8, 2013 – May 19, 2013 |
| J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere: Sartorial Moments and the Nearness of Yesterday | June 20, 2013 – November 24, 2013 |
| Crosscurrents: Africa and Black Diasporas in Dialogue, 1960-1980 | December 5, 2013 – April 13, 2014 |
| Drapetomanía: Grupo Antillano and the Art of Afro-Cuba | December 1, 2014 – January 4, 2015 |
| The Art of Elizabeth Catlett | January 16, 2015 – April 5, 2105 |
| Lave Thomas: Beyond | December 3, 2014 – April 5, 2015 |
| Marie Johnson Calloway: Legacy of Color | February 4, 2015 – April 12, 2015 |
| Portraits and Other Likenesses from SFMOMA | May 8, 2015 – October 11, 2015 |
| Four Themes: Emerging Artist: Time Roseborough | November 11, 2015 – January 18, 2016 |
| Ghosts/Ships: Emerging Artists: Cheryl Patrice Derricotte | January 27, 2016 – April 3, 2016 |
| Alison Saar: Bearing | November 11, 2015 – April 3, 2016 |
| Who Among Us...The Art of Kenyatta A.C.Hinkle | November 11, 2015 – April 3, 2016 |
| Finding the I in Diaspora: From the MoAD Archives | November 11, 2015 – April 3, 2016 |
| The Grace Jones Project | April 27, 2016 – September 18, 2016 |
| Dandy Lion: (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity | April 27, 2016 – September 18, 2016 |
| Bayview Portraits by Byron Malik | October 16, 2016 – November 3, 2016 |
| Finding the 'I' in Diaspora Bayview Popup: From the MoAD archives | July 15, 2016 – November 3, 2016 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists Presents Nyame Brown: Classroom in Nevérÿon | October 26, 2016 – January 16, 2017 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists Presents Helina Metafaria: Home Free | January 25, 2017 – April 2, 2017 |
| Urban Africa | October 26, 2016 – April 2, 2017 |
| Where is Here | October 26, 2016 – April 2, 2017 |
| A Matter of Fact: Toyin Ojih Odutola | October 26, 2016 – April 2, 2017 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents Lili Bernard: Antebellum Appropriations | April 26, 2017 – June 25, 2017 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents Angie Keller: The Gladioli of El Carmen | July 5, 2017 – August 27, 2017 |
| Todd Gray: My life in the Bush with MJ and Iggy | April 26, 2017 – August 27, 2017 |
| The Ease of Fiction | April 26, 2017 – August 27, 2017 |
| Love or Confusion: Jimi Hendrix in 1967 | April 26, 2017 – August 27, 2017 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents Ebitenyefa Baralaye: Many Rooms | September 20, 2017 – November 26, 2017 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents Simone Bailey: Let There Be Darkness | December 6, 2017 – March 4, 2018 |
| Otra Mas': 40 Years of Carnaval in San Francsico | September 20, 2017 – March 4, 2018 |
| En Mas': Carnival and Performance Art of the Caribbean | September 20, 2017 – March 4, 2018 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents Andrew Wilson: Equivalencies: Abandoned Bodies | March 28, 2018 – June 3, 2018 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents summer mason: Gemini | June 20, 2018 – August 26, 2018 |
| Digitalia: Art & the Economy of Ideas | March 28, 2018 – August 26, 2018 |
| After the Thrill is Gone: Fashion, Politics and Culture in Contemporary South African Art | March 28, 2018 – August 26, 2018 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents Indira Allegra: B O D Y W A R P | September 19, 2018 – November 4, 2018 |
| MoAD Emerging Artists presents 5/5 Collective: black now(here) | November 11, 2018 – December 15, 2018 |
| I TOLD YOU WHO AM I: Shushan Tesfuzigta | September 19, 2018 – December 16, 2018 |
| Second Look, Twice: Selections from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation | September 19, 2018 – December 16, 2018 |
| Ficre Ghebreyesus: City with a River Running Through | September 19, 2018 – December 16, 2018 |
| Sadie Barnette: Phone Home | January 16, 2019 – April 14, 2019 |
| Black Refractions: Highlight from the Studio Museum in Harlem | January 16, 2019 – April 14, 2019 |
| Rodney Ewing: Longitude + Latitude | May 8, 2019 – June 23, 2019 |
| Sydney Cain: Refutations | October 20, 2021 - December 19, 2021 |
| Billie Zangewa: Thread for a Web Begun | October 20, 2021 - February 27, 2022 |
| Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks | October 20, 2021 - February 27, 2022 |
| Beyond the Sky Film exhibition | October 20, 2021 - February 27, 2022 |
| Cynthia Aurora Brannvall: The Threads That Bind | March 31, 2022 - June 12, 2022 |
| Elegies - Still Lifes in Contemporary Art | March 31, 2022 - August 21, 2022 |
| Richard-Jonathan Nelson: Interlacing distributed intelligence/ noir care | June 22, 2022 - September 18, 2022 |
| Sam Vernon: Impasse of Desires | March 31, 2022 - September 18, 2022 |
| David Huffman: Terra Incognita | March 31, 2022 - September 18, 2022 |
| Trina Michelle Robinson: Excavation: Past, Present and Future | October 5, 2022 - December 11, 2022 |