Event Press Release

SFMOMA's Modern Art Council Honors Manuel Neri With Bay Area Treasure Award

Release date: August 19, 2008

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What:     On Wednesday, November 12, the Modern Art Council of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will host the 2008 Bay Area Treasure Award luncheon, honoring esteemed artist Manuel Neri. Organized by the Modern Art Council, SFMOMA’s premier fund-raising auxiliary, this annual lifetime achievement award recognizes Bay Area artists who continually define and redefine contemporary art. Neri is the ninth honoree; previous award recipients are painters Robert Bechtle, Nathan Oliveira, and Wayne Thiebaud; sculptor Richard Serra; industrial designer Sara Little Turnbull; architect Lawrence Halprin; and photographers Ruth Bernhard and Larry Sultan.

Proceeds from the 2008 Bay Area Treasure Award benefit the Museum’s exhibitions and public programs.

Who:     Event Chair: Jill Barnett
              Modern Art Council President: Dolly Chammas

When:   Wednesday, November 12, 2008 • Noon

Where:  St. Regis San Francisco
              125 Third Street
              Artist Discussion and Luncheon: Noon

Tickets:  $7,500 Grand Benefactor tables
               $5,000 Benefactor tables
               $3,500 Patron tables
               $500 Benefactors
               $350 Patrons

More:      For tickets or more information, please call the Modern Art Council at 415.357.4125.

Sponsors: Bay Area Treasure is made possible by major support from Wells Fargo. Generous support also provided by Ryan Associates.

About the Artist:  Manuel Neri is internationally celebrated as one of the preeminent figurative sculptors working today. Esteemed for his work in a broad palette of media ranging from plaster and clay to bronze and marble, his richly textured surfaces are often sanded, chipped, or painted with bold brushstrokes. Focusing on the female figure, his sculptural work blends seamlessly with his related, and equally expressive, paintings and works on paper. Associated with the Bay Area Figurative movement of the 1950s and 60s, he has nurtured a lifelong avocation for modern poetry, which perhaps has shaped his sensibilities as much as any visual art. Neri has spent his lifetime creatively exploring color, form, and material to produce figurative works of immense individuality and vitality.

Media Contacts

  • Robyn Wise, 415.357.4172,
  • Sandra Farish Sloan, 415.357.4174,

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