News Press Release

SFMOMA Successfully Raises $24 Million For New Rooftop Garden

Release date: April 16, 2008

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The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is pleased to announce that the private funding phase of the SFMOMA Rooftop Garden campaign is almost complete. With lead gifts from the Mimi & Peter Haas Fund, Gerson and Barbara Bakar, the Jean and James Douglas Family, Patricia and William Wilson III, and Carolyn and Preston Butcher, the museum has successfully raised $24 million to fund its Rooftop Garden. In total, the fund-raising campaign is designed to provide $18 million to construct the Rooftop Garden; $6 million as a permanent operating endowment for the space, including funding for an array of programs and services; and an additional $1 million as operating money to activate the space for the first two seasons. The museum announced a public campaign to raise the $1 million at the Rooftop Garden's groundbreaking in April 2008.

"The enthusiasm of our Board of Trustees demonstrated through the first phase of the campaign has been fantastic. They have been overwhelmingly generous," states SFMOMA Board Chair Charles Schwab. "We look forward to taking this enthusiasm to our community for the remaining support for this project next spring. We are certain that the Rooftop Garden will be another world-class venue for art, as well as a setting of calm repose for visitors to SFMOMA and the city alike."

The 14,400-square-foot garden will be constructed on the roof of the SFMOMA Garage on Minna Street, just behind the museum building, and will be connected to the fifth-floor galleries by a glass and steel bridge. Once completed, the garden will serve as a venue for special events as well as a dynamic exhibition space to display a changing installation of artworks from SFMOMA's collection. Concurrent with the fund-raising phase, the museum will strive to enlarge its collection of works that can be presented in the garden, taking advantage of the space's unique capacity as a venue for showcasing and experiencing art.

Designed by San Francisco–based Jensen Architects, the Rooftop Garden will be an integral part of the museum's exhibition space. A panoramic window will replace the entire back wall of the museum's fifth floor, providing a dramatic view of the garden from inside the galleries. Visitors will be able to move between the museum building and the garden through an enclosed passageway that also can be used to display art. Outside on the rooftop, sculptures can be installed in two open-air spaces or within a luminous glass pavilion.

Jensen Architect's design team is Mark Jensen (principal), Dean Orr, Gretchen Krebs, Steven Huegli, and Orit Goldstein-Mayer. The collaborating landscape architect is Conger Moss Guillard Landscape Architecture. Their design team is Kevin Conger (principal) and Rayna Deniord.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Rooftop Garden is made possible through the generous support of the following leadership gifts: the Mimi & Peter Haas Fund; Barbara and Gerson Bakar; the Jean and James Douglas Family; Patricia and William Wilson III; and Carolyn and Preston Butcher.

Media Contacts

  • Libby Garrison, 415.357.4177,
  • Robyn Wise, 415.357.4172,
  • Sandra Farish Sloan, 415.357.4174,

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San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Museum hours: Open daily (except Wednesdays): 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.; open late Thursdays, until 8:45 p.m. Summer hours (Memorial Day to Labor Day): Open at 10 a.m. Closed Wednesdays and the following public holidays: New Year's Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The Museum is open the Wednesday between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Koret Visitor Education Center: Open daily (except Wednesdays): 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; open late Thursdays, until 8:30 p.m. Summer hours: Open at 10 a.m.

Admission prices: adults: $18; seniors: $13; students: $11; SFMOMA members and children 12 and under: free. Admission is free the first Tuesday of each month and half-price on Thursdays after 6 p.m.

SFMOMA is easily accessible by Muni, BART, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, and Caltrain. Hourly, daily, and monthly parking is available at the SFMOMA Garage at 147 Minna Street. For parking information, call 415.348.0971.

Visit our Web site at www.sfmoma.org or call 415.357.4000 for more information.

SFMOMA is supported by a broad array of contributors committed to helping advance its mission. Major annual support is provided by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Koret Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. First Tuesdays are always free, thanks to AT&T. KidstART free admission for children 12 and under is made possible by Charles Schwab & Co.

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