Museum of Performance + Design

Museum of Performance + Design
Name	Museum of Performance + Design
Formation	1947
Type	Nonprofit museum
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Leader title	Executive Director

Museum of Performance + Design is a San Francisco-based institution dedicated to the preservation, documentation, and interpretation of performing arts heritage, with particular emphasis on dance, theater, opera, choreography, and production design. The institution collects artifacts, archives, and ephemera connected to performers, companies, venues, and creators across the United States and internationally, drawing on materials from individuals associated with Broadway, West End, and regional scenes.

History

Founded in the postwar era amid renewed interest in cultural institutions, the organization traces roots to artists, patrons, and companies in the Bay Area. Early supporters included figures associated with San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and regional theater companies. The institution intersected with archival efforts connected to Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and donors from Bank of America philanthropy. Over decades the organization established relationships with choreographers and directors such as Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Pina Bausch, Angelo Badalamenti, and producers linked to David Merrick, Hal Prince, and Harold Prince.

The museum navigated shifts in cultural policy, partnerships with academic institutions like University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and collaborations with archival repositories including Library of Congress, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and Smithsonian Institution. It participated in initiatives with festivals and venues such as Spoleto Festival USA, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, American Dance Festival, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and built collections through donations from ensembles including San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, and ACT San Francisco.

Collections and Archives

The collections encompass costume, set models, score manuscripts, promptbooks, production photographs, sound recordings, video documentation, posters, playbills, personal papers, and oral histories linked to artists and organizations. Donors and subjects represented include Rudolf Nureyev, Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, José Limón, Alvin Ailey, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Julie Taymor, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Schwartz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jonathan Larson, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, Eugene O'Neill, Sam Shepard, Tina Landau, Julie Taymor.

The archive also holds materials from designers and technicians such as Robert Edmond Jones, Jo Mielziner, Cecil Beaton, Irene Sharaff, Adrian, Florence Klotz, Santo Loquasto, Natasha Katz, Peter Lipa, and directing figures like Elia Kazan, Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski, Richard Schechner, and company founders including Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Significant holdings include oral histories and recorded interviews with performers, choreographers, composers, and designers linked to Carolyn Brown, Suzanne Farrell, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Eileen Collins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sylvie Guillem, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Agnes de Mille, and administrators from institutions such as National Endowment for the Arts and California Arts Council.

Exhibitions and Programs

The institution mounts thematic exhibitions that have featured topics like Broadway choreography, modern dance pioneers, costume design retrospectives, and multimedia tributes to composers and librettists. Past exhibitions spotlighted work connected to Broadway theatre, West End theatre, La Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky Theatre, and touring companies. The museum has curated shows centered on figures such as Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, and contemporary innovators like Sonia Amelio and Akram Khan.

Programs include performance evenings, salon discussions, panel presentations, and archival screenings in partnership with organizations such as Film Forum, Museum of Modern Art, Getty Research Institute, Huntington Library, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theater, and universities. Residency and commissioning programs have engaged choreographers and directors affiliated with Momenta, Dancers' Group, ODC Theater, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, and educational partners like American Conservatory Theater.

Education and Outreach

Educational initiatives link archival content to curriculum and community programs for students, practitioners, and scholars. The museum collaborates with K–12 programs connected to San Francisco Unified School District, conservatories such as Juilliard School, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, California Institute of the Arts, and university departments at Yale School of Drama, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Workshops and masterclasses have drawn guest artists from Paul Taylor Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, San Francisco Ballet School, and vocal coaches associated with Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Outreach extends to underserved communities through partnerships with 826 Valencia, Young Audiences Arts for Learning, Festival of Performing Arts, and cultural centers such as Asian Art Museum, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, and African American Art & Culture Complex.

Facilities and Location

Located in San Francisco, the institution historically occupied gallery and archive space near cultural districts that host War Memorial Opera House, Civic Center Plaza, SFJazz Center, Yerba Buena Gardens, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Proximity enabled collaborations with venues including Golden Gate Theater, Orpheum Theatre, Curran Theatre, and rehearsal partnerships with companies based at Fort Mason Center, Presidio Theatre, and Cowell Theater.

The archival repository includes climate-controlled storage, digitization labs, audiovisual preservation suites, exhibition galleries, and performance spaces suitable for lectures, screenings, and small-scale presentations. Technical resources support conservation workflows used by staff trained with practices recommended by American Institute for Conservation, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, and standards from International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Governance and Funding

Governance follows a nonprofit board structure with trustees, advisory committees, and professional staff including directors of collections, curators, archivists, and education coordinators. Trustees and advisors have included philanthropists, arts administrators, and faculty from institutions such as San Francisco State University, University of California, San Francisco, Stanford University, Yale University, and industry leaders from Broadway League and League of American Orchestras.

Funding sources encompass private philanthropy from foundations like Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and government support from National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, along with corporate sponsorships and earned revenue from ticketed events, rentals, and publications. The museum participates in collaborative grant projects with organizations such as National Trust for Historic Preservation, American Alliance of Museums, and regional arts councils.

Category:Museums in San Francisco