SAN FRANCISCO, CA – March 3, 2015 – (HISPANIIZE WIRE) – The Mexican Museum (Museum), the premier West Coast museum of Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, and Latino art, culture and heritage, announces that Cayetana S. Gómez has been hired as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Gómez will be responsible for overseeing business operations for the Museum’s current location at Fort Mason Center. She will also be implementing the business and strategic plans for the cultural component of the 706 Mission Street Residential and Mexican Museum project, which will serve as the Museum’s future home in the heart of the Yerba Buena Gardens Art District.
“We are extremely pleased to have Cayetana join our team,” said Andrew M. Kluger, Chairman of The Mexican Museum Board of Trustees. “Along with her unparalleled communication skills and a vast network of professional relationships throughout the United States and Mexico, she has also held significant leadership positions for some of Mexico’s most important art, culture, and media institutions.”
Before joining the Museum, Gómez was director of public relations and fundraising for the Museo de Memoria y Tolerencia in Mexico City, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the importance of tolerance, nonviolence, and human rights. She also served as the managing director of the museum during its inaugural year, a role she also held for the Museo Morelense de Arte Popular in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In addition, Gómez served as assistant to the president for the Museo de la Cuidad de Mexico in Mexico City, and as public relations manager for TV Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous University of Mexico), Mexico’s premier cultural television channel. Her past experience also includes extensive work in industrial design and merchandising, marketing, and media strategy.
In her new role as president and CEO of The Mexican Museum, Gómez will be charged with spearheading national and international fundraising efforts in order to secure endowments and funding from individuals, grants, foundations, and corporations in the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America for the New Building Capital Campaign, as well as for the sustainment and enrichment of the current Fort Mason Center location. She will supervise Museum staff as to the safeguarding, promotion, and expansion of The Mexican Museum’s permanent inventory of more than 16,500 objects – one of the world’s preeminent collections of Pre-Hispanic, Colonial, Popular, Modern and Contemporary Mexican, Mexican-American, Latin American, Latino, and Chicano art.
Gómez received a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the Universidad del Nuevo Mundo in Mexico City, and a Master of Administration in Public Relations from the Universidad Iberoamericana, also in Mexico City.
“It is my honor to serve as president and chief executive officer for The Mexican Museum in San Francisco,” said Gómez. “This museum truly represents the heart and soul of Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, Latin American, and Latino art, culture and heritage. It will be my privilege to help lead The Mexican Museum towards its role as a globally-renowned art and cultural institution and a key destination for visitors to the Bay Area.”
About The Mexican Museum:
Founded by the well-known San Francisco artist Peter Rodriguez in 1975 in the heart of the Mission District, The Mexican Museum is located at Fort Mason Center. It is the realization of his vision to present the aesthetic expression of the Mexican and Mexican-American people. Today, the Museum’s vision has expanded to include the full scope of the Mexican, Chicano and Latino experience – including the arts, history and heritage of their respective cultures.
In 2012, The Mexican Museum became an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the nation’s largest museum network. The museum currently has a permanent collection of more than 16,500 objects reflecting Pre-Hispanic, Colonial, Popular, Modern and Contemporary Mexican, Mexican-American, Latin American, Latino, and Chicano art.
The Mexican Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., located at Fort Mason Center, Building D, Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street, in San Francisco. FREE Admission. The Museum offers a wide variety of programs, including Family Sundays, exhibitions, special events, lectures and public programming throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, please visit: http://www.mexicanmuseum.org or call (415) 202-9700.
The Mexican Museum is currently preparing for the construction of its permanent home, which is expected to open in 2018. People are encouraged to support The Mexican Museum by becoming new members, or by joining the Builder’s Society online or by mailing a check to: The Mexican Museum, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, Building D, San Francisco, CA 94123. For more information on the Builder’s Society, please contact Adriana Lopez at (415) 684-9803.
Photo Credit: © Lauren Hermele
