BOLD FALL EXHIBITION PROGRAM AND MULTILINGUAL VISITOR RESOURCES

APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, BROOKE GOLDEN, TO LEAD MUSEUM’S GROWTH IN MARKETING AND VISITOR ENGAGEMENT

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2025 — Building on the warm support shown by museum audiences throughout the post COVID-19 pandemic recovery, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (the “Fine Arts Museums”), comprising the de Young and the Legion of Honor, today announced the next steps in its commitment to visitors, members, and artistic communities from San Francisco, the Bay Area, and beyond—advancing a strong and vibrant arts sector for the region's future. Central to this effort is the debut of a bold and broader-than-ever exhibition program for fall 2025, a new late night museum activation series, the provision of multilingual resources for museum visitors, and a strengthening of museum audience outreach led by new Chief Marketing Officer (“CMO”), Brooke Golden. 

Art Experience and Visitor Access at the de Young and Legion of Honor

Since reopening post-pandemic, the Fine Arts Museums has invited its audiences to experience the work of beloved artists Ansel Adams, Frida Kahlo, Guo Pei, Botticelli, Tamara de Lempicka, Wangechi Mutu, Wayne Thiebaud, Isaac Julien and many Bay Area Artists in the first two editions of The de Young Open triennial. Enrichening the San Francisco arts landscape further this fall, the de Young and Legion of Honor will present its widest ever exhibition program including Art of Manga, Manet & Morisot, Rose B Simpson: LEXICON, Ferlinghetti for San Francisco, and Boom and Bust: Photographing Northern California as well as a totally reimagined Native American collection display envisioned in collaboration with Tribal curatorial partners.

In a continued effort to widen museum audiences and cultivate art interest among younger generations, Bay Area residents enjoy free admission every Saturday through the Free Saturdays program. Steadfastly supported by chairwoman emerita Diane B. Wilsey since its founding in 2019, the popular program has seen over 700,000 people through the doors to the museums. This month, the de Young also hosted Late Night Editions: Isaac Julien, an after-hours event designed to jump-start audience development with first time and returning visitors. 

Visitors to the Legion of Honor are also invited to enjoy the museum and the City’s permanent collection through a multilingual audio tour. The free audio tour is now available in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, reflecting some of the most widely spoken languages among San Francisco residents. Multilingual in-gallery narrative texts provide additional context to both new and returning visitors, framing the art on view in the complex societal context in which they were created. Free family guides are also available in English, Spanish and Chinese. Combined, these resources make the collections on display more accessible than ever. 

“The arts are at the heart of San Francisco’s vibrancy as a city. With a relatively small metropolitan population, San Francisco’s cultural community consistently punches above its weight by delivering spectacular and unique artistic programming to Bay Area audiences and to visitors, while simultaneously driving resources into the City’s economy. With a bolder than ever exhibition program and strengthened leadership, the Fine Arts Museums are well positioned for our next chapter,” stated Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “With our new CMO Brooke Golden in place, FAMSF is poised to deepen its impact within the city’s cultural ecosystem, and to hone our brand and communications strategy.”

Newly Appointed Chief Marketing Officer, Brooke Golden

In addition to engaging Bay Area audiences in the visual arts, welcoming regional, national and international audiences back to the de Young and Legion of Honor remains a top priority. The Fine Arts Museums’s newly appointed CMO, Brooke Golden–a seasoned marketing executive and brand strategist–will lead this intensified effort. Golden joined the Fine Arts Museums with nearly 20 years of marketing experience across various sectors, including consumer packaged goods, nonprofits and cultural organizations. She is a founder of boutique marketing firm Nourishing Growth and has held leadership positions at a variety of mission-driven corporations, most notably Bay Area based, Clif Bar & Company. Her nonprofit experience includes serving three Bay Area counties  while leading marketing at Planned Parenthood and implementing strategic marketing and communications initiatives for Grace Cathedral and for Family House. A resident of the Bay Area for over 20 years, Ms. Golden earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Full biography here.

"In this moment of renewed cultural resurgence for San Francisco, I’m inspired by the opportunity to support our community through the impact of these two prized museums. With a personal passion for the arts and a career in purpose-led marketing, I look forward to building bridges between our mission and our audiences, and elevating the brand and awareness of FAMSF both near and far. I see the museums as treasures of our city and community and I am honored to support their mission and future growth,” adds Brooke Golden. 

Fall 2025 exhibitions at the de Young and Legion of Honor

Building on San Francisco’s position on the Pacific Rim and significant Japanese heritage, Art of Manga, which opens on September 27 at the de Young, will present the power of contemporary Japanese narrative art and social commentary in a medium that has fast become a phenomenon especially among younger generations across the world. More than 600 drawings by iconic Manga artists Akatsuka Fujio, Araki Hirohiko, Chiba Tetsuya, Oda Eiichiro, Tagame Gengoroh, Takahashi Rumiko, Tanaami Keiichi, Taniguchi Jiro, Yamashita Kazumi, Yamazaki Mari, Yoshinaga Fumi will be on display and visitors will learn how to read manga in the exhibition. | de Young, September 27, 2025 - January 25, 2026

Opening October 11 at the Legion of Honor, Manet & Morisot is the first major exhibition dedicated to the artistic exchange between the female founding member of the Impressionist group and the pioneer of modern painting, Berthe Morisot and Édouard Manet. As friends, colleagues, and family members, their relationship had a determining effect on the course of modern art. The exhibition brings over 75 works from international institutions to San Francisco audiences where they will have the pleasure of viewing works such as Manet’s The Balcony at their local museum. | Legion of Honor, October 11, 2025 – March 1, 2026

Rose B Simpson: LEXICON will transform the de Young’s public atrium, Wilsey Court, into a celebration of the artist’s community in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. The exhibition will present two customized classic cars painted with pottery motifs, honoring both Pueblo pottery traditions and the Lowrider culture of northern New Mexico. The two cars will be surrounded by an expansive site-specific mural, evoking the environment of the Southwest and transforming the space into a representation of a pottery vessel. Simpson forges connections between the ancestral and the contemporary, forming a new visual vocabulary to assert her cultural heritage. | de Young, August 30, 2025–August 2, 2026

After several years of planning and preparations, the Fine Arts Museums will debut its most extensive reinstallation of the City’s Native American art collection since the opening of the new de Young in 2005. The new display has been envisioned in close collaboration with Native scholars from diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds, offering visitors a more nuanced lens through which to view and understand these artworks. The redesigned galleries will also feature new acquisitions and commissions by contemporary artists, demonstrating the vibrancy of Native American art today. Together, the artworks explore the interconnection between communities, homelands, systems of knowledge, and generations past, present, and future. | de Young, opens September 12, 2025

Ferlinghetti for San Francisco explores the artistic practice of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021), one of the city’s most beloved and significant cultural figures. A poet, activist, publisher, and cofounder of City Lights Bookstore, Ferlinghetti was also an avid painter, draftsman, and printmaker. His work across mediums—often figural in nature with nautical motifs—frequently combines image and text to delve into themes of isolation, violence, and human resilience. With works drawn entirely from the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, this exhibition showcases Ferlinghetti’s dynamic work in printmaking, with examples in etching, lithography, and letterpress. | Legion of Honor, July 19, 2025–March 22, 2026

About the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Together, the de Young in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park make up the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the largest public arts institution in the city. Both are located on the land of the Ramaytush Ohlone, the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula.

Opened in 1895, the de Young is home to American art from the 17th century through today; textile arts and costumes; African art; Oceanic art; arts of the Americas, and international contemporary art. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024, the Legion of Honor displays European painting; sculpture; and decorative arts; ancient art; works on paper; and contemporary art.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are located on land unceded by the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are the original inhabitants of what is now the San Francisco Peninsula. The greater Bay Area is also the ancestral territory of other Ohlone peoples, as well as the Miwok, Yokuts, and Patwin. We acknowledge, recognize, and honor the Indigenous ancestors, elders, and descendants whose nations and communities have lived in the Bay Area over many generations and continue to do so today. We respect the enduring relationships that exist between Indigenous peoples and their homelands. We are committed to partnering with Indigenous communities to raise awareness of their legacy and engage with the history of the region.

Media Inquiries press@famsf.org