Contemporary Jewish Museum re-opens in San Francisco

May 30, 2008

San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) opens the doors to its new home on June 8, launching a lively center where people of all ages and backgrounds gather to experience art, share diverse perspectives, and engage in hands-on activities.

The museum’s new building, located on Mission Street, was designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, and is an adaptive reuse of the landmark 1907 Jessie Street Power Substation, with an extension clad in vibrant blue steel panels.

Inspired by the Hebrew phrase "L’Chaim" (To Life), the building is a physical embodiment of the museum’s mission to bring together tradition and innovation in an exploration of the Jewish experience in the 21st century. The CJM’s new facility represents one of the last pieces of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s plan to revitalize San Francisco’s downtown Yerba Buena district.

Embracing a range of disciplines and media, the CJM’s new enhanced exhibition program will include contemporary art projects, historic objects, film and music, scholarly interpretations, and diverse cultural perspectives that offer new entry points to experiencing Jewish culture. At the heart of the new facility is a large education center, which will allow the museum to provide ongoing education programs in conjunction with its exhibitions for children, youth, adults, and seniors.

Inaugurating the museum’s 2,500-square-foot first floor gallery is "From the New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig," a monumental tribute to the "king of cartoons" organized by the Jewish Museum, New York. Known for his brilliant cartoons for The New Yorker and his award-winning children’s books (including "Shrek," the source material for the 2001 children’s film), William Steig (1907-2003) was an American original whose achievements remain unparalleled.

In the museum’s 7,000-square-foot second floor gallery, "In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis" explores the continuing relevance of the story of creation in Genesis Chapter I. Commissioned installations by seven significant contemporary artists are on display: Alan Berliner, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Ben Rubin, Matthew Ritchie, Kay Rosen, Shirley Shor, and Mierle Laderman Ukeles. These works, ranging from multi-media and sound installations to computer animations, projections, and wall drawings, are presented in a unique dialogue with a compelling array of historical works, some rarely seen in public, and never before seen together. The exhibition also includes three works that respond to Genesis by San Francisco-based artist Tom Marioni.