Museum of the African Diaspora

This contemporary art museum celebrates black culture in all its forms. It was opened in 2005, a pet project of former SF mayor Willie Brown. Though the 20,000-square-foot space is relatively small, the lens is broad, examining African ancestry from a historic and contemporary angle. The exhibits, which rotate frequently, center around four themes: Origins, Movement, Adaptation, and Transformation. Origins explores the African roots of modern art and culture; movement delves into the Slave Trade and the emergent music and folklore; adaptation covers the transformation of African traditions, cultural expressions, beliefs, and practices over time; and transformation examines how people of African descent have forged new identifies. Those four broad categories yield poignant exhibits, such as Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition through Contemporary African American Quilts; Beyond the Blues: Ending the Prison Industrial Complex; and Dandy Lion: Rearticulating Black Masculine Identity. In addition to its temporary exhibitions, the museum hosts annual programs for poets in residence and emerging Bay Area artists.