[applause] >> thank you. going over to our napster singers. the appropriate honoree for our recipients. liz, eddie, corrina, come on up. and earl. i hate telling myself what to

do. that is why i have a wife.

[applause]

>> walkjauqien torez, come on u. >> thank you. >> good evening, everyone. i am the director of neighborhood services here in the county of san francisco. i wanted to thank each and everyone of you. and it is a very grand space that only becomes more human when you decide to bring your spirit and soul. we're so happy to have our drivers here tonight, the answers tonight. our leaders here tonight, and i just want to make sure in addition to everyone else that we brought up earlier today, we

also take a moment to recognize markkas from rocus bonoza. i also wanted to make sure -- [applause] i also wanted to make sure on behalf of the mayor we recognize kqed to making sure we push this idea of community. i also want to thank especially susie to make sure we push the agenda of community and our government and great city. i just want to make sure we noted the assembly member presented with each and everyone

of you a proclamation in order of your achievements. will also find a seat of honor recognizing your deep in diverse achievements. thank you for coming tonight. please keep on coming back. we look forward to having you with us again and again. thank you. [applause] >> who's hungry? [laughter] i heard there was free food, too. once again, thank you for attending. we look forward to next year. four, maybe five new recipients. it is indeed an honor to be part of that club. thank you. if everyone could proceed towards the north like court. it in line.

-- get in line. everyone travel safe. >> i should not be on stage. when you should be seeing -- i am used to the stage but not.

that is who should be on stage. i am an animator. i am with picks are animation studios. in some ways, i felt comfortable being on stayed behind my computer. it is weird for me to be on the microphone. i have a lot of work to do but i am here to explain that, i'll come to that later. i wanted knowledge some of our special guests this morning. first off, i have some flashcards. how wanted acknowledged and the asian art museum director jay tsu. when i think of jay hsu, i

think, aka dr. j. he is master of the universe. also, i never thought had -- would have the opportunity to introduce the mayor of san francisco, mayor ed lee. i just a to introduce the mayor. that is awesome. we also have a bunch of other special guests today. i would also like to introduce david chiu, president of the board of supervisors. thank you for coming. the mayor does not come along. he has a policy. supervisor carmen chu is also with us.

we are also lucky enough to have supervisor mark farrell as well. maybe he is having a pastry or something. there is a lot of traffic between here and city hall. that is a bad joke, i know. we also have supervisor eric mar here with us this morning. all the supervisors are sitting together. we are also lucky enough to have the chief of protocol for the city of san francisco charlotte schultz. last but not least, we have tony sun, chair of the asian arts commission. that's good started this morning. i am going to get off the stage

and and things off over to jay hsu. he is going to tell us a little bit more about what we're doing today. >> someone needs to hand me the remote. terrific. brand implementation is a journey. the asian art museum embarks on a new journey. to reinvent ourselves, to engage a broad audience. the broad audience is very much at the core of what we do here and who we are. why now, you ask? as the aging world influence grows, so is understanding its culture. more than half of the global population lives in the asia. to look at our own san francisco bay area, one third of the population are of asian descent.

also, a challenging economy offers us the opportunity to take advantage by being bold and taking risks. we need to increase our impact and by doing so, increasing revenue. also, a successful restructuring of our long-term debt. that took place earlier this year and has put the museum on sound financial footing. on that note, i would like to thank the city leaders for leading the effort and working with our newseum team in finding solutions. today, i am particularly happy to say, at this moment in history, we have an asian mayor, asian president of the board of supervisors, and an asian commissioner for budget and finance. [applause]

any successful brand always starts with a strong vision, and we do have a vision. with asia as our lands and aren't as our cornerstone, we start connections across cultures and for time. in other words, asia is our focus, but our per view is global. one single important word in our vision is connection. making connections. we particularly explore connections in two dimensions. we want to connect cultures within asia and also connect culture is globally. asia and the rest of the world. the other dimension is connecting the past with the present and future. in other words, connecting the historic arts to the contemporary arts of today.

for our visitors, we translate our vision into our brand promise, which i want all of you to remember when you leave the building. the past is never static. the past is full of potential for new discovery, new knowledge. our programs are to unlock the great potential of the past, to find a new perspective. to look at the past with today's perspective, today's questions, so that we can learn more from the past. in doing so, we want to inspire the creativity for our program, the creativity that exists within every one of us, to create new conversations, new questions.

awaken the past, inspire the next. in doing so, we want to appeal to our lovers and art newbies. in other words, the museum is for everyone. whether you are local or far away. no matter your interest is in asia or elsewhere in the world, everybody has a connection. we want to make those connections and discoveries. let me give you one example of how we have started to implement our brand and to realize our brand promise for our visitors. across all you will see an exhibition of exquisite korean ceramics dating from the 15th and 16th century, as we all would display our works of art and the most beautiful of

manners, so that our visitors can enjoy the beauty and style of those people. at the same time and, for the first time in our history, we have built a new contemporary dimension to the exhibition. the curator has included work from sample -- several contemporary caribbean artists, ranging from photography to installations, too surprising media that somebody may or may not realize, all of this that you see is made out of soap. this brings up a question, what is a sense of permanence say? looking at the contemporary art enables us to reflect on the timeless pieces of the 15th and

16th century with new questions, new perspectives. likewise, looking at that contemporary art in the context of the traditional art, we can ask the question, how is art today? what inspires us about tradition? in other words, awaken and inspire. so we will do a lot more along these lines. in doing so, our focus has started to shift from art objects to an experience centered around art. art is at the core of who we are, but want to create a new engaging experience that allows us to connect art to life, connecting to our individual needs. the branding is really about transforming the institution, how we do our business, but most

importantly, how we serve our visitors. how we create a new experience, how we engage our individuals to have individualized experiences. one part of our brand identity is our visual identity. we want that to reflect what our brand is. particularly, three qualities. we want our visual identity to convey that, one, our brand offers a new perspective. second, we are forward and confident. the third, the asian art museum in bites all to engage. in other words, the asian art museum is for all people. offering a new perspective that is bold and confident but inviting everyone to engage. now it is time to unveil at our new visual identity. may i invite the mayor and our

board chair tony to join me in cutting the ribbon. >> wow. it is time. as these folks get in place, i am going to count down. we are all going to say asian altogether. get ready with your scissors. i am going to begin my countdown. 3, 2, 1. asian. wow. [applause]

>> now that the mayor and board chair has helped us through this point, may i invite them up for some pictures?

>> thank you, mr. mayor. thank you, tony. let me repeat once again the three qualities we want our visual identity to convey. a new perspective, bold and confident, and asian arts museum invites all to engage. as you may know, this inverted market is from a mathematical science known as a universal quantifier. we whaant everyone to know thate are here to engage you. we want to awaken and inspire. let me show you a couple of examples of how you can use this. we have window treatment for

everyone. and then we have a new visitor'' guide, a new membership material, a new look. you can take us with you. and also, out and about. i still strongly about this market because it is very versa tile. you can superimpose images from diverse cultures coming asian, not asian, and we can use this in a powerful way. imagine, we can even commissioned artists to do a rendition of this as a sculpture. and the possibilities. before i invite the marriage to give our audience his thoughts, that also -- may also asked take some pictures please?

>> mr. mayer, please. >> good morning, everybody. i want to thank all of the supervisors, my posse for being here. thank you for the introduction.

hall also want to give special thanks to tony and kiko for your leadership. p j from the commission is also here. we are a very special city, of course. as you know, charlotte and i have been working together for the last eight months, celebrating this wonderful diversity in the city as we will and in so many international visitors that come in. every opportunity we have, we market, but we also say, if you what a great experience, go to the asian. see what we have. it is one of the few cities to have its own asian art museum. that is a wonderful reflection of our city's commitment to not only the history of the population and growth and ties to the far east, but also

honors the diverse art we have in the city. so many museums are looking at how they can contribute to not only the residents here, but what i think the nation is on course to do, something that i know charlotte and i talk a lot about, that is promoting our international status, making sure that we have an art museum that appeals to the kids in the tenderloin, to the kids all over the city, to the families we have in the city, but also to be special to our international visitors. i think, n.j., your honor, creating -- i think, jay, creating this and branding is a great thing. last year, there was a financial

challenges that occurred all over the world. worldwide economic challenges. if the old models of how you depended on certain bonds or going to be challenged, well, of course they became a challenge to our museum. we got together with the city, the board of supervisors, with the leadership of david chiu, eric mar, got together with the board of directors and, of course, a big thank-you to ben rosenfield who helped us all to figure out with the mayor's office, how we could put together a real state of financial support and strength to make sure the that the asian could move forward. they responded. not only with an agreement going forward, but with this idea of branding which came out of the number of ideas of how the nation can make sure it is appealing to an even broader

audience, making sure that its wells, richness, not only in this place -- we have a lovely room like this for actual performances that are consistent with the asian culture. as you know, some 20,000 kids get invited to come through these halls to learn and see the exhibits. i am very excited about the next exhibit. i know the bali exhibit here will have international flavor. with this opening, with this brand name, i want to think the board of directors, the foundation. jay hsu and your work with the city. the supervisors, charlotte, the arts commission, and our controller, for coming together at this time to allow our asian to give an even