this room today and i want to say how much i appreciate the staff. we have an outstanding staff at this museum. they are a happy lot and a confident group of people. i have worked with them for years and enjoy every moment with them and i would like to say they enjoy working with me as well. they are very excited at the announcement of a new director but they have been functioning very well with our deputy director who has been here as a deputy director since september and has done an excellent job and we look forward to having him with our new director. so, it gives me great pleasure to announce our new director is collin bailey who is the deputy director of the museum and the

curator of the department. the selection committee spent a great deal of time looking at what direction to pursue looking for a great director, we spent months before we found john buchannon, and i think that john did that for us admirably and we did in fact become the great exhibition museum. our next step is we believe to focus on our own collections and elevate ourselves intellectually and to have a leader who was a scholar and known internationally as a scholar and someone who would

elevate this new museum in our direction and art in this museum now exhibition based on the collections we have and further the name of the fine arts museum in this area, i think there is no one better than that collin berry, he's knowledgeable in every area of art, not just european art which is his specialty. he's a very delightful person and i know our staff will love working with him. i think he's watching this somewhere in the world. collin, whenever you are, i can't wait to have you here. he is a lot of fun and i did tell all of the staff that we would look for somebody who is a great leader for this institution but also somebody who is fun because john was really fun and i feel we have fulfilled every qualification

that we were looking for. his start date is june 1st, but he'll come out here in a short time. i would like to introduce our san francisco leader, mayor lee and we really value his input and the great he's here today to honor us. mayor lee? [ applause ] >> thank you, first of all let me tell you how i'm excited about being here. i always get excite when i come here. i want to signal my appraise for the board of trustees. you just did a marvelous job time and time again with the board of trustees to keep the confidence

not only in this honor but our cultural view in general. i just came back from paris toond -- and to let you know, last time i was in paris i was a high school student. now to be introduced to mayor, he's an arts expert, so kudos to the board of trust cease, -- the staff, to all of the members and would be members, quickly get your admissions into this because it's going to continue being great. many of you know i work hard for the city. i have always worked hard for the st e but one of the reasons i do is

because so many others work so hard for the city. i can't see more reflected for the city. the factor why we are a number of world destinations to come to whether it paris or china, the golden gate park, the legion of honor, this very exhibit that we are doing now with the girl with the pearl earning is just drawing wonderful crowds. last year, it drew 1.6 million visitors. that's an incredible number. then to add to that, both museums combined together service over 250,000 children and families. this is an incredible part of what our city is. i know that you know i have been working hard to attract different businesses, create more jobs in the city, provide more housing, all in an effort to make the city more

successful but i will always say, that as people like you and the board of trustees that provide us with a reason why the work hard to keep this city great as an international city to make sure we do all the things because arts, oftentimes when you talk to the employees of all the technology companies that i have been talking with every week and ask them what draws their talent to a city, the first three things they know whether it's public transportation, it's also the arts. because that's what keeps their creative mind functioning. and it's these institutions with their wonderful service and their continuing exhibitions, world renown exhibitions that introduce and keep their minds active and keeps the tremendous amounts of visitors coming to our city. i know how difficult it has been for board and for

the president to make quick search, to matchup the right person with such an incredible institution as these are. i for one, know how difficult it is and when you are trying to do that when you are running government, i want to also say to the staff that i enjoyed mr. buchannon's leadershipa as much as you do, to fill those shoes with mr. bailey i'm excited because i trust the board of trustees, the time you took to select him, i'm going to welcome mr. bailey and look forward to and excited to do it. this city is on such a great recovery economically for everybody that there is going to be even that many more families that are going to

enjoy the institutions that we have here. so on that background and with that effort, i just want to congratulate the board again, thank you to the staff. i know that the attendance is going to continue increasing. i know the contributions to not only art but just to the way we live in our city is going to continue because of this institution, the institutions that you are in charge of. so i'm here to just be a part of this experience, to welcome mr. bailey but to also know that your mayor is looking out and being a part of this institution and i want you to know that i am very happy to be a part of the boards effort and staff's effort to continue this great institution and all the wonderful work you do. it's my pleasure to be here and we'll continue to make all the

success it has been for many many decades. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> well, thank you very much. i'm also very happy to say that on march 12th, we had our millionth visitor of our fiscal year that doesn't finish until june 30. i think we'll have another record breaking year. all of our wonderful shows this year and exhibitions are doing very very well. so a week ago wednesday, we had over 13,000 visitors in this museum. so we are really on a roll as the mayor said and we look forward to many many more successes and with collin as our new leader, i know he's going to come up with some wonderful exhibitions. we are now going to have a videotape which

someone is going to create. is that correct? >> [film] i always say that our search was the same to raise or persona intellectually and to my selection committee, what we have to do is find the finest person there is and i think we have been able to do that. >> after an exhaustive international search the board of trustees selected collin

bailey. >> when i was in the indemnity panel. i was wondering how is it they have these shows? i was very impressed with this energy and really didn't quite understand how this had happened but could see it had happened. >> after the tragedy death of our director. we had to figure out how to reinvent ourselves and go to the next level. we found the right person to be to say he's of that stature, is a really a great thing for us. they know your name and they will google you and i can't wait until they do. >> you will find he studied at the post in malibu, the kendall

in fort worth and he's been awarded the prize for best art history book. >> i don't want to get bound up with one approach. i want to go back to a very fundamental obligation of the museum which is to conserve, to show, to communicate and educate. a museum is a place of enlightenment anden enjoyment. both of those are important. >> dr. bailey has been deputy director and chief -- i can feel comfortable with and admire and to be honest, the fact that the fine arts museums of san francisco, in a way are

the moment in one and serve like as that for this vibrant community. i'm really excited. i know there is lots of support. what's so exciting in the visits i have made to san francisco is how welcome you feel. that sense of a home, of a place, regardless of size, is very important. and it was thrilling to me to see that there is already suchen enthusiasm for the audience. >> he's talking about the art itself. just listen to the way he enters these works from -- >> who was the goddess of fertility of flowers, of

spring, it brings in the regeneration, if you like and this is a fantastic painting by one of the greatest 18th century artist, at the top of his game. this is the most flamboyant, exciting paint is of this artist. and we do feel that everything is possible. >> we can't, when we look but think of fertility and of femininity, some sense of generation. we can smell the perfume. >> to rembrandt. >> his mistress, incarcerated. he won't change the way he paints. >> some of dr. bailey's observation about his own

experience with art museums. >> you have to have real commitment and belief in your vision in what you believe is right and yes you have to be flexible and malleable to a certain degree but you keep going. i think that is case of a great artist. >> we are finally led to another of the museum's great treasures by wayne tibo. >> how happy one feels to look at these objects. a painting talks about more than what we can have, about consumerism but also about childhood pleasure. i love this artist. when i look at this, i feel happy. >>

[ applause ] >> okay. we now have a brief question and answer period if anyone has any questions? no? okay. >> i have one. [inaudible] what changes do you for see for the museum of collins coming here? >> well, i think what he'll do, first of all i think he'll take his time getting to know the museum and the staff really evaluating because especially because we have 2 museums. it's really a matter of becoming familiar with both of them, they are very different in character. i think it will take

several months to getting to know all the aspects of the museums and then he'll make very serious evaluations and take a very serious look at our department and evaluate whether we have the finest people we can have and are we running the department in the best way possible and other departments as well. this is not my area of expertise. i'm the board president, ideal with the trustees, and the deputy director runs the museums. i'm sure there will be many conversations between the deputy director and the director should he choose to keep the director, because the director has the ability to remove anyone he wishes to remove. i'm sure he won't do that right away but he will do whatever he feels will strengthen this museum. that will be up to him. i know what

he'll do is what he believes is the right thing for this museum. that's why we hired him. >> about timing. i think you said the -- [inaudible] there was a meeting on march 4, so the trustees met 2 hours before the announcement. i was wondering about the timing of that? >> the selection committee was formed a year ago january. and we met all through the year. we had 8 finalist and these people were brought in to meet with the committee. there are 13 people on the selection committee. there were a number of names that were considered, more names than the 8. we

narrowed it down to 8 and then we brought them in and out of the 8 there were 3 finalist and those 3 finalist were brought in a number of times. you can imagine trying to get 13 people with lives and 8 people who are directors who are high up in museums to come in and then be anonymous when you wanted to bring them to the museums and not let the staff recognize them because they are recognizable people with really in incredibly difficult task. you have some months where directors are running their own exhibitions and with trustees that have children out of school and it's difficult to get these people together. and that was when we are were doing the search for john buchannon as well. so finally in january, the selection committee voted

to appoint collin bailey. however, we had to be in sync with his board and he was not able to inform his board until yesterday. that was the time lapse and that is why we canceled the march 14th board meeting because there was no point to have it. we had to vote to appoint him because by our charter we appoint, not elect. the selection committee votes on it and it goes to the board and our board today voted to appoint him, both in the section of our board meeting. it was to afford him the courtesy to talk to his own board and the people he needed to talk to before we could inform our board. and that was unfortunately a time lag of about 6 weeks. and he of course wanted to give proper notice

and that's why he will not be officially joining us until june 1st. >> any other questions? okay. well thank you all very much. i hope we'll see you many many times in our press conferences and our dealings with our new director and the great success that i'm sure he will bring for the success here at the fine arts museums. thank you. [ applause ] >

>> good morning everyone. we would like to thank you to our station. our members moved into in station and became operational march 19th. we thank you for being here today. it could not have been done without the help of many people. i want to welcome you all to this station. it's a beautiful firehouse, a new firehouse. i was 6 years old in 1st grade on moscow street. we are delighted to be here. it's also a creative and unique collaborative effort. something we have never done before. it a partnership all the way. we

want to thank and acknowledge the museum of modern art. we talked about the concept of the museum of modern art which if you have not been to, it's a wonderful place to visit. their needs and desires to expand for educational programs and for more of their collection. the property at 676 howard, we identified it was a place not seismic ready for our members. it's as fire safety it's of paramount importance. when they talked to us about the ideas, they came together and decided to change properties. it's a total win win situation. we are combraet -- grateful for the efforts of the museum of modern art. we want to say thank you

very much and would like to acknowledge mr. charles swab, thank you, sir. board president, mr. bob fisher, dennis wong and michael are here with us today. and a man that worked hard long hours with us and that is neale, the director of the museum of modern art. thank you so much. so we talked about this unique partnership. it became a real thing in 2010. lots of meetings and discussion, last year march 2012, we had ground broken on this station and # 12 months later we are here to celebrate the official opening. i'm going to mention other people, but without further a do i'm going to mention the first person i'm

proud to work for is an innovative thinker who said yes, let's try this and that for better efficiency and safety. i can't thank this man who has been in several aspect of city government. he understand the types of collaborative efforts necessary to conclude and project like this. now it gives me great pleasure to introduce our great mayor, mayor edwin lee. >> thank you, chief. i want to thank former mayor gave some for having reached this incredible agreement with museum of modern art. i just thought it was such a win win for everybody. not easy by any stretch of the imagination because it takes a lot of resources even when we talk in terms of gifts, but let me

first of all start with saying thank you chief white to you and to the whole fire department's administration to local firefighters union as well for being an incredible part of our city. your mission has always been about saving lives. we see it everyday and sometimes when there are events we can't control happen but you are there without regard in many cases for the things that are occurring, but just there to save lives. i think this gift if anything reflects the value that we place on our fire department. so thank you for your incredible sacrifice all the time. we recognize, i know that mr. swab and the entire museum recognize that this gift does reflect that sentiment

because not only are you getting a replacement of a fire station, you are getting a more modern fire station. it is state of the art. it has equipment we have not seen in a long time and i like to idea that it has a generator that in case that big one hits you have three days there to really help us recover quickly. you have a number of other things, i was going to make a joke about mr. swab and i maybe testing each other on the pole, but i think you are going to beat me because you are in better shape than i am. but, again it's just a testament that we do value our fire department and leadership and all the men and with i am -- women that serve it and this gift is another reflection of that. having said that, i want to pay attribute that this would not have happened but for the incredible

expansion that the museum is doing and that expansion comes with another recognition of the fisher family and their incredible collection of art which this city really still needs to talk about it's deserving of it. i know that the effort that is being made by mr. swab and all the trustees that have made that expansion, it is a serious amount of money to do that. yes they did have to have that expansion. we got that gift out here and the tune of $12 million for the station for the land and design and construction by the fund raising efforts that have gone on. but part of that is lose the make way for a really wonderful collection that for generations years and years to come will appreciate it. i must

say that mr. swab has entered into this effort knowing that it was going to take a lot of resources to do. at a time when there are so many other competing interest to be able to talk to people about the collection, about what it means and then about the fire station in addition to that and the public private partnership, i want to again, thank mr. swab for your leadership in doing so and also benny, i know he's a personal friend of yours, i wish i knew mr. fisher better as well but we are going to enjoy this wonderful collection and so thank you for the modern art and bob for all your leadership for doing this. this would not have happened without that occurring. it is a win win for the city. this station, supervisor kim has just arrived. i want to