means to the lgbt community in barcelona. that is something that is really special. spain, barcelona have had same- sex marriage for a number of years now. and the world has not come to an end. those cities are arriving. that region is driving. it shows you that you can be committed to civil rights, equality, and that commitment to add flights to something very positive. i think it makes sense, that someone like mayor newsom who has led the way, it is joining up with a city that has been doing it right for so long. i want you to know, in barcelona, many people see you as a good political leader for what you have done. now let me introduce to you someone from spain, someone who

played an important role in city hall, in barcelona, his job as a counselor of international relations is to represent the city of barcelona throughout the world. ignacio? >> good morning. i will set a couple of words in catalan the end of the speech. mayor newsom, officials, it is a great honor to share this moment with you. on behalf of the mayor of barcelona, i would like to say this ceremony is very important and emotional for every citizen in barcelona. we share a path on certain routes. hispanic history that we can see.

we admire san francisco day. during the last century's, barcelona and san francisco were considered harbor cities. for many decades we have been receiving populations from many different countries. you are in western get me to the united states and we are the capital for the in mediterranean region. we are both seen as open cities, for many european cities the word of san francisco for barcelona means open minded cities. this is important for us. we have many things in common in the past but also the present. we have read some of your economic proposals, like mission bay, similar to some of our high-tech projects in barcelona. i want to express our gratitude, mayor newsom, for your projects that you have

introduced. as well, above all, i hope this ceremony is a commitment for a good relationship. we have many things to share, compared, learn together. in our agreement, we mentioned civil rights, transfer, education, art, and many other things. i hope that started the day we could consolidate new levels of cooperation and develop them. let me add my -- and by the mayor of said the disco and every other official to visit barcelona. i am sure that our cities can grow and learn together. today, it is a great honor for us to be here. thank you, mr. newsom for your hospitality. [speaking catalan]

we have another sister city like you, mr. mayor. [speaking catalan] thank you very much to everybody. congratulations. [applause] >> thank you. as mayor newsom said, we have supervisor bevan dufty. i also want to the knowledge and member of the other supervisors wanted to be here today but there are stuck in a committee meeting. i know that many others wanted

to be here as well. next i want to introduce the man who represents the country of spain, here in tampa disco, and of course we cannot talk about spain without talking about the world cup. we are all excited about the victory, and thank you mayor newsom, to you and the rec and parks department for the work they did around the world cup. if you have the opportunity to watch the game in front of city hall, i have to point out, the man who scored the winning goal is someone who plays for the barcelona team. that is important. the council's general of spain. manuel pradas. >> i wore red for the spanish team. when we arrived for the first time in san francisco, they were flabbergasted by the beauty of

the unique and beautiful city that overlooks the san francisco bay. if i am told -- many times i am -- no wonder this is a city founded by spaniards. we know how to choose the right place. [laughter] as you know, back in the 17th century, spanish sailors explored the pacific ocean. together, we came with ideas and language. it is no surprise that many of the mountains, rivers, cities in california have spanish names. all spaniards gathered in city hall, many from catalonia, and from other regions in my country.

many of you here represent the foundation for the better relations between the united states and spain. the signing of this memorandum of understanding between the city of barcelona and san francisco marks the establishing of a new city partnership that aims to create new links between 10 francisco and the barcelona. and the path ahead that will allow us to widen our economic and trade relations. scientific and technical knowledge. better understanding for the mutual interest, not only of these two cities, but of our country. the date is the right time to recognize and honor the effort this project. the mayor of the city of san francisco gavin newsom and his

team, the mayor of barcelona and his team and all institutions and private citizens who helped make possible this relationship between san francisco and barcelona. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mr. council in general. next to let me introduce someone who is very important. that is not just about establishing the sister city relationship, but making sure it is a meaningful one. that would not be possible without the work of the sister city committee. the president of that committee is here. she has been working diligently for the last few months. we are excited about the leadership that she will continue to provide. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome and thank you for being here.

it is an honor to have such key figures here today as we welcome the formal recognition of the sister city relationship between barcelona and san francisco, and what better timing than spain's recent victory in the world cup last week. back in history, the catalan region was home to an important figure, gaspart laportala. finally touching in the san francisco bay area after a 10- month journey. we now turn our sights to the advances in technology and transportation as we forge ahead with our new sister city

relationship. the committee has been formed. we lead efforts in streamlining sure of communication with our colleagues in barcelona and one of our first effort will be to lead the drive for direct flights between san francisco and the barcelona. transportation will be a key interplay between the two cities and san francisco looks forward to learning more about the high-speed train systems and learning about future space projects. further information sharing in business and technology and the areas of academia, a green tie, clean-cut, will be fostered and developed through these new lines of communication. san francisco and are still hold two of the largest gay communities in the world. we will do our effort to bring the two communities together to further their ideas and goals. last but not least, the

committee will play a significant role in the cultural and gastronomy exchanges, between the opera, symphony, art collections, and that made in food and wine to of both regions, both cities have much enthusiasm in building or bridges. we are pleased to be carrying on these endeavors. on the calf of our co-chair and committee, i want to thank the mayor's office of barcelona and san francisco, special thanks to david campos and his team for their leadership, and the foundation for their tireless efforts, and one last thing. my mother, god bless her soul, passed away two months ago. i had to leave my mother in iran and my original country to attend this. that would have wanted me to be here to work on this.

working on something i believe in. thank you and congratulations. >> thank you. [applause] it is now my honor to announce the memorandum of understanding between the city of san francisco and the barcelona will now be signed by -- mayor gavin newsom.

>> thank you, everyone for the leadership that helped to make this today -- make this happen today. we have some sparkling wine from spain. we have a present here. >> thank you. that is great. this is good.

[inaudible]

[applause] >> thank you all for being here. please stick around and enjoy the morning. take the rest of the day off, right, mayor? >> as the city of san francisco has grown, there are a number of cultural organizations that have grown with it. the san francisco symphony, the ballet, and ensure we are

celebrating the 75th anniversary of the san francisco museum of modern art's. one of the things many of our viewers may not understand about museums is the way they grow and evolve is really about a broad. his patient and support from many individuals who give their collections -- and broad support from many individuals who give their collections to the museum. this year it will be celebrating and abolishing those individuals through exhibition -- and acknowledging those individuals throughout asia. joining me is janet bishop, the curator. i understand you have been with the museum quite a number of years. you remember its original home on van ness. now you are part of that transition to the center, the

civic center, and of course your museum has been really the anchor of cultural tenants that has helped us transform this area of the city. >> to my mind, it is wonderful to be part of such a rich cultural community. when visitors come to this area, that have so many different options. >> let's talk about the anniversary show, which will be a phenomenal opportunity for san franciscans and all visitors of the city to get a real sense of how the city has grown and the importance of culture. >> we focus on moments where it was involved in pushing the dialogue about contemporary art forward. the jackson pollock exhibition in 1945 is a perfect example of that. our founding director was deeply interested in abstraction and was engaged in dialogue with the

guggenheim about bringing the jackson pollack showed to the west coast. the original price for the painting, $750. are directors thought that was too much of a stretch before the board of trustees, so she convinced them to reduce the price to firefighter dollars. it was just -- to $500. it was what was needed to persuade the board. it is a very subjective history of art. it has been very much shaped by the individuals involved with the museum over the years. in 1935, would start with the gallery with works that came in through albert bender, one of our founding trusties. when we opened our doors in 1935, 181 of the 186 pieces in our permanent collection had been gifted. >> what are the names that pop out as the museum evolved?

>> we have another gallery that looks at the theories that the museum has since the late 1980's. we focus on a particular aspect of that program that developed under one of art curators. he arrived in 1989 and was especially interested in artists. >> are some of the highlights? >> one of the aspects of the museum program that i have been especially involved with have been the exhibitions that stand for society for the encouragement of contemporary art. it is encouraged to honor exceptional bay area artists during their careers. for instance, an early worked who showed here in 1996.

for this exhibition, he has extended an updated it to 2010 with the addition of photographs and other frameworks. >> thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> as we examine the 75th anniversary, we cannot overlook its important role as an educational institution and how it brings public program to all of our citizens in the bay area. try me now to talk about that is dominick, the curator of education and public programs. you are vested with a multifaceted responsibility, with education and also multimedia. could you explain that? >> there are three main areas. we produce education activities

for all ages, k-12, and adults, and we also produce a lot of educational media, a lot of interviews with artists, stuff that we published online, and other galleries. there's also a public program, which include some educational activities, but also live cultural programming for the artists projects. >> what are all the ways that the museum reaches out? >> the latest platform for educational media is launching right now with his anniversary. we have gotten to the point where we could put a lot of the content about artists, the stories behind artists we have had on line, but those on to the ipod touch. >> could you talk about the education role that the museum plays in the city of san francisco? >> we are in the middle of a new

initiative to provide more resources and programs for families and the locality. we are benefiting from a grant from the wallace foundation, and in the last two years many more bay area families have come to the museum, participated in the programs, most of which take place on sundays. we will see more and more different offerings rolled out in the coming months. >> thank you, dominic, for being part of "culture wire." >> the museums are almost like a team sport. there is a tremendous amount of talented staff that puts together patrons to help support the institutions, but they all need a coach. the coach is the director.

neal, could you let the viewers know, you have been director how long? >> we are working on eight years. >> now you have the 75th anniversary. how does that feel? >> we opened this building in 1995. it was bought at that time as a move from the civic center and the veterans building 2 third street, into our new building, a much expanded space, better space. it will be wonderful for the museum for decades to come. and 15 short years we have been amazed by we have outgrown the building. the collection has grown to 26,000 works. >> was a challenging to decide what was going to be put on display during the anniversary year? >> 3 people on our staff spent 2

1/2 years of going through archives, the storage vaults, honor think all kinds of works that we have not seen -- uncovering lot of works that we have not seen but also history we uncovered about how we presented a television show produced by the museum, in the museum, in 1950. a lot of great stories that the presentation tells. >> the most recent news was the incredible decision on the part of donna morris fisher to give their collection to sfmoma. >> think it is commonly understood that the fischer collection was 1100 works by some of the great contemporary works, one of the great collections in the world. in fact, the collection has not been seen. it has been largely stored at

the headquarters, there has never been a publication or exhibition. >> but fischer collection and the additional expansion over the next 50 years, what in the next 25 years will the museum be doing? >> we are very committed to expanding the museum, expanding the collection, the overall growth of the museum. that is one of the things that is very important to us. we are about to enter a strategic planning process. the fundamental question we want to address is, how wil sfmoma growth and enhanced its engagement with the community? it is not enough that the museum has great works in its collection, has great exhibitions, wonderful education programs, it is how does the institution grow and enhance its relationship with the community. it is very important to us.

>> on behalf of the residents of san francisco, we thank you for shepherding this institution through this incredible growth phase, and thank you for being part of "culture wire." >> my pleasure, thank you. >> the museum has exciting anni government television. >> good afternoon. everyone hear me all right? ok. i will try to talk loud, but sounds like the mikes are working. thanks for coming, everybody. welcome to the new great valencia street. i'm the director of public works in san francisco. it is a great honor to be here with you and all of the great folks we have around us.

it is great to be here on a great day for the mission district, a great day for the ci city. the san francisco department of public works at the mayor's direction was able to secure $6.1 million, $5.3 million of which was federal funds, to make this project happen. i do want to acknowledge the u.s. department of transportation, the metropolitan transportation commission and county transportation authority for helping funnel that money from washington, d.c. right here to the streets of san francisco. as big and great as this new street is for san francisco -- and it is great -- it just yet another chapter in an ongoing narrative about our open space and the public realm in in san francisco from street fairs to

outside festivals to extensions of the sidewalks to sunday streets, and any of you here this past sunday just a few blocks down for sunday streets in the mission knows what i'm talking about. but from sunday streets to the new pavement to parks, to the major street reconstructions like this, there is a narrative that has a theme of opening up our public realm for a much broad are use. rethinking our public realm and making it accessible to all modes of transportation, to all people and more enjoyable for people to be in as opposed to just pass through. we are about to take a big step in terms of institutionalizing some of the thinking behind the transformation of our open space and you are going to hear about that today. but none of this from the pavement to parks to sunday streets to this project and rest of the great streets program that we manage would have been

possible and we wouldn't be here today were it not for the vision, leadership and drive and tenacity of our mayor, who i would like to bring up, mayor gavin newsom. >> thank you for coming out. we have done a number of these. san bruno avenue. and this is now competing for that title as good as it gets. to portions of polk street. we have been doing a lot of this lately and we are really proud of it. a lot of folks have been wondering why we get so caught up in this and why this is so important and not all the other things you are supposed to focus on such as much. we are focused on other things just as much, but the reason we highlight this is it is tangible. it is a manifestation of an ideal and vision to connect