Jan 13, 2008

Humble museum has grand plans

Leaders hope to raise $40 million for Coyote Point site, unsure about timeline

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

As diverse as they are, all of the Bay Area's major art museums have one thing in common: They're not in San Mateo County.

A group of local advocates hopes to change that.

Tucked into a shared building in Belmont's Twin Pines Park, with no paid staff and a lone gallery, the Peninsula Museum of Art is not about to be mistaken for the Palace of the Legion of Honor. It welcomes just a few visitors each day and has only recently begun building a permanent collection.

But its leaders envision a grander future. They're distributing a pamphlet that describes plans to raise $40 million to build and endow a new, "world-class" museum at Coyote Point Recreation Area in San Mateo.

The idea ties in with a broader plan for the windswept park that includes a revitalized Coyote Point Museum and a sparkling new performing arts center to host Broadway by the Bay. The trio would constitute a minor arts and education mecca in a county far richer in dollars than cultural resources.

The dream is a long way from coming true. Ruth Waters, the art museum's founder and board president, says fundraising efforts are just getting started, and she won't even hazard a guess as to how many years it might take.

The museum does have a building block in the form of a $1 million donation that came in late 2005 from Charles Homer of San Mateo. But it will have to secure many more big pledges before it can even kick off a public capital campaign.

"We don't want to go ahead until we know we'll be successful," Waters said.

Bringing a real art museum to San Mateo County isn't just a matter of pride or prestige, added Waters, an artist herself. She says San Francisco's museums are so popular that school groups can only visit by lottery, meaning children here have no convenient place to go to learn about art.

Waters envisions a 50,000-square-foot building with four galleries that include both permanent and rotating exhibits. It would stand apart from other museums in the area with glass-walled studios that would allow visitors to watch resident artists at work.

As for the exhibits, Waters said, "We are particularly interested in contemporary artists of this region who are pioneers in some way." Situated just north of the Coyote Point Museum on a hill overlooking the bay, the $25 million facility would be comparable in size to the Oakland Museum or the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara.

Burlingame lawyer Paul Constantino, a lifelong San Mateo County resident, recently heard about the Peninsula Museum of Art's big plans and got excited.

"I've always felt we had to go to San Jose or to San Francisco for a quality museum," he said. "This is the greatest county in the Bay Area - we should have an art museum of our own."

Dave Holland, the county's parks and recreation director, said the new master plan for Coyote Point includes both the art museum and performing arts center as possibilities.

"We're talking to both of them now, and there's room for both," Holland said. "I think if we could get them in place there with nice architecture, you'd have kind of a mini-Golden Gate Park area.

Broadway by the Bay's executive director, Greg Phillips, recently left for a post in Portland, Ore. Operations Manager Danielle Santana said the organization will continue to move forward with its plans for a new building.

Anyone interested in more information about the Peninsula Museum of Art can contact Ruth Waters at 650-594-1577 or visit www.peninsulamuseum.org.



E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.