Cayetana S. Gómez es la nueva presidenta y directora ejecutiva de El Museo Mexicano en San Francisco. Cayetana S. Gomez is the new president and CEO of The Mexican Museum in San Francisco. Photo Alice Titus

By Olympia Zampathas

If Cayetana S. Gomez’s colorful scarf doesn’t give away her love for arts and culture, then her new job definitely does.

In late January, the Mexican Museum of San Francisco announced Gomez as its next president and chief executive officer (CEO).

“I’m excited about being [a part of] a Mexican Museum,” said Gomez. “I’m excited about being here in San Francisco, being here in California. And I’m excited about everything”

Gomez, who has been involved with the museum since 2014, is charged with the hefty responsibility of leading fundraising efforts for the museum’s new Yerba Buena Gardens location at 706 Mission St., which is set to open in 2018.

The Mexican Museum is regarded as the premier West Coast museum of Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, and Latino art, culture and heritage.
The museum was originally founded in 1975 in the heart of the Mission District by resident and artist Peter Rodriguez. It holds more than 16,500 objects and hopes to expand on its current collection.

According to a press release, Gomez has been brought in to oversee “business operations for the Museum’s current location at Fort Mason Center” as well as implement “the business and strategic plans for the cultural component of the 706 Mission Street Residential and Mexican Museum project,” which will be break ground this July.

The museum has three years to raise $30 million for the endowment and some for construction, according to the CEO.

“It’s so perfect to have one here in this location,” said Gomez. “I think it’s going to be a real asset and a treasure to have this museum.”

A design of the new museum location, which will open to the public in 2018. Design by TEN Arquitectos courtesy of the Mexican Museum

Born and raised in Mexico City, Gomez has great love and pride for her Mexican heritage. Raised by a mother working at The National Museum of Anthropology for almost 30 years, it was like second-nature for Gomez to work in museums as well.

“I almost grew up there. So that’s my first immersion in Mexican culture,” said Gomez. “That’s where I first got my interest in museums and Mexican culture.”

Never having lived in the United States before, Gomez moved to the city on Feb. 3. But she originally came to the city more than 20 years ago, so it’s been a “pending date with San Francisco.”

Before being hired on as president and CEO, Gomez was director of public relations and fundraising for the Museo de Memoria y Tolerencia in Mexico City, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the importance of tolerance, nonviolence, and human rights, on top of all of her other work with museums.

Gomez is also a mother to two sons, Guillermo, 20, and Alejandro, 18.

“They know this is like a dream come true,” said Gomez.

In 2012, the Mexican Museum became an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute and offers free admission. Their current hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Building D of Fort Mason Center.

“We are extremely pleased to have Cayetana join our team,” said Andrew M. Kluger, chairman of The Mexican Museum Board of Trustees.

The new Mission Street location will occupy the first four floors of the 43-story condo with its own separate entrance in Jessie Square. It will have 13 galleries, a temporary exhibition area, an amphitheater and a cafe, and is designed by world-renowned architect Enrique Norten.

“We’re going to show to San Francisco and to the world what Mexican culture is, which is great,” said Gomez. “If a city needs a Mexican Museum, it’s San Francisco.”