SFMOMA /

In an effort to make culture and art experiences more accessible, Three Tenets initiated and designed the first-ever collaboration between Goodwill (GW) and SFMOMA, the second-largest modern and contemporary art museum in the US. We partnered with Julie Charles, SFMOMA’s current Director of Education, and Nancy Price, former Director of Marketing and Docent, to realize their efforts to be a museum for everyone and extend SFMOMA’s offerings to the local community.

Exploring the natural and built environments on a 1.2-mile walk from the former GW headquarters at 1500 Mission Street to SFMOMA and back was an important part of the event, bringing an awareness to how the urban system was impacting each individual’s personal experience.

For many participants, this was their first time in a museum. They were captivated from the moment they entered the postmodern museum lobby, gazing up at a 75-foot display of strands of human hair woven into hanging panels. Collected by hand from 325 barber shops and hair salons across 18 countries and on every continent by New York-based artist Wenda Gu, the site-specific installation was based on the intention of uniting people of diverse cultures and races. Gu sees the hair as body waste that through his own hands become a creation of art — something transcendent and beautiful in the rising of the human spirit, reflecting the modern biology and genetic science which has become a centerpiece for our lives. The hair was woven together into incomprehensible scripted lettering based off of Chinese, English, Hindi, and Arabic to highlight the cultural misunderstandings which Gu see as a human creation.


Photo Credits - SFMOMA
As we moved through the museum, while standing amidst what are considered to be some of history’s greatest pieces of art, some participants were in awe and shared their impressions. Others focused on their immediate experiences such as surprise at the varying perspectives when looking at the same painting or sculpture. In addition, many people were stunned by the juxtaposition of a museum with millions of dollars’ worth of art just a few blocks away from people who were homeless, living with all their possessions in a shopping cart. Moved to integrate their new perspectives within their teams at Goodwill, everyone left feeling touched in some way as they connected with the beauty and sometimes painful realities of existence.


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