Dedication - Art and Music Department - 50th Anniversary

We just let an important anniversary date pass.  The Art and Music Department of the San Francisco Public Library was dedicated on March 7, 1963.

Prior to 1963 there were two distinct Art and Music departments housed at the old Main Library at the corner of Larkin and McAllister Streets. The Art Department was located on the 1st floor and the Music Department was located on the 3rd floor.  The Music Department, in fact, was the Library's first subject department.

The dedication began with a welcome from Library Commission President John M. Bransten.  The dedicatory address was made by Supervisor John J. Ferdon who was acting-Mayor in George Christopher's absence.  The event also featured a performance of Madrigals and Motets by Claudio Monteverdi sung by the San Francisco State University College Chamber Choir.

The opening day brochure also lists a number of distinguished guests, including a number of luminaries in the local arts such as Kurt Adler, Elmer Bischoff, Beniamino Bufano, Richard Diebenkorn, Lou Harrison, Andrew Imbrie, Darius Milhaud, and Antonio Sotomayor.  It's not clear how many actually came to the dedication, but Lou Harrison, a close friend of music librarian James Cleghorn and a long-time user of the music collection, was certainly there.

During the 1980s our department became known as the Art, Music and Recreation Department.  Upon our move to our present building we became the Bernard Osher Foundation Art and Music Center.  By the mid-2000s we assumed our present title - the Art, Music and Recreation Center.

Happy anniversary to us!