de Young/Legion of Honor Donate Display Cases to the Counterculture Museum

An early photo of a potential exhibit layout

We recently reached an exciting milestone in our ongoing buildout of the Counterculture Museum. So far, the work involved has taken place primarily behind the scenes—things like developing concept plans, coordinating with volunteers, curating artifacts, and an array of other business.

Last Thursday, we visited the good folks at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), who operate the de Young and Legion of Honor. It was the kind of visit we had to make with a large semi-truck, because they had a rather large gift for us. Well, many large gifts, actually…

Weeks earlier, Estelle had reached out to FAMSF amidst making inquiries into much-needed display furniture for the Counterculture Museum. They got right back to us. Evidently the timing couldn’t have been better, they explained, as they had just undertaken a massive upgrade of the display systems at both the de Young and Legion, and were looking for a new home for ones they’d retired. All we had to do was handle the logistics of moving them over to Haight-Ashbury.

So thanks to Arie and his staff at FAMSF, plus a team of professional movers and their big truck, we were able to bring 30 world-class museum quality display cases to the Counterculture Museum.

Now the Fun Part Begins

With the units now in place to properly secure and display the artifacts themselves, we’ve finally reached what’s truly the most enjoyable part of this, and what we do best—designing exhibits to tell the story of counterculture in San Francisco, across America, and beyond.

Photographing a display

Part of a display in progress about resistance to the Vietnam War

We’re hard at work curating the collection, sorting items into their appropriate subject areas and displays, and fine-tuning the stories these pieces tell individually and in juxtaposition with one another.


A very special thank you to Richard Marcel, Doug Stevenson, and Howard Park, for contributing their personal collections, which make up a substantial portion of the Counterculture Museum collection.