The Diego Rivera Theater is set to become the cultural heart of the CCSF campus. Placed in a new academic precinct along Frida Kahlo Avenue, the Theater will be the home of Diego Rivera’s Pan American Unity mural while providing a central base for the music and drama academic departments. The building will also include three new performing arts venues along with instructional and administrative spaces, making it an important building on campus and within the larger San Francisco cultural community.
“It is an honor to work on the Diego Rivera Theater to exhibit a work of art with so much history and cultural value for the city of San Francisco and the global art community. The new building will provide multiple performance spaces for education and social interaction, and ultimately provide a cultural asset for the campus and the public. We are proud to contribute to this effort to safeguard and display the mural at a prominent location on campus in collaboration with CCSF, TEF Design, and our team of collaborators.”
Sam Miller, Partner, LMN Architects.
Diego Rivera, The Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on this Continent (Pan American Unity), 1940. © Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera & Frieda Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico D.F. / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image: courtesy City College of San Francisco. Courtesy SFMOMA and CCSF.
Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity mural holds immense cultural significance as a vivid representation of the artist's vision for unity across the Americas. Featuring a vibrant tapestry of figures that weave together historical, cultural, and industrial scenes from various regions, the artwork emphasizes the interconnectedness and solidarity between these diverse nations in the Americas. In the years after its creation, the mural faced a series of challenges and at one point, it was considered lost. The mural's journey reflects its enduring power to inspire and bring people together, overcoming various obstacles and ultimately becoming a cherished centerpiece of public art.
New Diego Rivera Theater by LMN and TEF. Courtesy LMN Architects.
Diego Rivera’s inspiring Pan American Unity Mural is the centerpiece of the building, where it will finally reside after its tumultuous 70-year history. Originally painted on Treasure Island for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940, the mural has not been widely viewed by the public until being recently displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Theater’s mural lobby, which will house the artwork, has been designed to display the art to both the building’s users as well as pedestrians outside. The lobby is wrapped in a glass wall, showcasing the mural, and allowing passers-by to be drawn in by the presence of this historical work of art. The Diego Rivera Theater is an open and welcoming building that integrates into the existing circulation patterns of the campus and facilitates a pathway between the adjacent STEAM and MUB Buildings.
The building’s program includes three concrete blocks of varying sizes, each containing a separate performance venue. The venues include a 600-seat performance hall, 150-seat studio theater, and 100-seat recital hall—all optimized for different performance experiences. The building will also contain plentiful instructional spaces, practice rooms, and administrative offices.
Diego Rivera shaking hands with Timothy Pflueger, 1940. Courtesy San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
“Diego Rivera’s deep connections to San Francisco and the United States cannot be overstated, and we are very excited about this opportunity to design the new Diego Rivera Theater. The project reflects the highly interdisciplinary character of performance venues in the 21st century and is defined by the open lobby and composition of program blocks that are organized around the mural. Designed from the inside out, the project takes advantage of the building program, the views, and the circulation patterns around campus. The lobby will showcase the artwork and will allow students and visitors to admire the mural from multiple angles.”
John Chau, Partner, LMN Architects.
“For many years, the mural has been a hidden treasure, tucked away from the public in a neglected campus theater. Not only will the new theater complete the western expansion of the CCSF campus across Frida Kahlo Way, but its open glass lobby will also enable students, locals, and visitors alike to connect with and appreciate the world-class treasure in a museum-like setting of the same caliber.”
Douglas Tom, Partner, TEF Design.
Designed to be a centerpiece on the CCSF campus, the Diego Rivera Theater will support its educational mission while also being a destination for visitors to San Francisco and an anchor of the local arts community.
