Museum of Performance and Design

What Museum of Performance and Design does

Museum of Performance and Design (MP+D) is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1947 by Russell Hartley, a dancer and costume designer with San Francisco Ballet. It operates as a performing arts archive and museum, stewarding a 3.5 million-item collection that spans the Gold Rush era to the present, including photographs, audiovisual recordings, programs, set and costume designs, manuscripts, oral histories, and rare books. MP+D serves as the official archive for San Francisco Ballet and acts as custodian of records for San Francisco Opera, Stern Grove Festival, and the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, providing research services to performing arts organizations, scholars, and the general public. Free-admission onsite exhibitions run from a temporary Jerrold Avenue location between Potrero Hill and Bernal Heights, while a 24/7 Online Collections portal exposes 4,300+ digitized items via Omeka-based digital archives (Anna Halprin, Legacy Oral History, Christensen Family, Captured Live, California Light and Sound).

Revenue is generated through a mix of donations, project grants from federal and state funders (NEA, CLIR/Mellon, IMLS, California Humanities), private foundation support (Zellerbach, Fleishhacker), exhibition loan fees, a museum store, and ticket revenue from the annual San Francisco Arts Medallion ceremony ($200 individual / $375+ sponsor tickets). Distribution channels include the onsite museum, the online collections portal (global reach), traveling exhibitions available for loan to peer institutions, and off-site collaborations with the San Francisco Historical Society and others.

The organization runs programs including the San Francisco Arts Medallion (since 2005), Archive Live artist collaborations, internships for library/archives/museum-studies students, volunteer pipelines, and convenes the Bay Area Mutual Aid Network (BAMAN), a disaster preparedness coalition of 45+ archives, libraries, and museums. Stable staffing of six employees supports a portfolio of grant-funded digitization projects (NEA Art Works 2017/2018/2020, CLIR 2021, IMLS 2015, California Humanities 2019, Keck Foundation, Mellon).

Name

Museum of Performance and Design

Legal name

Museum of Performance + Design

Website

https://mpdsf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Museum of Performance and Design is a San Francisco nonprofit founded in 1947 that preserves a 3.5 million-item performing arts archive and serves scholars, performing arts organizations, and the public through free onsite and online exhibitions, research services, traveling exhibitions, and the annual San Francisco Arts Medallion ceremony.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts Archive and Museum

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Museums (e.g., Maritime, Aviation, Sports, Music, Film) (THAJADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Media Archives, Libraries & Content Preservation (MPABADAL), Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH)

Keywords

• Performing arts archives
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Digital archival collections
• Museum exhibitions
• Research library services

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The museum relies heavily on donations from supporters to sustain ongoing programs. The organization is a charitable nonprofit founded in 1976.
2. Exhibition Loans: The museum offers exhibitions for loan to other institutions, with contact for pricing and availability.
3. Media Kit Sales: Downloadable media kits available for press and media inquiries.
4. Museum Store: Online store selling merchandise related to the museum and its exhibitions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Museum of Performance + Design (MP+D) is a nonprofit performing arts museum and archive founded in 1947 that preserves and provides public access to a 3.5 million-item collection spanning the Gold Rush era to the present. Its core offerings include onsite and online exhibitions, a digital collections portal with over 4,300 photographs and audiovisual recordings, traveling exhibitions for loan to other institutions, research and archival services, and the annual San Francisco Arts Medallion ceremony honoring Bay Area arts leaders.

Product overview

Museum of Performance + Design is a performing arts museum and archive offering a unified portfolio of digital and physical services. The core offering is its 3.5 million-item physical and digital collection accessible through Online Collections (digital archives including Anna Halprin Digital Archive, Legacy Oral History, Christensen Family Digital Archive, Bay Area Theater Images, and California Light and Sound). Physical offerings include onsite exhibitions at their temporary museum location and traveling Exhibitions for Loan (In Character, Maestro!, Stars of the Early SF Stage). Supporting programs include the San Francisco Arts Medallion annual ceremony, internship and volunteer opportunities, research services, and the Media Kit for press inquiries. The digital platform provides 24/7 access to 4,300+ photographs, audiovisual recordings, and memorabilia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• San Francisco Arts Medallion: Award created by MP+D in 2005 to recognize individuals whose leadership, action, and generosity have benefited the cultural life of the Bay Area
• Bay Area Mutual Aid Network (BAMAN)

Products and services

• Onsite Museum Exhibitions Rotating physical exhibitions at MP+D's temporary museum located between Potrero Hill and Bernal Heights in San Francisco (2200 Jerrold Ave, Ste. T), open Tuesdays-Fridays 1pm-6pm and the first Saturday of each month 1pm-5pm, with free admission for most exhibitions. Targeted at the general public and performing arts enthusiasts.
• Online Collections Portal 24/7 digital archive providing public access to over 4,300 photographs, audiovisual recordings, and printed memorabilia from the museum's performing arts collection. Includes specialized sub-archives such as Anna Halprin Digital Archive, Christensen Family Digital Archive, Legacy Oral History, California Light and Sound, and Captured Live dance photography.
• Exhibitions for Loan Traveling exhibition program offering three exhibitions to other institutions: In Character: Actors Acting (45 photos by Howard Schatz), Maestro! Photographic Portraits by Tom Zimberoff (52 conductor portraits), and Stars of the Early San Francisco Stage (15 framed photographs). Pricing available upon inquiry to [email protected].
• Museum Archives and Research Services Research access to MP+D's 3.5 million-item collection, including historic photographs, press clippings, playbills, set and costume designs, archives and personal papers, fine art, costumes, artifacts, rare books, manuscripts, and audiovisual recordings spanning the Gold Rush era to the present. Available by appointment via email or phone.
• San Francisco Arts Medallion Ceremony Annual award ceremony created in 2005 to recognize individuals whose leadership, action, and generosity have benefited the cultural life of the Bay Area. The event features individual tickets at $200 and sponsor packages starting at $375. Recent honorees include John Adams (2024), Alonzo King (2022), and Helgi Tomasson (2021).
• Museum Store Online store selling merchandise related to the museum and its exhibitions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 4,300 items accessible online 24/7
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• San Francisco Historical SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2024Inaugural collaboration for SF On Stage exhibition featuring highlights from MP+D's collection of historical artifacts from dance, music, and theater at the San Francisco Historical Society Museum.
• Brava CabaretsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2018Venue partner for The Latin Quarter: Maclovia Ruiz and the Missing Beat performance and installation.
• San Francisco BalletcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 April 2018Cooperation on Unbound: Unwound program examining choreography and dancer relationships. San Francisco Ballet is also MP+D's official archive.
• The Collected Works (San Francisco theater collective)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Collaboration to develop site-responsive dramatic performances based on archival materials from MP+D's collection, including the Archive Live 2016 performance.
• Bay Area Mutual Aid Network (BAMAN)coreOthers · 1 January 2006BAMAN is a network of Bay Area libraries, archives, and museums dedicated to disaster preparedness and response. MP+D is a member institution with access to disaster response supplies cached at three Bay Area locations.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• San Francisco Historical Society: Partner institution that hosted the SF On Stage exhibit (2024) featuring MP+D's collections. Comparable as a San Francisco-focused cultural heritage museum with overlapping archival and exhibition mission.
• New York Public Library for the Performing Arts: The principal performing arts research archive and library in the US, with millions of items including scores, recordings, and archival collections. Closest functional peer to MP+D as a dedicated performing arts archive/museum.
• Museum of Broadway: A New York-based museum dedicated to the history of Broadway and theatrical performance, presenting immersive exhibits of costumes, props, and archival materials. Comparable as a performing arts-focused museum with a curated exhibition model.

Broad incumbents

• Smithsonian National Museum of American History: The Smithsonian's flagship collecting museum holds significant performing arts collections (theater, music, dance) within a much broader American history scope. Comparable as a federal collecting institution with performing arts holdings.
• Museum of the City of New York: A city-focused museum with significant performing arts and theater history collections, exhibitions, and programming. Comparable as a peer regional museum with performing arts archives but broader urban-history scope.
• Library of Congress Performing Arts: The national-scale performing arts archive within the US Library of Congress, holding vast sheet music, recordings, and playbills. Comparable mission scope but much larger institutional scale and federal backing.

Regional players

• National Theatre Archive (UK): The UK National Theatre's institutional archive holding production records, photographs, and audiovisual documentation of British theater. Comparable as a performing arts archive operation but focused on a single institution's history.
• Victoria and Albert Museum (Theatre & Performance Collections): The V&A's Theatre & Performance collection holds the UK's national archive of performing arts including costumes, set designs, and performance documentation. Comparable as a peer archive museum but based in the UK with a different national scope.

Emerging players

• Musical Theatre Heritage: A St. Louis-based performing arts museum focused on American musical theater history, exhibiting costumes, memorabilia, and ephemera. Comparable as a smaller performing arts museum with a similar collection-driven model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/museum-of-performance-and-design

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Museum of Performance and Design