The Museo Italo Americano was the first museum in the United States devoted exclusively to Italian and Italian-American art and culture. Established in 1978, the Museo Italo Americano is a non-profit institution governed by a Board of Directors.

The mission of the Museo Italo Americano is twofold: to research, collect, and display works of Italian and Italian-American artists, and to promote educational programs for the appreciation of Italian art and culture, thereby preserving the heritage of Italian-Americans for future generations.



The Museo offers many different educational activities:

• Language Classes consisting of conversational Italian and grammar taught by qualified native speakers.
• Lectures presenting various aspects of Italian art, art history, culture, literature, music, and sociology.
• Cultural enrichment classes providing analysis and discussion on specific topics of Italian culture and history.
• The CIAO (Children’s Italian Art Outreach) Program providing free instruction in Italian art and history to over 2,400 Bay Area school children annually.
• Events including classical music concerts, cultural tours to Italy, symposia, movie premieres, and the ongoing CIBO COME CULTURA (Food As Culture) with its emphasis on Italian wine and cuisine.
• EVVIVA!, a group of young professional Museo members who share a common interest in Italian culture and maintains its own calendar of social and cultural activities.
• The Museo Auxiliary promotes and supports the welfare of the Museo through volunteer service, public relations, and fundraising.



The Museo Italo Americano is a non profit organization currently supported in part by the Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, by grants from The Bernard Osher Foundation, The Wells Fargo Foundation, Cocuzza Lenchner Fund, Credit Suisse First Boston, Rosaria Haugland Foundation, Anonymous Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation, Chiucchiarellli Family Foundation, and the generosity of Museo members and Board of Directors.