The San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum, a fixture in the city for 42 years, announced its closure on Sunday, with its future uncertain. The museum cited the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a slow recovery as primary reasons for the shutdown.
In its announcement, the museum stated it would be packing up and taking time to regroup to determine its next chapter. This closure follows a decade at its Fisherman's Wharf location, a move made after rent increased significantly at its previous site on Mission Street. The museum had previously welcomed over 80,000 visitors and offered classes for children, aiming to promote the art of cartooning.
Executive director Summerlea Kashar indicated that while the current lease is ending, the museum "will not be disappearing." However, the closure was preceded by a crisis in June involving a former curator, Andrew Farago. Farago, 50, was arrested and faces 20 counts of invasion of privacy for allegedly using a camera to record unsuspecting guests, including adults and children, in the bathroom of his Berkeley home during a party on May 23.
Court records indicate Farago admitted to the act in an email apology to his guests, stating, "I hid my phone in our bathroom for the purpose of spying on our guests... I had never done anything like that before and don’t know what possessed me to do it." Following the allegations, Farago was placed on administrative leave and subsequently lost his job at the museum.