Giovanni Pintori, Poster, 1954; lithograph mounted on canvas

I am delighted today to announce that we have three NEW COLUMNISTS getting started this week! Please welcome artist and writer D-L Alvarez; poet Anne Lesley Selcer; and Dana Cohen, who has been working with us on the blog behind the scenes for several years.

In addition to this crew, Open Space alum Tess Thackara is rejoining us, this time in embedded-reporter fashion, writing specifically about SFMOMA as we move forward toward the next phase of museum life, which begins in earnest when the current building closes for expansion on June 2.

As always, our columnists are in an editorial-free zone, and we’re excited to see what they will do.

I’d also like to announce some excellent changes for Open Space generally — like the museum, we’re expanding! I’m pleased to welcome a new colleague to SFMOMA and to Open Space. Kara Smith is our first community engagement coordinator, and will be working closely with me on OS and a variety of online and real life community programming and publishing ventures. We’ll both be collaborating often with Willa Koerner, our social media genius, and of course, as always with our many contributors, and with all of you.

Finally, sfmoma.org‘s landing page has a new look and feel, as of this morning, check it out. One complaint coming regularly from the Open Space audience over the years (yes, years! — more on that tomorrow) has been that it’s too challenging to find us from the museum’s main website. No longer! We’re now able to prominently feature what our writers write and our contributors contribute, straight up on the landing page. More like this to come.

Happy Monday, loves