Maria Jenson is the Executive Director of SOMArts Cultural Center. Prior to joining SOMArts, Maria was a key member of the External Relations team managing the reopening of SFMOMA following the museum’s $300 million dollar expansion. At SFMOMA, she worked across departments and built innovative community partnerships as the museum’s cultural and civic ambassador.

Maria was the Founding Director of ArtPadSF– an independent art fair that transformed the Phoenix Hotel into an immersive and interactive platform to engage Bay Area artists, gallerists and art lovers.

A student of dance, theater and screenwriting for many years, Maria has produced and directed live theater in Los Angeles, and launched and directed Salon Oblique in Venice, CA, a boutique art salon and gallery. Salon Oblique, like ArtPadSF, worked with performance, video, installation, and traditional media to create unique and theatrical events.

Maria is active with the Arts for a Better Bay Area (ABBA) coalition and works with her colleagues at other major arts organizations in the region on education, advocacy and inclusion issues as they relate to arts, economic and community-building public endeavors.