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Mission
The American Decorative
Arts Forum (ADAF) is a support group of the Fine Arts
Museums of San Francisco. The Forum dedicates itself to
the study, understanding, enjoyment and preservation of
American fine and decorative arts from their earliest
beginnings to the present.
American decorative
arts are the surviving objects of American make or use,
such as furniture, lighting devices, ceramics, silver,
textiles, utensils and other household
decorations. Decorative arts are
distinguished from fine art-usually paintings, sculpture
and architecture-in two ways: first, the objects were
usually made to serve a purpose superseding the
aesthetic merit they may possess; and second, their
maker, whether a school girl, silversmith, itinerant
artist or cabinetmaker, generally did not consider
themselves an "artist" in the way we define that word
today. The decorative arts serve to document
an historical period and way of life; they allow us
today to understand better our diverse but collective
past.
Since its founding in
1983, the Forum has earned a national reputation for
excellent programs. Lectures given by leading scholars
in the field of American decorative arts are presented
at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco, at 8pm on the second Tuesday of each
month. The group also offers more intensive study
opportunities in the form of special seminars and
lectures. | 
