International Art Museum of America Explained

Time for another blog post. I had been curious about the mysterious "International Art Museum Of America" that opened on mid-Market Street in San Francisco. I had walked by it a bunch of times and pressed my face against the glass, and was puzzled by its Disneyesque "fake" rock formations and zen-like garden-scapes visible on the interior. Anyway, I read a posting on the SFist website about the museum, and then saw that someone named Vince H. had commented on the posting, and it helped to explain the museum nicely. The comment is no longer present on the SFist posting, so I am re-posting the comment here:

1. International Art Museum of America (IAMA) is a public-benefit, non-profit art museum. IAMA displays works of art of the highest order in the world, thereby serving the development of mankind and the advancement of culture and art. By providing people with the beauty of art, IAMA is helping the progress of human civilization. IAMA is not affiliated with any religion or religious organization. It is purely an art museum.

2. In order to ensure the exquisiteness and uniqueness of exhibits displayed by IAMA, the board of directors of IAMA established strict standards for the collection or display of any work of art. Those standards are as follows:

Whether it is an ancient or new painting, a work of calligraphy, an ink-wash painting, an oil painting, a watercolor, a gouache, a sculpture, or any other type of art, it must be:
1. A work by a world-class artist or an artist who creates national treasures. The works of such an artist must be of the highest or second-highest level in the world when compared with works in the same genre by other living artists. The works of such an artist must also have a market value of at least US$200,000 per square foot; or
2. A work by an artist whose works were exhibited by a governmental body on the highest national level. The works of such an artist must have a market value of at least US$20,000 per square foot; or
3. A work by a famous artist who is head of a museum or art academy. The works of such an artist must have a market value of at least US$20,000 per square foot.

A work will not be considered as a possible selection by IAMA unless it can meet one of these three standards. IAMA only emphasizes the quality of the art, not the number of artists whose works are selected.

3. All of the works created by various artists that are currently on display at IAMA meet the above-described standards and were approved through voting by the board of directors of IAMA. No individual alone has the right to approve or disapprove of which works will be displayed. Why are there more works of art on display that were created by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III than works of art created by any other artist? It is because the artistic creations of other artists truly cannot compare with those of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. People’s evaluations of the exhibits since the opening of IAMA have clearly borne this out. All of the visitors to IAMA have marveled at the fact that other art museums simply do not have the high quality and unique works of art that are on display at IAMA. Furthermore, IAMA is the only museum in the world that contains artwork that cannot be duplicated. It is also the only museum that has a faux boulder in which mist created from the artist’s sculpting skills lingers without ever dispersing. This is unparalleled in the entire world.

4. IAMA is purely an art museum. It respects all religions but does not belong to any one religion. It has no direct or indirect relationship with any religion, nor does it have any business connections with any religion. IAMA has no interactions with Hua Zang Si, a temple located in the Mission district.

5. We welcome everyone to come and visit IAMA. As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” When you visit IAMA, you will know whether what we say is the truth.