Neglected Treasures

Meanwhile, at the end of January, when the Mexico run ends, the murals will be crated and returned to San Francisco, where — in the absence of anywhere suitable to showcase them — they are once again destined to be put away.

"That's a matter for San Francisco officials to decide, but we certainly do not want to see them remain in storage," says Jonathan Chait, a cultural affairs officer with the Mexican consulate here, which helped negotiate the Mexico tour.

TIDA officials say that in the near term, they would like to make an arrangement with the de Young Museum — which is believed to have no interest in the murals for its permanent collection primarily because of their size — for a temporary exhibition.

But de Young curator Kathleen Berrin says that even if the museum were to give the green light for an exhibition, it would likely be three to five years before it happened.

"They're wonderful pieces and certainly merit our attention," says Berrin, who admits to having had "tears in my eyes" upon visiting the murals in Mexico. "But what are we to do?"

As Saez of TIDA puts it, the status of the murals "could probably best be described as 'to be determined.'" And until that changes, agency cultural resources coordinator Peter Summerville says they will be going back to a familiar place where the public can't see them: storage.