Robert Bechtle was a painter, professor of art at San Francisco State University from 1978 to 1999 and a member of the SFMOMA Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2009. He started visiting SFMOMA when he was a student at California College of Arts and Crafts in the 1950s. In 1991 John Caldwell curated the "Robert Bechtle: New Work" exhibition which focused on a small collection of Bechtle's work from the last ten years. He became involved with the board of trustees when Neal Benezra asked if he was interested after the retrospective of Bechtle's New Work exhibition in 2005. Betchle was also awarded the Bay Area Treasure Award in 2003 by the museum. In this interview, Bechtle discusses his first exposure to SFMOMA, the museum's place in the contemporary art world, Henry Hopkins, the Art Association Annuals, the Berkeley Gallery, support for local artists, Department of the Interior Show at SFMOMA, 1976, New York, his New Work exhibition, Janet Bishop, museum education, thoughts on various SFMOMA directors, acquisitions and museum dynamics, memories of curators, and SFMOMA's 75th anniversary.