Major exhibit set to open: Public will get its first chance to see works on Saturday

It took a new arts center, nearly $300,000 and days ofinstallation for the Avampato Discovery Museum to land its mostexciting exhibit yet.

Starting Saturday, members of the public can see what the fuss hasbeen about when "American Accents, 1670-1945: Masterworks from theFine Arts Museums of San Francisco Featuring the RockefellerCollection," opens.

Friday night, an invitation-only event will allow museum membersto preview the 86 pieces that include such well-known names asGeorgia O'Keefe, John Singer Sargent, Charles Wilson Peale, WinslowHomer and Mary Cassatt.

Ric Ambrose, the curator of the Avampato Museum, said many of thepieces are the finest examples of …