A look at current exhibitions for 10 of San Francisco's museums. See which might be "musts" for/during your trip to the City by the Bay.
1. Asian Art Museum
200 Larkin Street
Open Tues-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Thurs. until 9 p.m.)
Admission: $7-$12/visitor (children 12 and under, free)
Reopened in 2003 at its new Civic Center location, the Asian Art Museum has grown to house one of the largest collections of Asian art in the world. Yearly, visitors are treated to a variety of new exhibitions, along with the museum's standing collections of nearly 15,000 objects spanning some 6,000 historic years.
A. Family Art Encounter: The Spirit of Flowers & Plants (April 4)
B. Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating World 1690-1850 (through May 4)
C. On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra by Zhan Wang (through May 25)
Open Tues-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Thurs. until 9 p.m.)
Admission: $7-$12/visitor (children 12 and under, free)
Reopened in 2003 at its new Civic Center location, the Asian Art Museum has grown to house one of the largest collections of Asian art in the world. Yearly, visitors are treated to a variety of new exhibitions, along with the museum's standing collections of nearly 15,000 objects spanning some 6,000 historic years.
A. Family Art Encounter: The Spirit of Flowers & Plants (April 4)
B. Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintings from the Floating World 1690-1850 (through May 4)
C. On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra by Zhan Wang (through May 25)
2. Cable Car Museum
1201 Mason StreetOpen daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: Free
The city is the only one in America still to have such modes of transportation and San Francisco isn't about to part with its moving landmarks. This museum pays tribute to their history with photographs, mechanical displays, and actual cars to see up-close. A nonprofit organization, the Cable Car Museum simply hopes to preserve and share cable-car history with fans both familiar and new.
3. California Academy of Sciences
55 Concourse Drive
GRAND REOPENING: SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
This will mark a big year for the California Academy of Sciences as it returns home to Golden Gate Park for a grand opening in the fall. There, visitors will surely be dazzled by the exhibits, the specimens, the science, natual history, and beautiful architecture of the new Academy. The Planetarium returns and Steinhart Aquarium, just wait!
GRAND REOPENING: SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
This will mark a big year for the California Academy of Sciences as it returns home to Golden Gate Park for a grand opening in the fall. There, visitors will surely be dazzled by the exhibits, the specimens, the science, natual history, and beautiful architecture of the new Academy. The Planetarium returns and Steinhart Aquarium, just wait!
4. Cartoon Museum
655 Mission StreetOpen Tues-Sun 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: $2-$6/visitor (children 5 and under, free)
An ever-changing museum dedicated to the cartoon art form, the Cartoon Museum is the only such one west of the Appalachian Mountains to be so. Visitors are treated daily to the rare, original and beautiful in cartoon artowrk and vision.
A. Comics 4 Comix Fundraiser (April 10)
B. Bay Area Spotlight: Creig Flessel (through June 8)
C. First Tuesday of every calendar month is "Pay What You Wish Day."
5. Conservatory of Flowers
JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park
Open Tues-Sun 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Admission: $1.50-$5/visitor (children 4 and under, free)
The nation's oldest public conservatory is home to nealry two thousand plant species. With its five theme rooms -- Lowland Tropics, Aquatic Plants, Potted Plants, Special Exhibits, and Highland Tropics -- the Conservatory is a year-round living museum that is always in bloom. Located in Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory is totally in its element.
A. The Art of Penjing (through April 27)
B. The Butterfly Zone (through November 2)
Open Tues-Sun 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Admission: $1.50-$5/visitor (children 4 and under, free)
The nation's oldest public conservatory is home to nealry two thousand plant species. With its five theme rooms -- Lowland Tropics, Aquatic Plants, Potted Plants, Special Exhibits, and Highland Tropics -- the Conservatory is a year-round living museum that is always in bloom. Located in Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory is totally in its element.
A. The Art of Penjing (through April 27)
B. The Butterfly Zone (through November 2)
6. Exploratorium
3601 Lyon Street
Open Tues-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: $8-$13/visitor (children 4 and under, free)
A science-focused museum comprised of hundreds of interactive exhibits. You an literally spend hours here and not see/experience everything. With two levels of hands-on activities challenging our minds in regards to art, science and human perception, the Exploratorium is a destination for fun, learning, and discovery.
A. Special Exhibition: The Search for Universals in Human Emotion (through April 27)
B. Mind: The Science, Art, and Experience of our Inner Lives
C. Free Museum Day: First Wednesday of every calendar month.
Open Tues-Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: $8-$13/visitor (children 4 and under, free)
A science-focused museum comprised of hundreds of interactive exhibits. You an literally spend hours here and not see/experience everything. With two levels of hands-on activities challenging our minds in regards to art, science and human perception, the Exploratorium is a destination for fun, learning, and discovery.
A. Special Exhibition: The Search for Universals in Human Emotion (through April 27)
B. Mind: The Science, Art, and Experience of our Inner Lives
C. Free Museum Day: First Wednesday of every calendar month.
7. Legion of Honor
100 34th Ave. and Clement StreetOpen Tues-Sun 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: $6-$10/visitor (children 12 and under, free)
Home to collections/galleries of ancient and European art daing back to 2500 B.C.; also find at the Legion one of the world's leading collections of Rodin sculpture. Located within Lincoln Park, visitors can also take a hike down to the cliffs for a terffiic view of the city and Golden Gate Bridge.
A. Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005 (through May 25)
B. Treasures from the Holy Land (through August 10)
8. M.H. de Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
Open Tues-Sun 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (Fri. until 8:45 p.m.)
Admission: $6-$10/visitor (children 12 and under, free)
Reopened in October 2005 in its present Golden Gate Park location, the museum is an architectural work of art itself, taking considerable planning to integrate and complement its natural surroundings. Inside the museum, visitors can view art collections representing American art (17th - 20th centuries) and the native Americas, Africa and the Pacific.
A. Gilbert & George (through May 18)
B. For Tent and Trade: Masterpieces of Turkmen Weaving (through September 7)
Wildflowers of New England: Photographs by Edwin Hale Lincoln (through September 21)
Open Tues-Sun 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (Fri. until 8:45 p.m.)
Admission: $6-$10/visitor (children 12 and under, free)
Reopened in October 2005 in its present Golden Gate Park location, the museum is an architectural work of art itself, taking considerable planning to integrate and complement its natural surroundings. Inside the museum, visitors can view art collections representing American art (17th - 20th centuries) and the native Americas, Africa and the Pacific.
A. Gilbert & George (through May 18)
B. For Tent and Trade: Masterpieces of Turkmen Weaving (through September 7)
Wildflowers of New England: Photographs by Edwin Hale Lincoln (through September 21)
9. Musée Mécanique
Pier 45 Shed AOpen Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat-Sun 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Admission: Free, arcade machines are a quarter or $.50
A penny arcade once located at Ocean Beach; now preserved at Pier 45 is one of the largest privately-owned collections of coin-operated musical instruments and arcade machines. Musée Mécanique (French for "mechanical museum") was first opened in the 1920s. Today it still attracts more than 100,000 visitors a year.
A. "Laffing Sal"
B. "Susie the Can-Can Dancer"
C. "Carnival"
10. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third StreetOpen Mon-Tues, Thurs-Sun 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (Thurs. until 9 p.m.)
Admission: $7-$12.50/visitor (children 12 and under, free)
Take in the most comprehensive collection of contemporary and modern art on the west coast at the SFMoMA. In 2007, the museum showcased exhibitions for modernists Picasso, Matisse, Joseph Cornell, and Louise Nevelson. What will 2008 have in store and will it be able to match the high bar set last year? It certainly will try.
A. Friedlander (through May 18)
B. Gabriele Basilico: From San Francisco to Silicon Valley (through June 15)
