Museums / Cultural Institutions
Thanks to an anonymous donor, San Francisco is getting its first ever Free Museum Weekend on December 3-4, 2022. Celebrate the reawakening and revitalization of a city that has long championed creativity, experimentation, and innovation. San Francisco Free Museum Weekend is a collaborative initiative that highlights the city’s vibrant arts and more...
SOMArts’ Día de Los Muertos returns with its first public opening reception since 2019, on Friday, October 7, 2022. Now in its 23rd year and founded by beloved artist René Yañez, SOMArts’ annual Día de Los Muertos exhibition is one of the most internationally diverse Day of the Dead celebrations more...
Opening night for Verdi’s “La Traviata” will be bigger than ever with the return of Opera at the Ballpark, a free community event held at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Enjoy your opera with a side of garlic fries, in one of the most scenic venues in town more...
Smithsonian Magazine’s annual Museum Day returns on Saturday, September 17, 2022 as participating museums and cultural institutions nationwide open their doors free of charge to all visitors who download the Museum Day Ticket. Museum Day brings together museums, zoos, and cultural centers from all 50 states to offer free admission to all Museum more...
The Treasure Island Museum recently announced it’s completing a new and larger exhibit space in the historic Building One on Treasure Island. Visitors will enter through a proposed entrance from the new Building One plaza opposite the ferry landing and transportation center. A space of 3,500 to 4,000 square feet more...
Celebrate the opening of Diego Rivera’s America with a free day of revelry, community and art on Sunday, July 17 from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Visit the museum for free and experience the vibrant creativity of San Francisco’s Mission District all day long with a lowrider display on Third Street; Mercado featuring crafts by local artisans; more...
Thanks to Berkleyside for announcing the grand opening of Lawrence Hall of Science’s brand new Outdoor Nature Lab. The brand new space opened on Saturday, June 19. The new $3.25 million, 32,600-square-foot outdoor learning space is the first major expansion to The Lawrence in 20 years. The Robert & Elizabeth Karplus more...
Join us for the public opening day celebration of The Obama Portraits Tour exhibition with live musical performances by cellist and vocalist Mia Pixley and ensemble, dance performances by Kimberly Marie Olivier, and a portrait photography session with First Exposures alumni. Free admission to The Obama Portraits Tour on June 18 and 19 more...
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park has announced that one their super smelly “corpse flowers” is just about ready to bloom. And that means it’s going to start smelling like rotting flesh. Nice! UPDATE! The Bloom (and stink) has started! The Conservatory is opening late on Friday, June 17th more...
The Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands of Sausalito will reopen its doors this week for the first time in two years, after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the center reopens Friday, visitors can expect to see a completely renovated interior, a sea otter mural, an more...
By Larry Sokoloff, Bay City News Foundation One of the Bay Area’s newest museums is hidden among the trees on Angel Island State Park. It tells a story of immigration to the Pacific Coast, with particular emphasis on the Asian experience. The Angel Island Immigration Museum opened in January. It is more...
Enjoy the Walt Disney Family Museum’s free exhibition, Creative Conservation: The Art of Endangered Animals, featuring abstract paintings and pawprint art. The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to debut its first Cause Awareness exhibition, Creative Conservation: The Art of Endangered Animals. Presented in conjunction with Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece, more...
The Exploratorium used to have several “pay what you wish” days each year, but they started to become rare even before the pandemic. This Sunday, the “Community Day” tradition returns for the first time since May 2019 in honor of Mother’s Day/Día de las Madres. Lots of free bilingual activities more...
On April 26, 2022 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved Mayor Breed’s legislation to ensure John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park remain vehicle-free permanently. See the map of car-free JFK Drive. The legislation, co-sponsored by Supervisors Matt Haney, Rafael Mandelman, and Dean Preston, greenlights more than 40 improvements more...
A rare painting by groundbreaking French artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist has recently been acquired by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Benoist’s groundbreaking work Psyche Bidding Her Family Farewell, a rare painting still in existence from her early Neoclassical period, is one of just three paintings by the artist held in more...