San Francisco MuseumsSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA)  The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a major modern art museum and San Francisco landmark. It opened in 1935 under founding director Dr. Grace Morley (Grace L. McCann Morley, Director from 1935–1958) as the San Francisco Museum of Art, the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art. The museum has in its collection important works by Jackson Pollock, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Klee, Marcel Duchamp and Ansel Adams, among others. The famous cinema series Art in Cinema was started at SFMOMA in 1946 by filmmaker Frank Stauffacher. 151 Third Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Telephone: 415.357.4000 Fax: 415.357.4037 View Map California Academy of Sciences  The California Academy of Sciences is one of the ten largest natural history museums in the world, and one of the oldest in the United States of America. It is located in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The Steinhart Aquarium and the Morrison Planetarium are housed within its walls.  The Academy began life in 1853 as a learned society and still carries out a large amount of original research, with public exhibits and education becoming significant endeavours in the 20th century. 55 Music Concourse Drive San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 379-8000 View Map California Palace of the Legion of Honor AKA "Legion of Honor"  The
name is used both for the museum collection and for the building in
which it is housed. The Legion of Honor was the gift of Alma de
Bretteville Spreckels. The building is a three-quarters scale imitation of the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur in Paris. The Legion of Honor's permanent collection of European paintings includes masterworks from the 14th through the 20th centuries. Paintings on display include works by Fra Angelico, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, Watteau, Gainsborough, Monet, Bouguereau, Matisse, and Picasso. legionofhonor.famsf.org  The museum building occupies an elevated site in Lincoln
Park with views over the Golden Gate Bridge.The plaza and fountain in front of the Palace of the Legion of Honor is the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. The terminus marker and an interpretive plaque are located in the southwest corner of the plaza and fountain, just to the left of the Palace. 34th Avenue & Clement Street San Francisco, CA 94121 www.famsf.org/legion/index.asp View Map  The Treasure Island Museum   Once
upon a time, in San Francisco Bay, there lived a marvelous museum, with
Bay Area "treasures" from Treasure Island's rich history of the
military, the World's Fair and Pan Am Clipper flights. The Treasure Island Museum Association nurtured this unique jewel for over 20 years, until it was closed in 1997.Now, the Association works to preserve and share the history of Treasure Island, and eventually reestablish the Museum in Building One, TREASURE ISLAND Building One, Treasure Island, Room 111 One Avenue of the Palms San Francisco, CA 94130-1806 415-413-8462 View Map The Exploratorium  The
Exploratorium is a public science museum, located in the Marina
District at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California. It is
one of San Francisco's most popular museums, drawing over 500,000
people each year.Founded in 1969 by the physicist Dr. Frank Oppenheimer, the Exploratorium is dedicated to teaching science through hands-on exhibits. Many of its exhibits are created by visual and performing artists as well as scientists and educators. Exhibit designs that have been created at the Exploratorium often are duplicated for other science museums worldwide. Some exhibits, of course, can't be duplicated, such as the off-site Wave Organ, a unique sonic experience located on a nearby point of land jutting into San Francisco Bay. The Exploratorium, located in the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, also features the Tactile Dome, a three-dimensional pitch-black labyrinth that visitors must navigate using the sense of touch. www.exploratorium.edu/index.html Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
 It
was designed by Bernard Maybeck, who took his inspiration from Roman
and Greek architecture. The sculptured frieze and allegorical figures representing Contemplation, Wonderment and Meditation were created by Ulric Ellerhusen. It was one of only three buildings from the exposition not to be demolished. The lagoon was intended to echo those found in classical settings in Europe, where the expanse of water provides a mirror surface to reflect the grand buildings and an undisturbed vista to appreciate them from a distance. wikipedia.org Many famous films & movies have been shot here and there are replicas in several Disney films and in Disney's California Adventure. 3601 Lyon Street San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) EXP-LORE View Map Zeum  Zeum is an interactive children's art and technology museum
located at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, California. It
aims to "foster creativity in young people of all ages, backgrounds and
learning styles by providing a hands-on environment for
self-expression". It is mostly known for its exhibits which allow children to create their own media using modern technologies. 221 Fourth Street (@ Howard Street) San Francisco, CA 94103 415.820.3320 View Map Yerba Buena Center for the Arts  Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) programs year-round in two landmark buildings—the Galleries and Forum by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki and Theater by American architect James Stewart Polshek.  Located
in Yerba Buena Gardens, features visual art, performance, and
film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists
and the Bay Area's diverse communities. wikipedia.org 701 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 978-2787 View Map The Contemporary Jewish Museum  Since
its founding in 1984, the Contemporary Jewish Museum has engaged
audiences of all ages and backgrounds through dynamic exhibitions and
programs that explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture,
history, art, and ideas. Throughout its history, the Museum has distinguished itself as a welcoming place where visitors can connect with one another through dialogue and shared experiences with the arts. www.thecjm.org 736 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 655-7800 View Map Asian Art Museum  The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco has one of the most
comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world. The collection has
approximately 17,000 works of art and artifacts from all major Asian
countries and traditions, some of which are as much as 6,000 years old.
There are 2,500 works on display in the permanent collection. Major galleries are devoted to the arts of India, China, western Asia (including Persia), South-East Asia, Korea and Japan. 200 Larkin St. San Francisco, CA 94102 415.581.3500 View Map Cable Car Museum The Cable Car Museum contains historical and explanatory exhibits on the San Francisco cable car system,which can itself be regarded as a working museum. The museum contains several examples of old cable cars, together with smaller exhibits and a shop.  Perhaps of more interest are two overlook galleries which allow the visitor to overlook both the main power house, and also to descend below the junction of Washington and Mason streets in order to view the large cavern where the haulage cables are routed out to the street. 1201 Mason Street San Francisco, CA 94108 View Map The Haas - Lilienthal House  As
featured on A&E's America's Castles' "Castles by the Bay," this
exuberant Queen Anne-style Victorian was built in 1886. It is the only intact private home of the period that is open regularly as a museum, complete with authentic furniture and artifacts. The House has elaborate wooden gables, a circular corner tower and luxuriant ornamentation. A display of photographs in the downstairs supper-room describes the history of the home and the family that lived here until 1972. Volunteer docents lead tours through the House and explain the Victorian architecture of the exterior. 2007 Franklin Street, (between Washington & Jackson) San Francisco View Map The Mexican Museum  The El Museo Mexicano or The Mexican Museum was founded in
1975 by artist Peter Rodríguez. Its mission was "to exhibit the
aesthetic expression of the Mexican and Mexican-American people." This mission was expanded to reflect Mexican, Chicano, and Latino artistic experience. Today, the Museum's collection comprises over 12,000 objects. Fort Mason Center, Building D Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street San Francisco, CA 94123 View Map Musée Mécanique  The
Musée Mécanique is a collection of penny arcade games and related
artifacts and also contains one of the world's largest privately owned
collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique
arcade machines. Many exhibits are over 100 years old. Open 365 days a year - Admission is Free Fisherman's Wharf Pier 45 The end of Taylor Street San Francisco, CA 94133 (415) 346-2000 View Map Cartoon Art Museum  The Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) is an art museum specializing
in the art of comics and cartoons. It is the only museum in the western
United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms
of cartoon art. It holds approximately six thousand pieces—including original animation cels, comic book pages, and early newspaper comic strips—in its permanent collection. Besides its galleries, the museum also operates a research library, a classroom, and a museum bookstore. It hosts seven major exhibitions per year, classes for children and adults, and lectures. The first Tuesday of every calendar month is "Pay What You Wish Day." Hours: Daily 11:00 - 5:00 Closed Mondays 655 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105 (415)227-8666 View Map Museum of the African Diaspora  The Museum of the African Diaspora
(MoAD) is dedicated to the diasporan histories of people of African
origin and their influence and adaptation throughout the world. Focusing on experience in North America, the Caribbean, and South America, the museum's exhibits trace the history and legacy of the slave trade, fights for freedom in the African continent and the New World, music of African influence or origin, and contemporary multicultural and multi-ethnic societies. 685 Mission Street San Francisco, Ca 94105 415.358.7200 View Map Randall Museum  The
Randall Museum is owned and operated by the City's Recreation and Parks
Department. It focuses on the arts, crafts, sciences, and natural history. On view are a number of live native and domestic animals and interactive displays.  The
Museum is located in Corona Heights Park on a large hill between the
Castro and Haight districts of San Francisco, and boasts stunning views
of the city, downtown financial district and the bay.The museum charges no admission and offers events, movies, plays, lectures, exhibits, and classes for ages 3–adult, but is geared mostly toward children and educational field trips. The museum also has a theater, classrooms, arts and crafts shops and studios, a live animal room and gardens overlooking the San Francisco Bay. 199 Museum Way San Francisco, CA 94114 (415) 554-9600 View Map Go from San Francisco Museums to San Francisco Culture
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