Most art museums in San Francisco are subsidized by the local government, but they still charge local citizens quite a bit for entrance if you don't have an annual membership.
The Fine Arts Museums (the deYoung and the Legion of Honor) offer free admission on the first Tuesday of each month, but usually charge the unwashed masses a surcharge for entrance into any "special" exhibit.
The Asian Art Museum has also been offering free Tuesday admissions on the first of the month, through a sponsorship grant from Target stores, but they never bother with a surcharge for traveling exhibits, which is nice. Also, in a move that feels truly populist, they are changing their free day from first Tuesdays to the first Sunday of each month, starting in May (the 4th, to be exact).
This will allow working families to finally attend something together for free in San Francisco, which is a rare ocurrence. The other museums in town should take a look and follow suit.
The coolest detail about the Asian Art Museum is that the collection is both so extensive and so light-sensitive that rotating the artworks every six months makes the museum feel constantly fresh. Currently, many of the best works which opened the Civic Center location five years ago are back on view.
And do check out the special jade exhibit between the Korean and Chinese wings on the second floor. It's amazing.
5 comments:
Yay! that the Asian Art Museum is going to be free on the first Sundays... I am from DC and grew up spoiled with the Smithsonian which is ALWAYS free. Like, what good does that do me if museums are open on Tuesday when I work? I think that's why I haven't been to a museum in a long long time since I moved out here...
hey this is great news.....thank you for informing us about this, this rocks. Yeah First Tuesday is groovy but if you get busy you can't take advantage of it. A Free Sunday is like Mega Awesome.
lighter lit because your post rocks!
This is great news! I'm going to post it in BAAQ and link back to you.
Annual membership at the asian art museum is $65, and you can invite guests, so it pays for itself if you go three times. Kids are always free. It's a great educational institution, and you don't have to wait for free sundays to go there for cheap!
Sounds like I have a thing to do on May 4. And mike, I'll give you an invite to the Oakland Museum as soon as my free passes show up.
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