San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

PLEASE NOTE: From June 3, 2013 through early 2016, the main SFMOMA building will be closed for an expansion project. Their exhibitions and programs will be presented at off-site locations, which will be listed on their website.

• Hours: Open daily except Wednesday, open late on Thursdays. Closed January 1, July 4, Thanksgiving, December 25
• Cost: Admission fee, children 12 and under free, everyone gets in free on first Tuesday of the month and admission is half price on Thursday evenings
• Location: Third Street about 2 blocks south of Market, between Mission and Howard Streets
• How Long: A few hours to half a day
• Best Time to Visit: You'll find fewer visitors during the week, except on free days

Designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is housed in an appropriately-styled setting. In the architect's signature style, the sienna-colored brick San Francisco Museum of Modern Art facade is topped with a tower finished in alternating black and white stone bands and topped with a radial pattern in the same colors.

Inside are 50,000 square feet of galleries displaying the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art permanent collection of works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol, among others. In addition to the permanent collection, the facility hosts frequent special exhibits.

If you like modern art, you'll like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, but if Old Masters, Impressionists and Rodin sculptures are your cup of tea, you'll be better off at the de Young Museum or the Legion of Honor.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Tickets

While lines are seldom long at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art box office, you can buy tickets in advance online and walk straight in.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is also included in the multi-attraction pass CityPass.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Tips

• The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art building is quite spectacular and photogenic, but you can take photographs only in the atrium (with no flash) and not in the galleries.
• You'll have to check your umbrellas, backpacks, and large bags
• Turn the cellphone off except in the atrium on the first floor
• To learn more about the works on display, take a one of the free daily tours included with your admission.
• For more space at popular exhibits, go at the latest entry time and stay near the end of the crowd.
• Need a break? Caffe Museo at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art serves Mediterranean cuisine.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Review

This traditionalist who favors representational works over abstract one rates the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 3 out of 5 for the interesting architecture and the pieces I enjoyed, mostly those of Diego Rivera, Georgia O'Keeffe and Salvador Dali. However, about half the exhibits just left me scratching my head.

You can see what other people just like you think about the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, then bookmark this page and after you've been there, come back and tell us what you think.

Poll: What do you think of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as a tourist destination?

• Yuck! Just say no to this tourist trap
• So-So More fun than a night in jail, but you might enjoy a good nap more
• OK Some people find it interesting. I didn't
• Good Go if you have time, but it's not a big deal if you miss it
• Great I really liked it. I think you will, too
• Awesome! It's a must-see sight I recommend to everyone

Getting to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third Street
San Francisco, CA
415-357-4000
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Website

To get to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on foot, walk south on Kearny Street across Market, where it will become Third Street. If you're taking BART, exit at the Powell or Montgomery stop.