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SFMOMA Creates The Ultimate Art Scavenger Hunt SFMOMA Scavengers: 100 Clues. 50 Teams. $4k. Found Items Result In Three-day Exhibition

Release date: August 3, 2006

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On Saturday, September 30, 2006, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) teams up with British artist Joshua Sofaer to create the ultimate art scavenger hunt. SFMOMA Scavengers will see 50 registered teams race from the Museum across the city in search of fame and glory with only eight hours, 100 clues, and the 7-by-7-mile area of San Francisco at their disposal.

Fifty teams will be selected to compete from a pool of applicants. Each team will receive 100 clues on the morning of the hunt that will help them earn points—and, hopefully, prize money. After deciphering the clues, many of which relate to artworks in the SFMOMA collection, the teams must beg, borrow, barter, and bluff their way around the city, scavenging the items required. At the end of the day, teams can expect to have collected a range of strange and wonderful objects. The team that earns the most points wins a $4,000 cash prize.

Sofaer will use the objects collected in the hunt as the basis for a three-day exhibition in SFMOMA's galleries, beginning Sunday, October 1, and continuing through Tuesday, October 3. The Museum also will host a pair of public programs in conjunction with SFMOMA Scavengers.

Sofaer's Scavengers project began in 2001 at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London. Last year he spearheaded a Scavengers event at the Tate Modern in which more than 20 teams raced across London to uncover the clues. A one-day exhibition was on view at the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall on July 9, 2005. In 2007 Scavengers moves on to P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, an affiliate of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

"We are very excited to be the next venue for Scavengers," states SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra. "Joshua's creativity, wit, and admiration for the found object will no doubt make for a fun daylong hunt for the participants, while also producing a clever, artful exhibition for the whole Bay Area to enjoy."

Team applications will be accepted from August 15 through September 15; participating teams will be announced the week of September 18. Only 50 teams will be selected. Each team must consist of four members age 18 or older. For information about the hunt or to apply, visit www.sfmoma.org/scavengers, e-mail jgranados@sfmoma.org, or call 415.357.4003. The registration fee is $100 per team, payable upon acceptance.

Exhibition

SFMOMA Scavengers
Sunday–Tuesday, October 1–3
Second- and third-floor landings, SFMOMA

Public Programs

SYMPOSIUM
Art Scavengers: A Stanford Symposium on Found Objects
Sunday, October 1, 2–5 p.m.
Koret Visitor Education Center
$10 general; $8 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp shocked the art world with an overturned urinal entitled Fountain. In 2001, Found magazine was launched, inspired by a note left mistakenly on Davy Rothbart's windshield: "I f*****g hate you. PS: Page me later." Over the course of the 20th century, art found the found object. This symposium will discuss the role of the found object in contemporary art practice, from visual art to music and poetry. Participants include Stanford art critics and practitioners, including Michael Shanks (classics) and Chris Chafe (music). Presented in collaboration with the Stanford Humanities Center.

FREE TUESDAY PROGRAM
SFMOMA Scavengers: An Urban Adventure
Joshua Sofaer, artist
Tuesday, October 3, noon–1 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
Museum and program admission are free.

On September 30, artist Sofaer and SFMOMA join forces for the ultimate scavenger hunt, sending teams through the streets of San Francisco armed with clues that pertain to the Museum's collection. Join participants from the daylong event as they reunite with Sofaer to share tales of their adventures and reflect upon the exhibition he created on SFMOMA's second- and third-floor landings using their eclectic quarry.

Media Contacts

  • Libby Garrison, 415.357.4177,
  • Robyn Wise, 415.357.4172,
  • Sandra Farish Sloan, 415.357.4174,

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San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Museum hours: Open daily (except Wednesdays): 11 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.; open late Thursdays, until 8:45 p.m. Summer hours (Memorial Day to Labor Day): Open at 10 a.m. Closed Wednesdays and the following public holidays: New Year's Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The Museum is open the Wednesday between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Koret Visitor Education Center: Open daily (except Wednesdays): 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; open late Thursdays, until 8:30 p.m. Summer hours: Open at 10 a.m.

Admission prices: adults: $18; seniors: $13; students: $11; SFMOMA members and children 12 and under: free. Admission is free the first Tuesday of each month and half-price on Thursdays after 6 p.m.

SFMOMA is easily accessible by Muni, BART, Golden Gate Transit, SamTrans, and Caltrain. Hourly, daily, and monthly parking is available at the SFMOMA Garage at 147 Minna Street. For parking information, call 415.348.0971.

Visit our Web site at www.sfmoma.org or call 415.357.4000 for more information.

SFMOMA is supported by a broad array of contributors committed to helping advance its mission. Major annual support is provided by Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Koret Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. First Tuesdays are always free, thanks to AT&T. KidstART free admission for children 12 and under is made possible by Charles Schwab & Co.

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