Snøhetta expansion of the new SFMOMA, opening May 14, 2016; photo: © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA
SAN FRANCISCO (April 22, 2016)—The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will open to the public for free on Saturday, May 14, 2016, with a day of festivities that include a neighborhood celebration with cultural organization activations in the Yerba Buena district and beyond. The newly expanded SFMOMA will offer nearly triple the gallery space, with inaugural exhibitions showcasing 260 works from the distinguished Doris and Donald Fisher Collection of postwar and contemporary art, more than 600 artworks promised to the museum through its Campaign for Art and the debut of the new Pritzker Center for Photography.
SFMOMA’s ribbon-cutting festivities with SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra, other members of museum leadership and civic dignitaries will be open to the public beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Howard Street, which will be closed to traffic between Hawthorne and Third Streets from 4 a.m. to noon that day. Street entertainers, musicians and chalk artists, including performers from SFJAZZ, the SF Conservatory Collective, the Chinese American International School and Circus Center will entertain the crowd in front of the museum’s new entrance at Howard Street.
The museum distributed more than 5,000 free timed tickets for Opening Day and tickets are now sold out. Visitors with timed tickets are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes prior to their ticket time and the museum will open to ticket holders at 11 a.m. While tickets to the museum’s galleries on free Opening Day are sold out, tickets are available to purchase online for May 15 and onward at sfmoma.org.
[BROADCAST MEDIA: Please contact the SFMOMA Press Office to make a reservation for risers and truck parking.]
Opening Day Schedule of Events
8:30 a.m. SFMOMA ribbon-cutting festivities begin with entertainment by street performers, musicians and chalk artists.
9:15 a.m. Speaking program begins on the Howard Street stage in front of the museum. Speakers include SFMOMA leadership and civic dignitaries.
9:45 a.m. Festivities conclude with ceremonial ribbon cutting.
11 a.m. Visitors with timed tickets begin entry at SFMOMA. Other local cultural institutions begin free entry.
Opening Day is supported by PG&E. Additional support is provided by the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District and SFMOMA’s Premier Sponsors Bank of America and Cadillac.
Neighborhood Celebration
Yerba Buena cultural district institutions including the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens and many others will celebrate the museum’s opening by offering free admission and expanded programming to the public on May 14.
Participating neighborhood organizations include:
111 Minna Gallery, 111minnagallery.com
Open 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
American Bookbinders Museum, bookbindersmuseum.org
Open 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
California Historical Society, californiahistoricalsociety.org
Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; featuring Experiments in Environment: The Halprin Workshops, 1966–1971
Children’s Creativity Museum, creativity.org
Open 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; various kid-focused activities
Contemporary Jewish Museum, thecjm.org
Open 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; featuring Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution and Roman Vishniac Rediscovered
Crown Point Press, crownpoint.com
Open 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; featuring Scratches, Pit and Vinegar: A Group Show Curated by Ed Ruscha
Mexican Museum with Precita Eyes at Jessie Square, mexicanmuseum.org
12–2 p.m.; mural activation
Museum of the African Diaspora, moadsf.org
Open 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; featuring The Grace Jones Project and DANDY LION: (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity
Museum of Performance and Design, mpdsf.org
Open 12:30–5:30 p.m.
Root Division, rootdivision.org
Open 1–5 p.m.; featuring New Growth 2016: Celebrating our Community, annual Youth Art Celebration and Exhibition
San Francisco Art Dealers Association, sfada.com
Open 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; various galleries in San Francisco
Tenderloin Museum, tenderloinmuseum.org
Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, ybca.org
Open 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; featuring Take this Hammer: Art + Media Activism from the Bay Area, Samara Golden: A Trap in Soft Division and Slow Dialogues: Time, Space, and Scale
Yerba Buena Community Benefit District—Annie Alley, ybcbd.org
Open 1–3 p.m.; featuring Lady Chi and Visuals by 3
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, ybgfestival.org
Open 12–5:30 p.m.; Con Brio, Duniya Dance & Drum Company and Black Orpheus: Una Historia de Amor
For a complete list of neighborhood and cultural partners participating, please visit: sfmoma.org/opening-celebrations.