Arts & Culture

Museums & Galleries

With more than 50 amazing museums and hundreds of galleries to explore, there is no shortage of ways to be inspired in San Francisco.

Exterior of the modern, angular de Young Museum. San Francisco, California.
The de Young museum is a work of art inside and out. Credit: Photo by Gary Sexton. Image provided by Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The creativity in San Francisco fuels every neighborhood in the City by the Bay. In our galleries and museums, you'll find photography, crafts, typography, sculpture, mixed media, film, design, textiles, books, ceramics, spoken word, sound and good old painting. The artists showing at any given time range from world-famous and priceless to hyper-local and up-and-coming.

Featured Museums & Galleries:

Asian Art Museum
The Asian Art Museum has more than 18,000 works of art in its permanent collection.
SFMOMA
SFMOMA is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the United States.
Museum of African Diaspora
The Museum of African Diaspora is a contemporary art museum that celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora. 
Two people peer through glass walls at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
Beyond being a renowned fine arts museum, the de Young Museum is an architectural marvel as well.
Contemporary Jewish Museum at night
The Contemporary Jewish Museum showcases the diversity of Judaism through visiting and permanent exhibits, educational seminars and innovative programming throughout the year.
Dinosaur at the California Academy of Sciences
California Academy of Sciences is great for all ages, especially for young families.
The floor of Creativity Explored, with an assortment of desks and works of art, seen from overhead.
Creativity Explored partners with developmentally disabled artists to celebrate and nurture the creative potential in everyone.

Be inspired by the incredible breadth and depth of art and artists. From the Exploratorium, Creativity Explored, and Catharine Clark Gallery to the Museum of Craft and Design, Jessica Silverman Gallery, and Letterform Archive, we have it all. Anchored by SFMOMA, which holds one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary art worldwide, the city’s Yerba Buena neighborhood boasts the greatest concentration of cultural institutions west of the Hudson River.

San Francisco’s Yerba Buena neighborhood boasts the greatest concentration of cultural institutions west of the Hudson River.

Woman interacting with exhibit at Exploratorium

Everything You Need To Know About The Exploratorium

For visitors to San Francisco, the Exploratorium is a must-see participatory museum.

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The Must-Visit Art Galleries in San Francisco

Find out how to see the work of up-and-coming San Francisco artists before they make a splash in the art world.

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Trip Inspiration

Discover more museums, galleries, exhibits, and local artists to inspire your next visit to San Francisco.

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Arts & Culture

San Francisco is a city of inspiration. You can see it all around you, in whichever neighborhoods you visit.

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Public Art

From your first steps off the plane at SFO to our biggest and brightest bridge, you'll discover that San Francisco has public art everywhere.

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Music

The creative spirit and steadfast countercultural streak is on display in San Francisco’s music scene. It's time to immerse yourself in our deep music history and experience the San Francisco sound.

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Performing Arts

Performing arts in San Francisco has a calendar full of fun shows. Catch a theater performance, head to the opera, see the ballet or check out local dance groups and prepare to be entertained.

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