What’s on now at San Francisco museums, September 2026

The Arts Commission meets online and in person on the first Monday of each month, but in September it will meet Friday, Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. Room 125, War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Ave.

Visual Arts Committee, Sept. 16, 2 p.m. City Hall, Room 416 and streamed online via SFGovTV. 

Civic Design Review Committee, Sept. 21, at 2 p.m. City Hall, Room 416 and streamed online. via SFGovTV.

Executive Committee Sept. 23, at 1 p.m. City Hall, Room 416 and streamed online via SFGovTV. 

Film Commission, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. City Hall Room 416, and streamed online via SFGovTV. 

Thursdays to Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.

“Objects,” is open and we have a review of the exhibit, which looks terrific. “…looking at some of the vases in “OBJECTS: USA,” one can just as easily imagine them standing in the Museum of Modern Art,” writes Julie Zigoris.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m; Wednesdays, closed; Thursdays, noon to 8 p.m.

There’s lots going on here.

Giant Arc,” Jacob Hashimoto’s largest is up at SFMOMA on the first floor and the public can walk in and see it for free! It’s some 75,000 elements transformed into a cloud canopy that covers the Roberts Family Gallery floor ceiling.

“Graciela Iturbide: Between Two Worlds,” through Nov. 29. The exhibit of the Mexican photographers work includes photos from five decades of work.

“Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal,” has been extended through Sept. 27. It is based on a 1991 gift from Elise Haas. Julie Zigoris reviewed it for us, writing, “The painting’s debut in 1905 caused an immediate sensation for its fury of colors.”

Interestingly, just as the exhibit is closing here, the New Yorker posted a review writing “Part of the greatness of “Femme au Chapeau” is the endurance of its ugliness.” I don’t agree with Zachary Kline, but his is a different take from someone who acknowledges from the get go that it is his “least favorite masterpiece of the twentieth century.”  

I for one, am grateful Elise Haas purchased and bequeathed it along with 30 other paintings to SFMOMA. Clearly, it was a favorite for Haas. Zigoris writes in Mission Local’s review: “Haas likened what was certainly one of her most favorite paintings to a cocktail; no matter how tired she was, she could look at “Femme au chapeau,” and it would revive her.”

Go and see it and let us know what you think.

After looking at 140 nominations and having studio visits with 16 finalists, the three SECA award winners have been announced: CrossLypka, Em Kettner, and Chanell Stone. Congratulations! The three artists will have a show from Dec. 12, 2026, to May 30, 2027.

Here is a taste of their work.

“Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10,” a rehanging and consideration of the collection, is open.

It’s a spectacular collection, and KQED has a good piece on the reinstallation. The New York Times has also published a piece on the Fishers’ relationship with the museum and the rehanging of the family’s collection, writing it is “unlike anything SFMOMA has done in its 90 years.”

It ranges over four floors.

Alexander Calder and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: “Thinking Big.” (on Floor 3.)

“Ways of Seeing: Fourteen Artists” (on Floor 4)

“Calder, Kelly, LeWitt: Fundamentals of Form” (on Floor 5)

“Memory and Matter: Personal and Collective Histories” (on Floor 6)

“Rose B Simpson: Behold” is on view on SFMOMA’s fourth-floor terrace. It’s a bronze sculpture visible from multiple locations. And good news! It has been extended through Feb. 7, 2027.

Also new: “Samia Halaby: Kinetic paintings,” four new works in SFMOMA’s Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Atrium. 

“New Work: Sheila Hicks” on the fourth floor illustrates how Hicks turns fiber into sculpture.

Tuesdays to Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

I’m hearing so many good word-of-mouth reviews on “”The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy,” that it sounds like a must. It closes on Sept. 20 so good to go soon.

Here are some of the artifacts – there is a collection of 150 items of sculpture and jewelry.

Don’t know much about the Etruscans? Here is a video:

“Miró, Proof against All” in the Logan Room, the museum owns two copies of the book – one bound and the other unbound – a creative collaboration between the Surrealists, Joan Miró and poet Paul Éluard.

You can view the Legion of Honor’s full list of exhibitions here.

The museum offers Free Saturdays to residents of the Bay Area’s nine counties.

Tuesdays to Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Saturdays are free for residents of the Bay Area’s nine counties.

“A Gallery of Their Own: Women Artists from the Carr and Goldblum Gift,” is open, focusing on works of paper by women artists.

“Treasures of the Pharaohs ” is open and Julie Zigoris writes, “The treasures on display are not only culturally and financially valuable, they are also visually stunning.”

Artist Rose B. Simpson’s show “LEXICON” will be on until Feb 7, 2027.

Noma Faingold writes in her review, “Coming from a long line of Native American ceramic artists of the Santa Clara Pueblo (Kha’po’oe Ówîngeh), based just south of Española, New Mexico, pottery is in Simpson’s DNA. While she still lives at the pueblo and has her studio close by, she has forged a different creative path, while examining the past, present and future.”

Simpson’s exhibit is all part of the opening of four galleries dedicated to Arts of Indigenous America, which draws on the permanent collections, new acquisitions and artists like Simpson.

The New York Times has an excellent piece by Carolina A. Miranda on the development of the Arts of Indigenous America galleries.

“Kim Minwook: On Carving, Bending, and Binding Wood,” until March 29.

“This Asian American Life” shows scenes from Chinatown from the POV of a child. It is part of a public-art series on Chinatown’s mothers, workers and tenants. The museum recently posted a video of a conversation with the artist, Kayan Cheung-Miaw.

We wrote our own story interviewing Cheung-Miaw here.

“Mountains of the Mind,” a collection of landscapes by Chinese ink painters, is open through Oct. 26.

The museum has a series, “Takeout Tuesdays,” where you can meet online to talk about a piece of art with docents and others. 

General admission is free on the first Sunday of every month and the special exhibitions are discounted. Here is more information for free and reduced-cost admission. The museum also hosts a robust list of events.

Wednesdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; free on Wednesdays and second Sundays.

GaHee Park’s  “Behind the Curtain,” is open through Jan. 3 2027. Charles Lewis III reviewed it for Mission Local, writing that what separates Park’s works from Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso “is a subversion of the male gaze.”

Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.: Free self-guided tours. Saturday at 4 p.m.: A guided tour for $20.

Andy Vogt: “The Ringing in My Eyes” and Amy Trachtenberg: “Abstract Objects of Devotion” will be open through Oct. 17.

On Thursday, Sept. 24, the small but delightful musuem is offering a second Twilight Tour of Amy Trachtenberg’s Abstract Objects of Devotion and Andy Vogt’s The Ringing in My Eyes. Both artists will be on hand. The catch is that you have to become a member – a good enticement.   Both artists will be present for the tour.

And on Sunday Sunday, Oct. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m, Room/Tone will be presented in conjunction with Andy Vogt’s  The Ringing in My Eyes. The sound performance includes Joshua Churchill, Ven Voisey, and Ava Koohbor. RSVP here.

Vogt and Trachtenberg have many pieces spread out over the house. Below is just a sampling, but if were in town, I would go. 500 Capp Street is special and these installations fit right in. See more on the latest here.

Another bit of programming that is open to all: a talk on Saturday October 10, at 6 p.m. between the artist Trachtenberg Jarrett Earnest, a writer and curator living in New York City. The two met at David Ireland’s house in 2010 and recently renewed their relationship, exchanging postcards, some of which appear in “Abstract Objects of Devotion.”

If you don’t know the David Ireland House, now known as 500 Capp Street, here is some history.

Arion Press at Fort Mason is about making books – by hand, or as its motto proclaims, “from comma to cover.” But it offers free tours every second Saturday and third Thursday of the month.

The Gallery Showroom of its publications is open 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.

Arion’s most recent publication is “Declare: A Civic Gospel,” a collection of reflections on the Declaration of Independence. It’s also published, collector-priced volumes on Moby Dick with engravings by Barry Moser and Porgy & Bess with illustrations by Kara Walker.

The New York Times has a full piece on the press here. It writes that Arion is “the only printer in the country that makes books entirely by hand under one roof, from casting metal type to printing pages to binding them into exquisite volumes prized by collectors.”

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, noon to 8 p.m.

MoAD is temporarily closed from Aug. 17 to Sept. 29. It will reopen on Sept. 30 with these shows:

“Calling all Cats,” Dorien Reed, part of its Emerging Artist program

“After the Island,Ornament and Ceramic Practice in the Jamaican Diaspora” featuring PJ Anderson, Jacqueline Bishop, and Sharon Norwood.

“Dewey Crumpler: Sonic Lineages.”

Thursdays,1 to 8 p.m. and free to all; Fridays to Sundays: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Mondays to Wednesdays.

“Tone in Tongue,” in the library.

Here is a list of events and tours with curators.

See all events and programming here.

“Localization: 15 Years of LetterSeed” opened in mid-August. It explores Korean typography.

The Letterform Archive is a nonprofit arts center focused on graphic design.

Shrey Purohit is at the ramp until October 31.

“In Their Name: Dia de Los Muertos 2026”  by co-curators Rio Yañez and Bridgétt Rex  will open Oct. 24 and run through Nov. 20. The curators “envision a Day of the Dead exhibit that celebrates the tradition’s Mexican roots while welcoming cultures around the globe to honor the dead together in solidarity.”

There is an opening reception on Friday, October 23 at 6 p.m.

Check the website for new shows.

The Institute is now nomadic with several exhibits that can be viewed at different public spaces:

• Tara Donovan’s “Stratagems” at the Transamerica Pyramid Center.
• A concurrent installation by Lily Kwong at the Transamerica Pyramid Center.
• Jeffrey Gibson’s mural in Yerba Buena.
• Rupy C. Tut’s installation at CCSF.

Here are some views of the installations.

Open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Water damage forced the Tenderloin Museum to close, the museum reported in an Instagram post. A fire originated “in the residential floors of The Cadillac Hotel, above our space..”

The museum has launched a fundraising drive and hopes to reopen in the fall.

Programing else where continues including “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot” at the museum’s venue at 835 Larkin St. It runs every Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. You can get tickets here. Chris Carlsson writes about the 1966 riots and resistance on FoundSF, a great resource for history.

Check out other upcoming events here. Other walking tours are listed here.

Mondays to Saturdays, 9:30 a.m to 5 p.m; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m; Thursdays, NightLife (21+ with ID): 6 to 10 p.m. (Last entry is always one hour before closing time.) 

There’s a lot going on here.

The newly renovated Wilson Family Nature Lab is open with lots of hands-on learning.

“Big Picture” competition winners are on view.

Make sure to plan ahead and see the admission and ticketing page for more information. Also, see how you can get a free or reduced rate for your next visit. 

Directory of Dreams, “traces the everyday labor of Bay Area lesbians who refused erasure and built community networks rooted in care, solidarity, and economic self-determination,” according to the museum’s website.

Wednesdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

We have more museums in town. This one is at the corner of Haight and Ashbury streets with a whole lot of San Francisco history.

I could see a whole weekend, or a couple of weekdays, spent between the Counterculture Museum, the Beat Museum and the “Ferlingetti for San Francisco” show at the Legion of Honor. It would be like a graduate seminar on the late ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

Thursdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Beat Museum is at 540 Broadway, across the street from City Lights, the bookstore founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

“We are dedicated to carrying on the Beats’ legacy by exposing their work to new audiences, encouraging journeys — both interior and exterior — and being a resource on how one person’s perspective can have meaning to many,” according to a statement from the museum.

This sounds like a great place to visit.

The gallery is open Tuesdays to Fridays, noon to 4 p.m. It will be closed for most of the summer, reopening on Aug. 8 for “Life and the Inevitable.” The show on life, death and grief will feature six artists. It is curated by Keone Nakakura, a graduate student in museum studies, and will run through Oct. 15.

It’s a teaching lab and open to the public during the school year — Oct. through May. 11 a.m. to. 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Thursdays, and by appointment. Location: Fine Arts Building, Room 203

Now on: “Craft or Commodity?” and “Please Touch!” “Both exhibits focus on themes of responsible stewardship of cultural heritage, decolonizing museum work, and expanding accessible museum experiences,” writes Marley Townsend, a graduate student in Museum Studies.

Thursdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

“Happiest Place on Earth: The Disneyland Story” is open. The museum described it as a “treasure trove of Disney history” that “will take “guests behind the scenes of one of the most groundbreaking endeavors of the 20th century — the creation and opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California.”

The museum is showing rare objects featured in the book “Walt Disney Treasures: Personal Art and Artifacts from The Walt Disney Family Museum.” The objects will change every two months.

Visit the museum’s website for more information on admission costs and reduced ticketing options. The special exhibits are free with a suggested $5 admission fee.

Closed Mondays. Sundays, 10 a.m. to noon (members/donors only); noon to 5 p.m. for everyone. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, 6 to 10 p.m. for 18+.

Experience After Dark at Pier 15. Every Thursday evening, immerse yourself in more than 700 interactive exhibits. For people 18 and older. The museum advertises a carefree environment with new themes each night. Here is information for reduced admission.  

“We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family.”