Closing soon
- A collaboration with the San Francisco Foundation and SOMarts to present the 2025 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition closes Dec. 7.
- “Midnight March” by Masako Miki and “stay, take your time, my love” by David Antonio Cruz at the Institute for Contemporary Art close on Dec. 7
- “Printing Color: Chiaroscuro to Screenprint,” closing Jan. 4.
- “Rave into the Future: Art in Motion” closes Jan. 12 at the Asian Art Museum
Coming soon
- “Drawn to Venice” at the Legion of Honor on Jan. 24 to Aug. 2, 2026
The gallery scene
Ashley Voss updates a local gallery guide weekly. Check out the guide’s Instagram account and website.
At the Museums
SFMOMA
“Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules” is open and will be on view until April 19.
Alejandro Cartagena, Rivers of Power #71, from the series Rivers of Power, 2010–16© Alejandro Cartagena, courtesy the artist 
Alejandro Cartagena, Suburban Bus #56, from the series Suburban Bus, 2016; © Alejandro Cartagena, courtesy the artist 
Alejandro Cartagena, Invisible Line DAUGHTER #34, from the series Invisible Line, 2010–17; © Alejandro Cartagena, courtesy the artist 
Alejandro Cartagena, Carpoolers #21, from the series Carpoolers, 2011–12; © Alejandro Cartagena, courtesy the artist
KAWS: Family is open until May 3, 2026. The exhibit features more than 100 artworks created over three decades. KAWs – Brian Donnelly – began painting graffiti in Jersey City and Manhattan, but in 1996 received his BFA in illustration from the School of Visual Arts.
We sent Charles Lewis III to take a look.
“In his younger days, Donnelly would snatch subway advertisements, integrate his own characters and then replace the advertisements, making it seem as if his designs were always a part of the image,” Lewis writes. In the new show, he writes “for KAWS, family is about the art of marketing.”
Read Mission Local’s full review
The New York Times has a 2021 profile of KAWS here. He’s controversial to say the least.
The exhibit includes a 36-foot-tall inflatable sculpture on SFMOMA’s rooftop.
On Dec, 7, there will be a free Holiday Makers Market at SFMOMA starting at 10 a.m.
The photo exhibit “(Re)Constructing History” fills three rooms on the third floor. The title plays on Carrie Mae Weems’ featured series “Constructing History,” asking viewers to consider “the layers of history we encounter through a seemingly fixed image.” A contemporary Black artist — including Nona Faustine, Carla Williams, and Dawoud Bey — anchors each room.
Carrie Mae Weems, The Tragedy of Hiroshima, from the series Constructing History, 2008; promised gift of Paul Sack to the Sack Photographic Trust; © Carrie Mae Weems. 
Nona Faustine, From Her Body Came Their Greatest Wealth, Wall St, NYC, 2013; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, purchase through a gift of Ty Ahmad-Taylor and Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; © Nona Faustine. 
Rephotographic Survey Project, Rick Dingus for the Rephotographic Survey Project, 1978. Witches Rocks, Weber Valley, Utah., 1977–79; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Rephotographic Survey Project. 
Dawoud Bey, Untitled #17 (Forest), from the series Night Coming Tenderly, Black, 2017; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Dawoud Bey. 
Carla Williams, Side, from the series How to Read Character, 1990, printed 2024; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; © Carla Williams.
“Suzanne Jackson: What is Love” includes 80 paintings and drawings, representing the first retrospective of her career. Teresa Moore writes in Mission Local that it “a fitting show for a phenomenal artist.”
Read our full review here
Suzanne Jackson, El Paradiso, 1981–84; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams 
Suzanne Jackson, High Frost, 1982; the Joyner/Giuffrida Collection 
Suzanne Jackson, a history drawing-cracked wall, 2016–19; collection George and Keren Davis 
Portrait of Suzanne Jackson, 2025
“People Make This Place: SFAI Stories” is open through July 5, 2026, at SFMOMA. The exhibit looks at the the San Francisco Art Institute’s importance to the local arts eco-system and includes work from 50 alumni and former faculty in the museum’s collection.
“New Work: Sheila Hicks” on the fourth floor illustrates how Hicks turns fiber into sculpture.
Admission is free on the first Thursday of every month for Bay Area residents, although it is recommended you reserve your ticket in advance. Here is information for free and reduced-price admission.
Asian Art Museum
I love the outdoor murals along Hyde Street by artist and activist Kayan Cheung-Miaw. “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.
“Rave into the Future: Art in Motion” is open until Jan. 12. Julie Zigoris writes that the curator, Naz Cuguoğlu, calls it a “love letter to the dance floor,” constructed around nine stages that mimic the experience of going to a rave.” Roombas spewing glitter are part of the after-party.
Read our full review here
Spiral, 2016, by Sophia Al-Maria (b. 1983), music by Fatima Al Qadiri (b. 1981, Dakar). Single-channel HD video with sound, 5_02 min (video still). Courtesy of the artist. 
Um Al Naar (Mother of Fire), 2019, by Farah Al Qasimi (b. 1991, Abu Dhabi). HD video, color, sound, 40 min. (video still). Courtesy of the artist. 
Party on the Caps, 2018–2019, by Meriem Bennani. Single-channel HD video with sound, 25:28 min. (video still). Courtesy of the artist 
Untitled (radio tower with accessories), 2023 Plastic, steel, soda-fired ceramic. Courtesy of the artist; Rebecca Camacho Presents, San Francisco; Canada, New York; and Parker Gallery, Los Angeles. Photograph by Robert Divers Herrick
“Jitish Kallat: Covering Letter (Terranum Nuncius)” invites visitors to reflect on the things that unite humanity.
Chandigarh-based artist Gurjeet Singh’s show “When Words Hurt” is open through March 23, 2026.
You will also see cutting-edge claywork from Japan in “New Japanese Clay.”
The museum also 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.
SOMArts
The Oakland-based artist Charlotte Beck has a show through Jan. 2 at the adjacent Ramp Gallery, a place that takes applications for four-week-long shows.
Also on until Dec. 7: a SOMArts collaboration with the San Francisco Foundation to present the 2025 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition. There’s some gorgeous work.
Legion of Honor Museum
Julie Zigoris writes that “Manet and Morisot” at the Legion of Honor “will give museum-goers the opportunity for the first time to understand how deeply the two French painters were in conversation with one another.”
Berthe Morisot “Intérieur,” 1872 Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 28 11/16 in. (59.944 x 72.898 cm) Private Collection Photograph by Randy Dodson, courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 
Édouard Manet “Boating,” 1874/1879 Oil on canvas, 38 1/4 x 51 1/4 in. (97.2 x 130.2 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Read Mission Local’s full review of the show
“Ferlinghetti for San Francisco” draws from the museum’s collection of prints, etchings and lithographs. Here is a 2012 profile from SFGate of the poet, artist, activist and founder of City Lights Book Store.
We have a review of the show and a guide to Ferlinghetti’s San Francisco here.
Ferlinghetti died in 2021, but what a life. Even before arriving in San Francisco, he had earned a master’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate from the Sorbonne.
He tended toward the arts, writing his Master’s thesis on John Ruskin and J.M.W. Turner, and his doctorate on “The City as a Symbol in Modern Poetry,” writes Julian Guthrie in her SFGate profile of him.
The museum offers a Free Saturday campaign throughout the year.
More on SF’s beloved poet
“Printing Color: Chiaroscuro to Screenprint,” closing Jan. 4, promises to take you across time, from 18th Century etchings to contemporary artists like Kiki Smith.
You can view the Legion of Honor’s full list of exhibitions here.
Admission is free every Saturday for Bay Area residents, and the first Tuesday of every month for everyone. If you get into Ferlinghetti‘s history, visit the Counter Culture Museum, City Lights Book Store and the Beat Museum.
de Young Museum
There is a lot happening at the de Young this month.
The “Art of Manga” opened last weekend. Mission Local wrote about four fans or experts who caught the manga mania.
“It’s the future visual language,” said the curator Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere. “Manga is already in textbooks in Japan. The images are carrying the content. It goes to another part of your brain. At the end of the exhibition, you will be fluent in manga.”
The New York Times also has a strong review of the show.
Artist Rose B. Simpson’s show “LEXICON.” opened, and will be available until 2026.
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.”
Read the full review of Simpson’s show here
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 Indigeous America galleries.
“Leilah Babirye: We Have a History” opened earlier this summer gives the artist, born in Uganda and based in New York, her first solo show in the United States. It closes May 26, 2026, Babirye creates sculptures in ceramic, wood and discarded objects.
I don’t know her work, but am excited to get to know it. Here is an excellent introductory video with Babirye and the curator of SFMOMA’s African collection, Natasha Becker. Contemporary artists like Babirye are being invited to have their work in conversation with the museum’s excellent permanent collection.
The Letterform Archive
“Piet Zwart: Brand Architect” opened Nov. 8 with an exhibition reception on Saturday, Nov. 22.
From the website: “From the 1920s to the 1960s, Zwart profoundly influenced both the Netherlands and the international graphic design community, and many of his works are celebrated as milestones in design history.”
There are many great examples of his work in this piece by Steven Heller, a former senior art director at The New York Times.
And here is more from the Letterform Archive when it reprinted “Inside NKF: Piet Zwart’s Avant-Garde Catalog for Standard Cables, 1927–1928.” It also publishes his seminal essay, “from old to new typography.”
The new, he writes, “rejects a predetermined formal structure, but builds up forms according to the function…the new typography incorporates active red as a functional element: as a signal, an eye-catcher.” Sounds like an interesting fellow.
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.
California Academy of Sciences
There’s a lot going on here.
The newly renovated Wilson Family Nature Lab is open with lots of hands-on learning.
Coming up on Nov. 22, there is a one-night only Welcome Winter Night, with two baby reindeer (and a naming contest), magic shows, and lots of other activities.
WelcomeWinterNight 2024. Courtesy of the California Academy of Science 
WelcomeWinterNight 2024. Courtesy of the California Academy of Science 
WelcomeWinterNight 2024. Courtesy of the California Academy of Science 
Courtesy of the California Academy of Science 
WelcomeWinterNight 2024. Courtesy of the California Academy of Science
“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.
Museum of the African Diaspora
The Museum of the African Diaspora has reopened and has a new exhibition, “Unbound: Art, Blackness and the Universe,” which opened Oct. 1 and runs through Aug. 16, 2026.
Curated by Key Jo Lee, MoAD’s Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Public Programs, the show “invites visitors to reimagine Blackness not as fixed or earthbound, but as infinite — expansive, unknowable, and cosmically rich,” according to the museum’s website.
”Unbound” features a global and intergenerational group of artists, including Lorna Simpson, Rashaad Newsome, Gustavo Nazareno, Harmonia Rosales and Didier William.
Counterculture Museum
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.
Beat Museum
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.
500 Capp St.
Artist-in-residence Catherine Wagner is at 500 Capp St. Her work has long focused on the philosophical and material qualities of the color blue. Her new exhibit is “Blue Reverie” runs through Jan. 10, 2026.
From the website: “Wagner has invited the members of her team to each contribute a piece to Blue Reverie installed in various sites throughout the house including work by Sophia Ramirez, Deirdre Visser, Nathan Kosta, Martín Rodriguez Serrano, Anika Murthy, and TZ Jiang.”
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
“Bay Area Then” runs through Jan. 25, 2026. It features work by 21 artists from the ’90s and into the new century, including Beatrix Fowler, Arnold Kemp, Margaret Kilgallen, Rigo 23, Spie One, and many others. The quest curator is Eungie Joo.
Entry to YBCA Galleries is free on Wednesdays and second Sundays.
Institute for Contemporary Art
“Midnight March” by Masako Miki and “stay, take your time, my love” by David Antonio Cruz are now open. You may know Miki’s work from her whimsical installations at the Uber headquarters. Cruz’s exhibit includes newly commissioned work “created in response to the queer histories of San Francisco.” Both exhibits close on Dec. 7, 2025.
David Antonio Cruz, “canyoustaywithmetonight_causeyouarehere,youarehere,andweareherewithyou,” 2021. 
David Antonio Cruz, “yourenotbymyside_wontyouremember,” 2025. 
David Antonio Cruz. “thefogwillrise,theclaydry,andallcoveredindew.ButI’llseeyouwhenthesunsets_causewehavelivingghosts,” 2024 
Masako Miki, “Ancient Tree Witness,” 2023, Wool on XPS foam, walnut wood. Photo: Steve Ferrera, Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman. 
Masako Miki, “Revealing Mirror Shapeshifter,” 2022. Photo: Steve Ferrera, Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman. 
Masako Miki, “Midnight March (Blue and Red Violet),” 2025. Photo: Phillip Maisel, Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman.
Museum of Craft and Design (MCD)
“Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural” and “Wunderkammer: The Collection of Susan Beech” are both open until Feb. 8, 2026.
The Chinese Historical Society of America
“Challenging a White-Washed History: Chinese Laundries in the U.S.” is on. Mission Local’s Junyou Yang wrote about the exhibit.
Also at the museum: “We are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, one family,” and “Living in Chinatown: Memories in Miniature,” sculptures by Frank Wong, who attended Galileo High School, became a set designer and now lives in Chinatown.
San Francisco State University’s Fine Arts Gallery
The gallery will reopen on Dec 2 to 11 for its “38th Annual Stillwell Student Exhibition”
The Tenderloin Museum
“The Return of Lord Frederick” is a “solo exhibition of recent and restored works that form a pantheon of Lord Frederick‘s personal mythology and display his provocative aesthetic and distinctive handicraft,” according to the Museum’s website. It is on view until Jan. 31, 2026.
I did not know about the Tenderloin Museum until the San Francisco Chronicle wrote about its planned expansion to 10,000 square feet from 3,000, adding a room for San Francisco’s neon history, including a sign from Hunt’s Donuts, once based in the Mission District and known as the “epicenter of crime.”
There is a lot more going on at the Tenderloin Museum, including the permanent collection that explores the neighborhood’s history and upcoming events, such as a walking tour focused on the area’s LGBTQIA+ history. Other walking tours are listed here.
The Walt Disney Family Museum
Happiest Place on Earth: The Disneyland Story” is open. The museum described it as a “treasure trove of Disney history” taking “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.
Exploratorium
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.
The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
See the center’s website for offerings.
Jewish Contemporary Museum
The museum closed in December for at least a year as it works out its financial situation. You can learn more here. Laura Waxmann wrote a good piece for the San Francisco Chronicle about the difficulties museums are facing.
Its closure is a reminder to visit our museums.
I love how passionately art nerds hate kaws.
Grateful for this summary!