Love Free Stuff? Check Out The Best Gratis Museum Days This Month
End of season sales may have left our wallets running on empty, but we're not going to let a lack of cash flow stop us from having a blast. After all, they say the best things in life are free, and this Tuesday we get to experience the phrase firsthand. The city's best museums are letting us in their newest exhibits without paying a dime. Yes, this deal does happen every first Tuesday of the month, but we can’t help but feel like the shopping gods gave us this gift solely so we could save some scratch once the next wave of fall must-haves roll around. And although usually beggars can’t be choosers, this time we get to have our pick. Check out the free museum listings below to bring on a smile that will rival Mona Lisa's.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum
Yerba Buena Lane boasts the coolest of residents (hello, Beard Papa creme puffs and Tropisueno margaritas!), but the Contemporary Jewish Museum takes the creative cake with its cool and cultural space. Scope out the community discourse of music, photography, and art, or partake in it by telling your story in the first-ever StoryCorps' StoryBooth, a New York-based oral-history project. And if that's not enough to convince you of its cool-kid rep, then the building will speak for itself as its modern architectural shape refers to the Hebrew phrase "L'Chaim," which translates "to life." Beyond cool!
Where: Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission Street (between 3rd and 4th streets); 415-655-7800.
The Legion Of Honor
The Legion of Honor is one of the Bay’s most breathtaking art hubs. Not only does the museum house over 124,000 works — ranging from European sculptures to ancient art from the Mediterranean and Near East — but the collection spans over 4,000 years. So, whether you stop by for a history lesson or for the outrageous, enviable views of the Golden Gate Bridge, you’ll walk away from the experience feeling cool, calm, and collected.
Where: The Legion Of Honor, 100 34th Avenue (at Clement Street); 415-750-3600.
The de Young Museum
When the de Young Museum reopened in 2005, we were thrilled beyond belief — and that sentiment hasn’t changed one bit. The first-rate facilities have some of the city’s hottest exhibits (um, can anyone say The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk?!), delicious grub, and such unique architecture that just strolling through its heavenly halls is awe-inspiring.
Where: de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive; 415-750-3600.
SFMOMA
Whenever we arrive at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art we know we’re in for something fabulous and funky. With a collection of contemporary crafts that never fail to wow its spectators, we almost don’t feel the need to mention its rooftop garden or steaming Blue Bottle Coffee supply. We suggest you lose yourself in one of its unusual exhibits and find yourself somewhere between the American photography from the 1970s and Matisse.
Where: SFMOMA, 151 Third Street (between Mission and Howard streets); 415-357-4000.
Photo: Via Facebook/The Jewish Contemporary Museum
Next
- 1 of 2
in NYC