Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
182
San F rancisco F ire Depar tment Museum
Ages 4 and up.
This one-room
museum next to a firehouse features display cases filled with ar tifacts tracing the history
of San Francisco's fire departments, from volunteer firefighters to the beginnings of the
professional squads of today . The floor display of antique equipment, including two
steam engines, shows how far we've come.
655 Presidio Ave. (btw. Bush and P ine sts.).
&
415/558-3546
(recorded info) or 415/563-4630 (during
open hours). w ww.sffiremuseum.org. F ree admission. Thurs-Sun 1-4pm. Muni: no . 43-M asonic, no .
4-Sutter, or no. 2-Clement bus.
San Francisco Museum of Modern A rt (SFMOMA)
All ages.
The first
museum on the West Coast dev oted solely to post-turn-of-the-20th-centur y ar t, the
SFMOMA took up r esidence in 1995 in its curr ent home designed b y Swiss architect
Mario Botta. The impressive brick facade, accentuated by a black and white tower, opens
to a sleek atrium and a set of black and gray stone stairs leading up the museum 's four
stories. The permanent collection includes mor e than 26,000 wor ks, including 5,000
paintings b y the likes of H enri M atisse, P iet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, and R obert
Rauschenberg. Other ar tists represented include D iego Rivera, Georgia O'Keeffe, and
Paul Klee. The first museum to r ecognize photography as a major ar t form, the
SFMOMA also has mor e than 9,000 photographs fr om such notables as Ansel A dams
and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Although not enough of these wonder ful art pieces ar e on
view at any one time, the museum also hosts ex cellent temporar y displays. P erhaps
because of the color ful and arr esting natur e of much contemporar y ar t, w e've always
found something here to hold the attention of ev en our very young daughters.
On the third Sunday of the month from noon to 3pm, children up to 10 years old are
invited to create some artwork of their own in the Family Studio of the
Koret Education
Center.
This activity is fr ee with museum admission, and prior r egistration isn't neces-
sary. Also, for 1 day in J une and October, Family Day offers reduced admission rates to
the museum and a full day of activities and per formances geared toward kids under 10.
On other days of the week, the center offers educational art videos, activities for kids, and
art topics geared for children (Koret Center,
&
415/538-4693;
closes 15 min. before the
rest of the museum).
The
Caffè Museo,
offering grilled sandwiches, salads, and soups, is a gr eat place to
grab lunch, although it 's packed on w eekends. The
Museum Store
is one of the better
gift shops in to wn, carrying unique educational to ys for v ery young children. Museum
admission is not required to enter the cafe or gift shop .
151 3rd St. (2 blocks south of Market St. btw. Mission and Howard sts.).
&
415/357-4000.
www.sfmoma.
org. Admission $13 adults , $8 seniors , $7 students w/ID , free for k ids 12 and under . Half-price Thurs
6-8:45pm. Free to all 1st Tues of the month. Disc ounts for groups over 10 people. Thurs 11am-8:45pm;
Fri-Tues 11am-5:45pm. Summer: Mon-Tues and Fri 10am-5:45pm; Sat-Sun 10am-7:45pm; Thurs 10am-
8:45pm. Closed Wed and major holidays. Muni: Take any streetcar to the Montgomery St. Station; 14, 30,
45, 74X bus.
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THE BEST VIEWS
People like views. That much is clear from the wrangling that goes on to get a table with
a view in restaurants or the extra tariff imposed on a r oom with a vie w, not to mention
a home with a view. San Francisco is one major view, owing to all those hills. Following
are some of the best.
