Go to: San Francisco Main Event Calendar | San Francisco Art Galleries
San Francisco Museum Exhibits - November 2008
Listings updated annually.
November 2008 exhibits at San Francisco museums. Museums outside of the city are listed at the end.
** Note: Museums not listed are temporarily closed or do not have special exhibitions this month.
The Guide to San Francisco Museums has a more extensive list of venues, with full address and location information. The San Francisco Museum Map shows locations of museums within the city.
See the guide to Free Museum Days in San Francisco for monthly freebies.
11. Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)
Location: SoMa/South of Market - (SoMa Information)
Profile of the Museum of the African Diaspora
See also: San Francisco Museum Map and Guide to SF Museums
The Hewitt Collection of African American Art
To Jan 11, 2009
Exhibition of fifty-eight works assembled over a half-century, from 1949 to 1998, by John and Vivian Hewitt. It is one of the world's largest and most diverse collections of African American art.
12. Museum of Craft and Folk Art
Location: SoMa/South of Market - (SoMa Information)
MOCFA Website
See also: San Francisco Museum Map and Guide to SF Museums
The Shape of Things: Paper Traditions and Transformations
Nov 14, 2008 to Feb 15, 2009
Explores the history of cut, folded, and molded paper, alongside contemporary artists who introduce fresh perspectives on those traditional forms.
13. Presidio Officers' Club
Location: Presidio
San Francisco Presidio Information
See the Presidio on a San Francisco Neighborhood Map
War and Dissent: U.S. in the Philippines 1898 - 1915
To Feb 22, 2009
Mixed media exhibit of photographs, diaries, letters, political cartoons, recordings, maps, and flags looks at the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars from several points of view.
14. San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design
Location: Union Square
Museum of Craft + Design Website
See also: San Francisco Museum Map and Guide to SF Museums
The Thinking Body
To Jan 4, 2009
Exhibition will examine ideas about the body’s perceptual relationship to jewelry, functional objects and spaces.
15. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA)
Location: SoMa - (SoMa Information)
Profile of SF MOMA
See also: San Francisco Museum Map and Guide to SF Museums
Double Down: Two Visions of Vegas
To Jan 4, 2009
Presents a portrait of the Las Vegas environment through two recent video works, Olivo Barbieri's site specific_LAS VEGAS 05 and Stephen Dean's No More Bets.
The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now
Nov 8 to Feb 8, 2009
Examines how artists have engaged audiences as essential collaborators in the art-making process.
Brought to Light: Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900
To Jan 4, 2009
Includes examples of early scientific (and pseudoscientific) photography and considers what it meant in the 19th century to "see" photographically.
See the SF MOMA Website for more events.
16. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Location: SoMa - (SoMa Information)
See also: San Francisco Museum Map and Guide to SF Museums
Bay Area Now5
To Nov 16, 2008
Fifth triennial exhibition of Bay Area art explores questions around how to re-imagine a regional survey in the midst of globalization
The Gatherers: Greening Our Urban Space
To Jan 11, 2009
How do we ensure sustainability for growing urban populations? Exhibition that brings together work from a diverse group of practitioners who combine art with cultural activism.
Additional exhibit information at ybca.org
17. Oakland Museum of California (Downtown Oakland)
Photo © Ingorrr/Flickr
Location: Downtown Oakland
Oakland Museum Website
In Our Own Backyard: A Celebration of the East Bay Regional Parks
To Nov 9, 2008
More than 40 photographs offer visitors a virtual tour through the East Bay's most scenic parks and open spaces.
L.A. PAINT
To Mar 8, 2009
A selective look at the vast and vibrant Southern California art scene via 11 influential artists.
Evolution of a Sacred Space: Dias de Los Muertos 2008
To Dec 7, 2008
Exhibition conveys how the spiritual tradition has changed since its pre-Columbian roots.
18. Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
2626 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, CA
See also: Map of Berkeley and Guide to SF/Bay Area Museums
See additional exhibits at the museum website
Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art From the Sigg Collection
To Jan 4, 2009
141 works by ninety-six artists, representing the historical span of art from the 1970s to today in China.
Bending the Word/MATRIX 226
To Feb 8, 2009
Exhibition brings together four artists—Martha Colburn, Patricia Esquivias, Olivia Plender, and Tris Vonna-Michell—whose work mingles fact and fiction, history and anecdote, reshaping our views of the world through storytelling.
Gas Zappers
To Feb 8, 2009
Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung offers an interactive online game that tackles global warming with political savvy and wry humor
19. Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology (Berkeley)
Berkeley - Kroeber Hall on Bancroft Way at College Avenue
See also: Map of Berkeley and Guide to SF/Bay Area Museums
From the Land of the Rajas: Creativity in Rajasthan
To Dec 21, 2008
Traje de la Vida: Maya Textiles of Guatemala
From Sep 25, 2008
20. Lawrence Hall of Science (Berkeley)
Berkeley - On Centennial Drive in the Berkeley Hills
See also: Map of Berkeley and Guide to SF/Bay Area Museums
Engineer It
To Jan 4, 2009
Robotic Apatosaurus
To Nov 30, 2008
Science on a Sphere
Ongoing
See the Earth from space without ever leaving the ground. Creates visual effects from real scientific data and displays them on a six-foot diameter globe.
21. Cantor Arts Center (Stanford/Palo Alto)
Location: Stanford Campus - Palo Alto
Profile of the Cantor Arts Center
Contemporary Glass
Opens August 1, ongoing
selection of contemporary glass, based on loans from local collectors, reflects the continuity of Venetian traditions
Richard Diebenkorn, Artist, and Carey Stanton, Collector: Their Stanford Connection
To Nov 9, 2008
Presents 45 works by Diebenkorn that belonged to Diebenkorn's friend and fellow Stanford alumnus Carey Stanton
Dürer to Picasso
Nov 12 to Feb 15, 2009
100 works from the Renaissance to WWII represent the top tier of art acquired through gift, purchase, and bequest since the museum's reopening in 1999, after a closure forced by the 1989 Lomia Prieta earthquake.
See a photos of nearby Stanford Campus.
22. Marin History Museum (Marin/San Rafael)
Location: San Rafael
Marin History Museum Website
Riding the Rails: Marin's Historic Trains
To January 10, 2009
Chronicles the evolution of railroad transportation in Marin County









