Thread: California trip
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Old 05-31-2005, 09:17 PM   #55
mszv
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California, US
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On art (visual arts) in San Francisco
- SFMOMA, San Franciscio Museum of Modern Art, as distinguished from MOMA, in New York City. The building is beautiful, and the art is good. I enjoy their shows.
http://www.sfmoma.org

- Fine Arts Museums. There are two museums, only one of which is open right now, the Legion of Honor. The other one, the De Young, is getting a new building, it's not open yet. The Legion of Honor is a nifty museum - a good permanent collection and some interesting shows. It's also in a great location, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and nice views of the city. I think it's a worth a trip.
http://www.thinker.org/

There are other good museums (including Yerba Buena) and some good galleries, if you are interested. I'm not sure how much you are into contemporary art, so you may not be interested. If you are, let me know, and I can recommend some good galleries.

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If you go on to southern California, I am really fond of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art ( http://www.lacma.org ), so much so that I am a member, and I don't even live in southern California! I've also never been to the new Getty museum, but I think it's worth a trip. ( http://www.getty.org ).

Los Angeles has a very good gallery scene - 3rd in the US (galleries, reputation, etc) after New York City and Chicago. On the Los Angeles area gallery scene, I generally just go to the galleries at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica (my favorite city in southern California, right next to Los Angeles, near the West LA area). It's a good collection of galleries and you only have to park the car once. The Bergamot Station website (have no idea who does this, a gallery association) isn't all that up to date, but at least you can see where the Bergamot Station galleries are located
http://www.bergamotstation.com/ . Remember, galleries, unlike museums, are free.

Oh - for art stuff, the gallery guide is what you need to get. Often you can get the most recent copy of it for free, at galleries. It has lists of exhibits, some pictures and good maps. You want the US West Coast edition.
http://www.galleryguide.com

Perhaps more than you wanted to know, about the local visual arts scene! Just be glad I stopped myself before recommending even more visual arts places, around the San Francisco Bay Area!
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