Free Entry to SFMOMA, MoAD and Other Museums on Third Thursday

Penny-pinchers unite! On Thursday, Feb. 20, the museums of the Yerba Buena neighborhood are opening their doors free of charge. The list of participating institutions in this year’s first Culture for Community Free Day includes the California Historical Society, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora, SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

There’s a lot to see at all of the above, especially if you try to hit up each and every venue, so I have a few recommendations. Don’t miss An American Project, Dawoud Bey’s retrospective at SFMOMA. There you’ll see four decades of his beautiful photographs of Harlem residents, high school students, and most recently, sites that evoke the route of the Underground Railroad.

At the CJM, there’s a whole show about Levi Strauss, the man who invented the blue jean and established San Francisco as the center of a denim empire. A bit further afield, but worth the trek to Market and 6th, SF Camerawork hosts a solo by local artist Jamil Hellu, whose collaborative photographic work (and narrative titles) you might recognize from the most recent Bay Area Now.

And last but not least, don’t sleep on Kwame Brathwaite’s Black is Beautiful, a MoAD show filled with beautifully saturated photographs that embody that titular rally cry—and open new avenues for reflecting on the complicated legacy of Brathwaite’s imagery.

Here’s the full day’s schedule, for your viewing and visiting pleasure:

• 111 Minna: Open 10am–9pm (always free)
• California Historical Society: Free 11am–8pm
• Children’s Creativity Museum: Free 10am–4pm (with free carousel rides 10am–7pm)
• Contemporary Jewish Museum: Free 11am–8pm (with evening programming)
• MoAD: Free 11am–8pm (open mic 6–8pm)
• SF Camerawork: 12–6pm (always free)
• SFMOMA: Free 10am–9pm (reserve your tickets)
• YBCA: Open 11am–8pm, free 5pm–8pm

Read more about the event here.