Visit San Francisco’s de Young Museum for Art’s Sake!

By San Francisco Limousine Specialist on August 2, 2014

Ars gratia artis. L’art grace a l’art. Art for art’s sake. No matter what your first language may be, this enduring quotation captures the elusive nature and (somewhat) unquantifiable value of art in our lives very well. If you love artistic expression in some or all of its forms, it’s likely that you already know about the de Young, as it is one of the best art museums in the world and one of the most visited. Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the de Young is one of several San Francisco art museums that draw and delight visitors from all over the world each year.

The museum that is now called the de Young first opened its doors in 1895 as the Fine Arts Building, which exhibited various types of art featured in the California Midwinter International Exposition in 1894. After the Exposition, the building was known as the Memorial Museum, which was a very popular destination until it suffered significant structural damage in the earthquake of 1906. After repairs were made, the building underwent several additions in the ensuing years. In 1989, the museum again suffered significant structural damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake. After many years of public input and fundraising, the latest version of the de Young opened its doors in 2005 and remains a vital and important part of the area’s cultural identity.

Today, the de Young is a busy, thriving facility that gives visitors plenty of reasons to return again and again. In addition to the galleries devoted to the Museum’s permanent collection, there are also frequent and varied special exhibitions focusing on the work of one artist, collections of artists and media on different themes and many other interesting, intriguing and engaging exhibitions to see and experience. The de Young also frequently features touring exhibitions of outstanding private art collections, where visitors get a rare opportunity to see masterpieces often only seen in textbooks and websites.

If the de Young is on your list of must-see San Francisco attractions, contact NLS Limo today at 800-339-8936! The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. every day but Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and is open until 8:45 p.m. on Friday evenings from April through November. Admission is a very affordable $10 for adults, with tiered pricing for children, students and seniors. Some exhibitions require a separate fee but admission is free for most of the facility on the first Tuesday of each month. For more information about this fantastic San Francisco art museum and a current calendar of events, please visit the Museum’s official site at https://deyoung.famsf.org/.