The San Francisco Museum of Art opened on the 4th floor of the War Memorial Veterans Building in the Civic Center on January 18, 1935. Its original collection was largely donated by Albert M Bender, a collector of works by artists Freida Kahlo and Diego Rivera^[1], and became the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art. In 1936 the museum became one of the first in the world to recognize photography as a fine art.

In 1975 the name of the museum officially changed to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). In the years that followed four separate departments were established, each with its own curator: Architecture and Design, Media Arts, Painting and Sculpture and Photography.

In 1995 the museum moved to its current location at 151 Third Street (formerly a parking lot) in SoMa^[2]. The building consists of galleries set around a central skylighted atrium featuring a magnificent curved staircase.  It 2009 a Rooftop Garden opened: a glass pavilion with two open-air spaces featuring a rotating selection of indoor and outdoor sculpture. The museum was shut down in 2013 for a three year restoration that included a 235,000 square foot addition that has been described by critics as “a giant white meringue” but that is, in fact, meant to emulate the fog and choppy whitewater of the San Francisco Bay. 

SFMOMA has exhibited many artists’ first solo exhibitions, including Jackson Pollack, Clyfford Still and Arshile Gorky. The most highly attended event at the museum was the Freida Kahlo exhibit in 2008: there were a record 400,000 visitors during its three month run. 

SFMOMA’s website^[3] allows users to browse the museum’s permanent collections. There is also a SFMOMA app that provides guided tours.

^[1] Diego Rivera and Freida Kahlo: story coming December 8th

^[2] South of Market: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4109

^[3] Visit them at www.sfmoma.org