I haven't been posting about what outings I go on, which is a pity since otherwise I will not remember. I try to leave the house with R every day: on Mondays, I do grocery shopping, and I usually run errands on another day. Other than those days, we leave on outings, to restaurants, to visit family, to museums, etc.
Today we visited the Wells Fargo History Museum, which is a museum run by the corporation about their beginnings during California's Gold Rush. It is a very well done museum, with lots of interactive elements, including replica artifacts to touch and handle, a replica stagecoach that you can sit in while listening to the narration of a 19th century man's stagecoach trip, and rides for kids. It also is very audience friendly: for example, the signage and exhibit text is quite large and easy to read. So often museums opt for small or hard-to-read font. I give it 4 out of 5 stars!
So far the other museums I have visited with her are:
The Asian Art Museum (her first museum visit!): they had a special exhibit on Bali, which I was especially interested in as I might be visiting there in the next year (it is quite close to Singapore and only $100 airfare): 4/6/11
Museum of the African Diaspora: they had an exhibit on quilts celebrating jazz. This museum is a great disappointment to me however, as the exhibits lack any substantive content and the museum as a whole is unfocused and poorly thought-out: 4/9/11
Museum at Mission Dolores: I wrote about it here: 4/19/11
The Contemporary Jewish Museum: beautiful building and space; the special exhibit on Charlotte Salomon was interesting but they don't really have a permanent collection, which I think is a defect: 4/28/11
The Cantor Arts Center: Stanford University's art museum, they have a very broad collection (it includes European, Native American, African, Pacific Islander, ancient Mexican, Asian and decorative art, as well as a lot of Rodin sculpture), even if the quality is not the best. The building is quite nice, as is the setting (Stanford has a nice campus): 5/4/11
California Historical Society: I loved this museum. Their exhibits were interesting and audience-friendly, and they have a great collection of local historical objects. I also liked that they had themed music for each subject area (Gold Rush songs in the Gold Rush section, for instance): 5/12/11
Museum of Craft and Folk Art: It was surprisingly small (and expensive, given its size). The exhibit was on Sister Corita, an artist I don't particularly care for. Also, since it's a craft museum it would have been better if more attention had been paid to the way in which the art was made (the exhibit was just like a standard art museum). Meh: 5/12/11
Society of California Pioneers: This private organization is the West Coast equivalent of DAR: only those with ancestors in CA before 1850 can join. Theoretically, this would result in a diverse membership (Indians, Mexicans, etc.) but actually it is all very wealthy white people. Their small museum obviously has resources (even a very nice screening room showing vintage movie clips of early SF), but has a rather elitist tone. The California Historical Society museum is much better: 5/13/11
Cartoon Art Museum: Very interesting subject area for a museum, and quite well done (though if they had a permanent collection, I think it would be useful; also a more historical emphasis would be nice: right now it is structured like an art museum, with minimal signage). The gift shop is pretty nice too: 5/13/11
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: This organization has large galleries, but a lot of their focus is on their public programs (movies, lectures, concerts, etc.). They had a special exhibit on Chinese artist Song Dong which I really enjoyed: it was very well done, especially considering the difficulty of displaying some of his works (he is a modern artist): 5/19/11
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