For an inspiring setting with little need for added decor, it’s hard to match a venue showcasing works of art. The San Francisco Bay Area is blessed with an abundance of such event settings, everything from world-class museums to industrial arts workshops where teams can use welding and blacksmithing techniques to create their own masterpieces out of metals, glass and recycled items.
Here are just a few of the art-focused options to be found around the Bay.
San Francisco
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
By far the biggest news on the Bay Area arts scene is the May 14 reopening of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) after a multiyear expansion and renovation. Located a few steps from Moscone Center, the transformed museum is now triple in size and includes such new features as the Fisher Collection, with its 260 works of art by postwar and contemporary artists, and the Pritzker Center for Photography.
The new SFMOMA, which melds a 10-story addition designed by the architectural firm Snøhetta with the original Mario Botta-designed building, showcases art by such masters as Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock and features galleries devoted to California artists, media arts, sculpture and much more. Visitors will also find a Living Wall of 15,000 plants, a seventh-floor terrace with views of the San Francisco skyline and an atrium adorned with a 26-foot wide mobile designed by Alexander Calder.
Able to accommodate groups of up to 2,500, the museum spaces “will make for an unforgettable evening,” according to Fiona Humphrey, director of special events.
“While our individual spaces are unique and special in their own way, event planners can craft their guests’ experience so that they get a blend of the building’s modern sensibility, outdoor space, sky views and greenery,” she says. “And this will be in combination with a very personal encounter with our modern and contemporary art collection.”
Event spaces at the museum include the Sculpture Terrace, a partially covered area that features sculpture and the Living Wall. Another is the White Box, a two-story space with a separate entrance and massive walls that can be used for immersive projection experiences. The Pavilion/Sculpture Garden, which can handle dinners and receptions for up to 200 guests, provides a combination of indoor and outdoor space.
The existing Phyllis Wattis Theater, which now allows food and beverage service, has been enhanced with a larger stage and new sound system and projection capabilities. The theater is available for film screenings, meeting presentations and product launches.
San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building
The site where the charter to create the United Nations was signed in 1945, the Veterans Building is an elegant Beaux-Arts-era structure in Civic Center that combines art exhibitions with event spaces. The San Francisco Arts Commission recently opened a new Main Gallery on the ground floor devoted to works by local and contemporary artists.
The building is also home to the newly renovated Green Room, a sumptuous venue with gold-leaf columns, soaring ceiling and an outdoor loggia overlooking City Hall. It can seat up to 250 guests. The adjacent 892-seat Herbst Theater, available for presentations and performances, has also been fully renovated, featuring new rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms and lounge.
East Bay
The Crucible
The Crucible, an industrial arts school in downtown Oakland, is a place where attendees can not only enjoy artistic creations, but can engage in making some of their own. Workshops and teambuilding activities offered at the school include welding, blacksmithing, woodworking, glass blowing, enameling, ceramics, jewelry making and even fire dancing.
“The Crucible provides some really unique experiences for groups,” says Brandi Hardy, director of sales and services for Visit Oakland. “It’s a great place for receptions or for teambuilding where groups can go and make art out of recycled materials.”
Along with workshops, the Crucible offers a 7,000-square-foot space with a stage and 25-foot ceiling available for events that can include indoor fire effects.
Oakland Museum of California
Recently emerged from a $62 million, multiyear makeover, the Oakland Museum of California features several redesigned gallery spaces and expanded areas for meetings and events, including a new dining area, conference room and lecture hall. The distinctive mid-century structure with its tiers of terraces, gardens and patios also offers ample outdoor spaces for events.
Much of the renovation focused on the Gallery of California Art, which now features four themed areas spotlighting California’s role as a cutting-edge center of visual expression. The gallery combines exhibitions from emerging artists with seminal works by Albert Bierstadt, Dorothea Lange, Richard Diebenkorn and other masters.
Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
The University of California’s Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive reopened earlier this year in a stunning new building designed by Diller Scofido + Renfro, the architects of the High Line elevated park in New York City. Located across from the UC campus, the museum integrates the site’s original 1930s Art Deco printing plant with a 35,000-square-foot addition that includes galleries, two film theaters, an Art Wall for large murals and an outdoor LED screen and public viewing plaza. The museum presents changing exhibitions drawn from its 19,000 pieces of art as well as screenings drawn from its archive of over 17,500 international films and videos. While the museum is not available for private events, guided tours and film screenings for groups can be arranged.
San Mateo County
SFO Museum
For many visitors, the introduction to art in the Bay Area starts with their arrival at San Francisco International Airport. The SFO Museum maintains more than 20 galleries throughout the airport terminals devoted to rotating art, history, science and cultural exhibitions.
“We stage over 45 exhibitions a year, everything from Tiffany glass to vintage martini shakers,” says John Hill, assistant director of the museum. “We’re the first museum in an airport to receive accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums and are a widely imitated model for other museums operating in public areas.”
The SFO Museum also includes the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, a venue in the International Terminal emulating the 1930s Spanish Mission design of the airport’s original terminal. Devoted to changing exhibitions on aviation history, the two-story venue can host up to 250 guests for a reception, dinner or presentation.
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts
Located on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, the Cantor Center encompasses a restored 1893 structure, a contemporary wing and the Rodin Sculpture Garden. Encompassing a wide variety of artworks, it is best known for displaying one of the largest collections of Rodin bronzes in the world.
Many of the Rodin pieces can be enjoyed in the Sculpture Garden, which is adjacent to the museum and has a spacious lawn accommodating up to 700 guests for dinners or receptions. Other event spaces include the Historic Lobby, which has a grand double staircase and vaulted skylight that makes a dramatic setting for dinners for up to 60 guests or receptions for up to 120.
North Bay
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art
Located at historic Hamilton Field, the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art features two galleries of permanent and changing exhibitions as well as working studios for over 40 local artists. Along with exhibits, visitors can also visit the artists’ studios during museum hours. The museum, which is designed in Spanish Colonial style, can host receptions for up to 260 guests and dinners for up to 180 guests.
Marin Art & Garden Center
One of Marin County’s most popular event venues, the Marin Art & Garden Center encompasses 11 acres in the Ross Valley devoted to art and horticultural displays. Along with several gardens and lawns available for outdoor events, the Center offers three indoor spaces equipped for audiovisual presentations. Its largest event area is the Livermore Pavilion, which accommodates up to 300 guests when used with the adjacent Stratford Gardens.
