Gig Celebrates Museums 🥳

We don’t know about you, but one thing we really missed during 2021 are our visits to local museums. We’ve missed everything about them - the animals, the history, the art, the culture, and even the snacks!

We are so excited that many museums are opening back up as Covid restrictions are being eased. (Did we mention that May 18 happens to be International Museum Day! 🎉)

Here are a few of our favorite museums in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Seattle.

Bay Area

SF MOMA
Now open; reserve your time tickets. Make sure to check out the Close to Home: Creativity in Crisis exhibition. It runs through September, and brings together seven Bay Area artists and their deeply personal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and social upheaval of 2020. 

California Academy of Sciences
Open daily; reserve tickets as far in advance as possible (weekends often sell out early). Reservations are required for the planetarium, rainforest, and Shake House. Make sure to say hi to Claude, the albino alligator! 

Monterey Bay Aquarium
The aquarium is reopening in May after being closed for more than a year. Reserve your tickets online. How we’ve missed the African penguins, sea otters, jellyfish, and sharks! Monterey Bay is approximately two hours south of San Francisco, and very, very much worth the trip! 

USS Hornet
The museum on a ship is back, and is open on the weekends. Don’t miss the special tours they offer, like the History Mystery After-Hours Tour which addresses the question: is the USS Hornet really haunted? The USS Hornet is located in Alameda. Check here for more information and for tickets. 

Berkeley Art Museum - Pacific Film Archive (BAMFA)
BAMFA is the visual arts center at one of the world’s leading public research universities - UC Berkeley. Their mission is to “inspire the imagination, ignite critical dialog, and activate community engagement through art, film, and other forms of creative expression.” Check out its collections, research resources, and programs. Reserved your advance timed tickets here.

Sacramento

California Automobile Museum
If you are obsessed with cars like we are, this is a must-visit! Celebrating the impact, art, and technology of the automobile, you’ll find 120+ cars are on exhibit, spanning 120 years of history. Maybe someday we’ll see a Gig car here! Open to all on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; members only on Thursdays.

The California State Railroad Museum
Learn all about the transcontinental railroad and the history of rail travel.The museum features interactive exhibits, including vintage train cars and engines that you can walk through. Open daily. 

Sacramento History Museum
Open Tuesdays through Sundays, the museum offers galleries, tours, archives, and interactive elements that focus on the history, people,and stories from the region. The Sacramento History Museum is located in the heart of Historic Old Sacramento. Check here for information on tickets.

Crocker Art Museum
The Crocker family art collection includes work from Californian impressionists, ancient art from across the world, and one of the largest collections of European drawings. Through August, their Legends from Los Angeles exhibit features work from Betye, Lezley, and Alison Saar. Open Thursday through Sunday. Purchase and reserve tickets here.

Sacramento Children’s Museum (SCM)
Parents, rejoice - the SCM has reopened! It is SCM’s mission to inspire learning through interactivity, exploration, and hands-on activities. They also offer birthday packages for kids.  More information about hours and tickets here.

Seattle

Seattle Art Museum
SAM is open again; get timed tickets in advance. Opening May 7 is Be/Longing: Contemporary Asian Art, and Boundless: Stories of Asian Art. This fall, an Imogen Cunningham retrospective will be featured. 

Asian Art Museum
The newly renovated and expanded museum reopens this month. The new collection installation “reveals the complexity and diversity of Asia—a place of distinct cultures, histories, and belief systems that help shape our world today.” Check here for tickets. 

Burke Museum
Fossils, anthropology, and biology, oh my! We love the Burke and its inspiring exhibits. Their 39-foot-long Baird’s beaked whale skeleton is one of about 10 in U.S. museum collections. No on-site ticketing is available; more information here. 

Chihuly Garden and Glass
Located in the heart of Seattle next to the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass is now open. Learn more about artist Dale Chihuly and his inspiration and influences. Enjoy eight interior galleries, a lush outdoor garden, and the centerpiece Glasshouse. Ticket information here. 

Museum of Pop Culture
From tattoo culture to Nirvana, from science fiction to the thrill of horror films, MoPOP’s mission is to “make creative expression a life-changing force by offering experiences that inspire and connect our communities.”  Opening in June, don’t miss Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume. More information about reserving tickets here.

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