SF’s de Young Museum has announced that they’ll be offering free admission for 8 weekends throughout 2023, thanks to a $1 million grant from Google.
This generous gift is the single largest grant in the institution’s history from a corporate foundation and is directly in support of the US premiere of the exhibition Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence, which will open at the de Young museum on March 18.
This funding from Google.org, with support from Google Arts & Culture, will make the exhibition more accessible to Bay Area communities through free admission and other programs. This includes a free audio guide, public programming, grief workshops, youth curriculum, an exhibition film, and a special talk from the artist.
The grant also supports an ongoing speaker series presented in partnership with LiveFree, an SF organization working to end gun violence, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of Black and Brown people.
Courtesy of the artist and Templon, Paris – Brussels – New York. Photo: Ugo Carmeni.
The de Young Museum will be free to all visitors on the following weekends
- Saturday–Sunday, March 18–19 (opening weekend)
- Saturday–Sunday, April 15–16
- Saturday–Sunday, May 20–21
- Saturday–Sunday, June 17–18
- Saturday–Sunday, July 8–9
- Saturday–Sunday, July 29–30
- Saturday–Sunday, August 19–20
- Saturday–Sunday, September 16–17
About the exhibition
Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence is a new body of paintings and sculptures from the acclaimed American artist. The exhibition “confronts the silence surrounding systemic violence against Black people through the visual language of the fallen figure,” according to the de Young.
These colossal paintings and sculptures are some of the largest that the museum has ever installed. The result is breathtaking, to say the least.
The free programming includes an opening day talk with artist Kehinde Wiley on Saturday, March 18 from 1 -2 pm in the Koret Auditorium at the de Young museum. This event is free and available on a first-come-first-served basis. The line will begin outside of the de Young museum’s east-side entrance. The event is also available via livestream.
The de Young Museum is located in SF’s Golden Gate Park at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive.