This museum opened 40 years ago with works of fine art, history, and the sciences represented in its holdings. Today it has more than 1.8 million items across the fields of fine art, artifacts, ethnographic objects, natural specimens, and photographs. It has also grown since its opening, and since a major expansion in the Spring of 2010 is housed in a 300,000-square-foot space.
Its fine art collection is divided into categories including Bay Area Figurative art, a Dorothea Lange archive, Gold Rush era works, California ceramics and Margaret de Patta jewelry. Highlights from these collections include paintings by Richard Diebenkorn, George Henry Burgess’s San Francisco in July, 1849, and California landscape painting by William Coulter and Marius Dahlgren.
Past exhibitions have included the African presence in Mexican art and showcases of work by Danielle Giudici and Guy Overfelt.
Oakland Museum of California Information
- Public Transportation: Very Good (steps from AC Transit buses 11, 62, and 88 at 10th Street/Oak Street, and a 3-minute walk from the Lake Merritt BART Station)
- Handicapped Accessibility: Good
- Hours: Wednesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday noon–5 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. (First Friday of each month open until 9 p.m.)
- Admission: $8, students and seniors are $5, children under six are free; group discounts are offered for all nonprofit groups and are 50% off general admission prices (special exhibition rates still apply)
- Free Day: Second Sunday of the month
- Membership: Individual membership is $40 annually and includes unlimited year-long admission, home delivery of @CALIFORNIA, the museum’s quarterly events calendar, invitations to member previews, and one-time use guest passes for general admission. Students, educators, and seniors can become members for $35 annually.
