Last Week to See Olmec at the de Young Museum
This week is your last chance to check out the fantastic exhibition Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico, which closes on Sunday, May 8 (Mother's Day). This kid-friendly museum exhibition features two rare Olmec stone heads—humungous scultpures carved out of single giant boulders, as well as a wide variety of other artifacts from this ancient culture.
The Olmec are considered the "mother culture" of Mesoamerica and America's oldest civilzation, developing their iconic and sophisticated artistic style by the second millennium BC. Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico includes over 100 objects drawn primarily from Mexican national collections, many of which have never been seen by North American audiences.
The de Young Museum is located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive. It's open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm, and Fridays until 8:45 pm. Admission to Olmec is $25 for adults, $22 for seniors 65+, $21 for students with valid ID, $15 for youth 6–17, and free for museum members and children 5 and under. Get a $5 discount on each ticket when you purchase them in advance online. Tickets include admission to the Balenciaga and Spain special exhibition (open through July 4, 2011).
On Friday, May 6, from 5 to 8:45 pm, you can see Olmec for free! Admission to other special exhibitions and the museum's permanent collections is not included, but you can enjoy all the special Friday night programming, including live music and dance and hands-on art making projects for the family. The museum café will be open for dining, too.
For more information, visit www.deyoungmuseum.org or call (415) 750-3600.
Photos courtesy de Young Museum, © FAMSF
