Skip to main content

23 Artists on Making It in San Francisco

August 7, 2023

“In the Bay Area, there’s this beautiful opportunity to deepen your art practice,” olagbaju stated. “But there are not a lot of directionalized, realistic resources to sustain a consistent life…

+ Learn More

Fight or Flight: Bay Area artists showcase the struggles of living here

June 21, 2023

It’s no secret that the Bay Area is a difficult place to make a living, especially as an artist. Affordable housing and studio space are scarce. Funding for the arts…

+ Learn More

‘Fight and Flight’ Captures Artistic Responses to the Pressures of Bay Area Life

April 23, 2023

When I moved to the Bay Area two years ago, the first people I ever interviewed were a group of Oakland artists living and working together in an old fruit…

+ Learn More

10 Things to Do in San Francisco’s Dogpatch

February 24, 2023

Museum of Craft and Design 2569 Third Street If you love design then you’ll want to make time to experience this museum. The staff collaborates with artists, designers and other…

+ Learn More

Museum of Craft and Design Honors Gary Hutton

January 26, 2023

Decked out in shimmering cocktail attire, supporters and fans on December 6 reflected the theme that celebrated the Museum of Craft and Design: The Art for All Mirror Ball. The…

+ Learn More

National Endowment for the Arts Announces First Round of Fiscal Year 2023 Grants

January 10, 2023

Washington, DC—The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is pleased to announce the first round of recommended awards for fiscal year 2023, with more than $34 million in funding to…

+ Learn More
7x7 Media sponsor for Museum of Craft and Design

15 Fun Things to Do This Week (1.9.23)

January 9, 2023

Sooo, how ’bout that weather? Have a good, indoor time this week at an exhibition celebrating local legends of drag; enjoy a little burlesque when Dita Von Teese brings her…

+ Learn More

Thousands of arts fans stream into S.F. museums thanks to free-ticket weekend

December 4, 2022

When San Francisco Museum of Modern Art opened at 10 a.m. Sunday, museum director Christopher Bedford was there to hold the door. He was still holding it 45 minutes later…

+ Learn More

End-of-year art shows play up Bay Area artists, technology and new horizons

November 16, 2022

As we race to the end of 2022, there are several new visual art shows and happenings set to open around the Bay Area. Included are several exhibitions featuring local…

+ Learn More

YOUR FALL AND WINTER ARTS GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO

November 16, 2022

Bull.Miletic: Proxistant Vision at the Museum of Craft and Design 2569 Third St, San Francisco Proxistant Vision is an ambitious and innovative study that examines aerial imaging technologies, their influence,…

+ Learn More

Exclusive: Anonymous donors to make 21 S.F. museums admission-free

November 7, 2022

The Asian Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art have announced the creation of the San Francisco Free Museum Weekend, which will…

+ Learn More

Upcoming exhibition explores power of aerial imaging technologies

November 2022

The Museum of Craft and Design presents “Bull.Miletic: Proxistant Vision.”Bull.Miletic is an artist duo currently based in Oslo, but who made their home in San Francisco for over a decade….

+ Learn More

This weekend: open studios at Hunters Point Shipyard

October 18, 2022

Most days, San Francisco’s Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is a quiet bastion of creativity, where 300-plus artists work alongside each other in palatial, rent-controlled studios on the Eastern fringe of…

+ Learn More

‘All Out SF’ events planned to spur pride in the city

October 3, 2022

A diverse group of small businesses and community groups are partnering with city agencies to produce “All Out SF,” a weeklong initiative Oct. 16-23 billed as a celebration of San…

+ Learn More

Museums work to lure back visitors despite pricey tickets and high inflation

September 15, 2022

As inflation leads households to tighten their entertainment and travel budgets, many are forgoing trips to museums and cultural institutions, where tickets can often top $25 per person. This coming…

+ Learn More

The Best Museum Gift Shops Across America

June 20, 2022

Not all gift shops are created equal. Wander around most of them, and you’ll likely find hokey keychains or branded T-shirts, but some shops go the extra mile — so…

+ Learn More
Fast Company Logo

Inside the smell-o-verse: Meet the companies trying to bring scent to the metaverse

May 19, 2022

Inside San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design, a long hallway painted eggshell blue is lined with the most extraordinary devices. A glass globe that uses trained bees to detect…

+ Learn More

Come funziona il design olfattivo? Lo spiega una mostra a San Francisco

March 21, 2022

AL MUSEUM OF CRAFT AND DESIGN DI SAN FRANCISCO STA RISCUOTENDO SUCCESSO “LIVING WITH SCENTS”, LA PRIMA MOSTRA INTERAMENTE DEDICATA AL DESIGN OLFATTIVO, FRUTTO DI OLTRE DUE ANNI DI RICERCA…

+ Learn More

Exhibition: ‘Living with Scents’ at MCD (San Francisco), exploring culturalisation of all things olfactory

March 18, 2022

Guest curators Clara Muller and Elisabetta Pisu present Living with Scents, an exhibition that gives an overview of contemporary olfactory design projects and their various stakes. From industrial design to craftsmanship, from art to speculative…

+ Learn More
square cylinder

Jaimie Baron on the ‘Orchestration’ of Scent

March 11, 2022

For those interested in expanding their perceptual experience, Living with Scents, guest curated by Elisabetta Pisu and Clara Muller for the Museum of Craft and Design, should not be missed. Of the…

+ Learn More

5 New And Upcoming Exhibits In SF You Won’t Want To Miss

February 24, 2022

From fashion design to the art of scents, these new and upcoming exhibits around town offer novel perspectives in the weeks ahead. Read more of Chloe Konrad’s San Francisco Magazine…

+ Learn More

Preview: On the Nose

February 3, 2022

A new exhibition devoted to olfactory design engages the senses of sight and smell. Architects Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael have taken the notion of a good cup of…

+ Learn More

Museum of Craft and Design’s ‘Living with Scents’

February 2022

How much can you still smell through a mask? The Museum of Craft and Design is betting that it’s at least enough to dedicate a whole exhibit to our olfactory…

+ Learn More
marie claire logo

Tra chimica & poesia

February 2022

MATERIA EVANESCENTE per eccellenza, in realtà frutto di molti ingredienti concreti, un profumo è un’alchimia di algoritmi, chimica, suggestioni e poesia. Nonostante le fragranze riflettano il tempo che stiamo vivendo, i nasi sono chiamati…

+ Learn More

An Exhibition Explores the Intersection of Scent and Design

January 27, 2022

“Through the olfactory sense, we can interpret and learn about the world, fixing in our memory places [we’ve been] and the emotions we’ve lived,” says Elisabetta Pisu, design curator, founder,…

+ Learn More
At Superstudio Magazine Logo

The Scent of Objects

January 27, 2022

The Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco launches the first exhibition entirely dedicated to the interaction of smell and design, resulting from over two years of research. From February 12 to June 5, it features objects by over 40 designers in five sections, giving visitors olfactory experience for…

+ Learn More
Interni Magazine logo

Le potenzialità creative dell’olfatto

January 16, 2022

A San Francisco, la mostra ‘Living with Scents’ propone i progetti dedicati al design olfattivo di oltre 40 creativi, per evidenziarne le svariate applicazioni progettuali e le proprietà benefiche che…

+ Learn More
la Repubblica logo

Quelli che vogliono prenderti per il naso

December 15, 2021

Lo chiamano anche design. Nel tempo la nostra conoscenza dell’olfatto e di come utilizzarlo é molto approfondita fino a farne anche un raffinato strumento di marketing. Una mostra multidisciplinare racconterà…

+ Learn More
Cool Hunting Logo

New Exhibit “Mode Brut” Champions Accessibility in Fashion

November 11, 2021

On display at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design, Mode Brut redefines fashion through accessibility. Led by Victor Molina, the exhibit features over 50 artists from Creativity Explored, a studio and…

+ Learn More

Bay Area art spaces back on feet for fall, focusing on the traditionally underrepresented

September 2021

The Bay Area art world is optimistically approaching the fall with big ambitions and big exhibitions, a sign that institutions have mostly regained their pre-2020 footing…Creativity Explored, a gallery and art center for developmentally disabled artists, partnered with the Museum of Craft and Design on this new fashion exhibition.

+ Learn More

Speed Read with BIKE EXIF

November 2020

THE MOTO SCENE is sizzling this week, with Triumph launching its new Trident middleweight, news of a major custom exhibition in San Francisco, and Revival Cycles releasing a very sharp custom Husqvarna Svartpilen 401. And Germany’s Hookie Co have just shown how to tweak the Bonneville T100 without breaking the bank.

+ Learn More

A New Exhibit Of Outrageous Custom Motorcycles Reveals The Problem With Big Manufacturers Like Harley-Davidson

October 2020

The FrankenBlast is one of more than a dozen custom motorcycles currently on view at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, and also presented virtually, in a new exhibition dubbed MOTO MMXX.

+ Learn More

A New Online Exhibit Shows How Architects And Designers Are Confronting COVID-19 – With Outmoded Ideas And Products Nobody Needs

June 2020

Back in the days when COVID-19 was still an epidemic centered in the Hubei province of China, a Chinese architect named Sun Dayong posted some computer-generated graphics on Instagram showing a man wearing a carbon composite shield nearly as big as a bathtub.

+ Learn More

Got a Creative Mask Idea? You Could Win $500 in a Mask-Making Competition

May 2020

The initial rush to produce as many simple-but-effective face coverings as possible (most notably, to address personal protective equipment shortfalls for front-line workers and medical personnel) was necessary and generous. But as panic subsides into a baseline of healthy, responsible caution, there’s more room for creativity.

+ Learn More
40 Years Surface Design Association

In Review “Linda Gass: and then this happened…”

April 2020

Artist and environmental activist Linda Gass is concerned about “climate change at the intersection of water.” Her solo exhibition, titled and then this happened… at San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) addresses issues of failing infrastructure, human interventions, and disasters that impact the Bay Area’s varied terrain and fragile watersheds.

+ Learn More

Survival Architecture and the Art of Resilience

January 2020

Our Earth – in terms of climate – is on the brink of no return. This precarious situation is clear for all to see. Extreme events continue to batter every corner of the planet, even those that were hitherto considered safe, protected places.

+ Learn More

Circular, Portable, Visionary, and Resilient: Survival Architecture

January 2020

Climate Change is an issue that can no longer be escaped in our everyday lives as well as in our disciplines. On view at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco is an exhibition that addresses the matter at both of these levels.

+ Learn More
square cylinder

Best of 2019

January 2020

Wanxin Zhang @ Museum of Craft and Design. The artist’s life-sized figures fuse the ancient tradition of Asian ceramic sculpture (as seen in the terracotta soldiers excavated in 1974) with the subversive legacy of Northern California Funk. His art addresses age-old questions about whether enshrined ideals are sturdy enough to withstand present-day assaults.

+ Learn More

San Francisco Art Shows Reveal a Future

January 2020

“…While Far Out gets us to contemplate interplanetary solutions to our earthbound problems, another San Francisco exhibition, Survival Architecture and the Art of Resilience at the Museum of Craft and Design, asks us to rethink the foreseeable habitability of Earth (before we resort to living on Mars).

+ Learn More

Climate Change Told With Needle & Thread

December 2019

It’s beautiful and horrifying at the same time. But Gass doesn’t mean it to be depressing. “I like to use a soft and comforting medium to engage people and to draw them in to this narrative that I’m telling them, that could be a little bit hard to take in. The point of my work is to give people hope. We do have a lot of power as humans over our choices.”

+ Learn More

The Museum of Craft and Design Explores Design and Disaster

December 2019

Survival takes on a whole new meaning at the Museum of Craft and Design’s new exhibit, “Survival Architecture and the Art of Resilience.” The show explores the intersection of art, architecture, science, and technology to understand how to design and adapt our built environment with natural disasters in mind.

+ Learn More

“Interior/Exterior” Is the Design Exhibit Your Instagram Feed is Craving

December 2019

For Bay Area residents looking to do some gallery hopping this fall, a trip to “Interior/Exterior” at the Museum of Craft and Design may be in order. “Interior/Exterior” features various structures, sculptures, and objects that explore the intersection of the two boundaries.

+ Learn More

Climate change in the Bay Area is focus of two new exhibitions

December 2019

“Survival Architecture and the Art of Resilience” features ambitious work from artists and architects creating adaptations to a world that will be increasingly in need of emergency shelters in a climate-constrained world. The concurrent exhibition “Linda Gass: and then this happened …” draws attention to the natural water infrastructure in the greater Bay Area.

+ Learn More

Celebrate 100 years of Bauhaus at these two new exhibits

October 2019

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the first Bauhaus school opening in Weimar, Germany. Bauhaus—from 1919 to 1933—brought together arts, crafts, and industry with a focus on aesthetics and objects. Though it lasted only a few years, it forever changed design.

+ Learn More

What Is The Ultimate Machined Object? A New Exhibit Of Ingenious Devices Shows How Innovation Works

July 2019

“It is a bit frightening to know that just before the fall of their great civilization the ancient Greeks had come so close to our age, not only in their thought, but also in their scientific technology,” wrote the science historian Derek J. de Solla Price in the June 1959 issue of Scientific American. The source of Price’s awe and anxiety was a peculiar 2,000-year-old device known as the Antikythera mechanism.

+ Learn More

Photographic Creativity: 100 Years of Bauhaus

July 2019

In celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the Bauhaus movement in Germany, American Institute of Architects, San Francisco (AIASF) and the Museum of Craft and Design (MCD) present bauhaus.photo, a catalogue of life at the Bauhaus, portrait, architectural, and product photography.

+ Learn More

Shotgun Review “Al Farrow: Divine Ammunition”

April 2019

Al Farrow’s exhibition, Divine Ammunition at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, was a topical, heady series of twenty-four sculptures of cathedrals, synagogues, mosques, religious objects, and reliquaries.

+ Learn More

Wanxin Zhang @ Museum of Craft and Design

April 2019

Each of Wanxin Zhang’s ceramic sculptures give the viewer something old and something new, reminding us of Jasper Johns’ famous injunction “take a thing, do something to it, do something else to it.”

+ Learn More

Wanxin Zhang shares ‘Long Journey’ at Museum of Craft and Design

April 2019

“Zhang may be a descendant of such masters of monumental ceramic sculpture as Shaw, Viola Frey, Peter Voulkos and, above all, Robert Arneson, but he is a worthy heir. Like them, his skills are so extraordinary he can confidently violate every rule, turning that technical irreverence to humorous, polemical and artistic effect.

+ Learn More
SF Examiner, Museum of Craft and Design

Sculptor Wanxin Zhang pushes clay’s boundaries

March 2019

Inspired by the late Robert Arneson and his friend Ai Weiwei, internationally celebrated and exhibited Bay Area sculptor Wanxin Zhang is a truly creative force.

+ Learn More

Stay up to date on all things MCD!