San Francisco Internatinal Airport

Take a free museum tour at SFO Airport

Museums, ,

Arriving early for a flight or spending a long layover at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) can be a treat because SFO is one of the few US airports with an official museum program.

At any one time, the airport’s SFO Museum hosts up to a dozen temporary exhibitions and keeps an eye on a vast public art collection.

(The Author & Her Story– Jason Jägel – Courtesy SFO Museum)

Occasionally, the SFO Museum staff offers public tours of its exhibitions.

And starting April 8, the museum is offering free weekly public tours of its exhibition, “Rosie the Riveter: Womanpower in Wartime”, which is located post-security in Harvey Milk Terminal 1.

The exhibition tells the story of Rosie the Riveter and the great accomplishments made by women in the World War II workforce.

The exhibit features a treasure-trove of related objects, including uniforms, welding masks, ID badges, images, and period music.

Tours begin April 8, 2025, and run every Tuesday until the exhibition closes on May 11, 2025.

Sign up for a tour here.

SFO Airport adds a Sensory Room

family travel, Uncategorized,

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the latest airport to open a Sensory Room for passengers.

Designed for Neurodiverse travelers and their families, the interactive room offers a variety of experiences.

Spaces include an ‘Activity Area’ with both analog and digital options, a ‘Calming/Soothing Area’ for contemplation and wonderment and a life-size ‘Cabin Experience’ featuring a realistic, full-scale aircraft interior mock-up which allows families to acclimate to the experience of flying before boarding their actual flight.

Look for SFO’s Sensory Room post-security in Harvey Milk Terminal 1, which can be accessed from any SFO terminal via connecting walkways.

The SFO Sensory Room will be open daily from 5:00 am to 11:00 p.m and will not be staffed.

New SFO Museum exhibit features Chinese ceramics

Museums, ,

If you’re heading to or through San Francisco International Airport (SFO) anytime soon, be sure to look for some of the permanent and temporary exhibits offered throughout the terminals by the SFO Museum.

One of the newest, titled Everyday Elegance in Chinese Ceramics, features an assortment of functional wares from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries representing various regions in China.

The exhibit includes oil lamps in the shape of animals, colorful hat stands, lively guardian lions or “foo dogs,” blue-and-white porcelain, rustic food storage jars, and more.

According to the exhibition notes:

Everyday objects are frequently embellished with a host of auspicious symbols to increase the likelihood of wish fulfillment. Rebuses or pictorial puns found on ceramics convey a variety of desires, from a harmonious marriage to the securing of rank, wealth, and longevity. Decorative motifs often take the form of flowers, birds, animals, children, or geometric designs. 

Looke for Everyday Elegance in Chinese Ceramics, in the pre-security area of the International Departures Hall (Gallery 4D) at San Francisco International Airport through mid-August.

All images courtesy of SFO Museum

SFO will rename its International Terminal for Diane Feinstein

Airports, ,

The San Francisco Airport Commission approved a resolution to rename the International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) for the late Senator and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who died in September.

Feinstein was a big supporter of the airport. She advocated for the construction of the airport’s first International Terminal, which opened in 1983 and played a major role in making sure BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit service, was extended to SFO.

While we’re at SFO

The SFO Museum shared this image of a model airplane to mark the anniversary of the first Pan American Airways scheduled flight, which took off on January 16, 1928 from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba.

The museum notes that the eight-passenger plane made the 90-mile trip in just under 90 minutes and that the fare was 50, or about $887 in today’s dollars.

Vintage radios on display at SFO Airport

Museums, , , , ,

The “Mystic” Radio Bug and headset c. 1927 – courtesy SFO Museum

Radio – the invention – was a transformational technological triumph of the 20th century and today some of the earliest radios – the objects – are sought after collectible objects.

A new exhibition – On the Radio – from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport brings together classic radio sets spanning sixty years of design, from crystal sets and luxury consoles, to stylish tabletop models and pocket-sized transistors.

Here are some highlights from the exhibition on view post-security on the Departures Level of SFO Terminal 3 through September 30, 2018. All photos courtesy SFO Museum.

Put on a podcast -or better yet, download an old-time radio classic – and take a tour.

Model 400–3 “Patriot” 1940

 

Model 21 “Minuette” 1932

X–11 Aladino 1949 

 

Regency TR–1 1954