The Museum of the African Diaspora, known as MoAD, sits at the corner of Mission and Third streets, across from Yerba Buena Gardens. It presents exhibitions exclusively by artists of the African diaspora and is one of only a few museums of its kind in the country. Its fall exhibitions opened after a six-week installation closure that ended Sept. 30. Here's how to visit.

Hours

  • Monday: closed
  • Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday–Sunday: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
  • Thursday: noon–8 p.m.

MoAD's remaining 2026 holiday closures are Thanksgiving (Nov. 26), the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

Admission

  • Adults: $15
  • Seniors, students and educators: $7
  • Youth under 12: free
  • MoAD members and active-duty military: free

Walk-in tickets are welcome. Admission is free every Second Saturday, which MoAD calls THRIVE @ MoAD Community Day. The museum ties those days to research showing that engaging with art and culture can help with brain function, processing trauma and reducing the stigma of mental illness. MoAD also takes part in Museums for All, which offers free or reduced admission to people receiving SNAP benefits, for up to four people per EBT card.

What's on view

MoAD doesn't have a permanent collection. It works directly with artists and independent curators on each exhibition. The fall lineup listed on its site includes Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors & Radical Black Joy, What We Carry To Set Ourselves Free, Love + Basketball: My Freedom Gotta Rim On It, Dewey Crumpler: Sonic Lineages, After The Island and Calling All Cats! Look for the mosaic in the elevator and staircases, "The Face of the African Diaspora," which the museum says is made of more than 2,000 photos taken by people around the world, notably in African countries, South America, the West Indies and the U.S.

How MoAD began

MoAD grew out of a public-private partnership led by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. In 1999 the city required an African American cultural presence on the last vacant parcel of Yerba Buena Gardens, and Mayor Willie Brown appointed a steering committee to shape it. What began as the African American Cultural Institute was renamed the Museum of the African Diaspora to reflect a broader mission. The Freelon Group designed its space on the first three floors of the 42-story St. Regis Museum Tower, and the museum opened in 2005.

Its early exhibits told the story of the original human diaspora out of Africa and asked visitors, "When did you first realize you are African?" After a six-month renovation in 2014 that added gallery space, MoAD shifted to presenting fine art exhibitions only. It became a Smithsonian Affiliate that October. Monetta White, involved with the museum since it opened, has been executive director since December 2019.

Getting there

MoAD is at 685 Mission St., at Third Street, in the Yerba Buena arts district, so it pairs easily with an afternoon at the neighborhood's other galleries and gardens.