Maritime museum
The Maritime Museum is closed for a much needed restoration and will reopen in 2009. Click here for more information.
"Ferro-concrete, glass and stainless steel. Its curved ends enclose two perfectly circular rooms, the form of which influenced my ideas as how it might be adequately decorated ... . The streamlined two hundred and fifty feet of its length is visible above the eight hundred-foot bathhouse which is partially underground."
Hilaire Hiler, from "An Approach to Mural Design"
Inside this ship-shaped, streamline-moderne structure, built as a WPA-project, mast sections, jutting spars and ships figureheads are arranged among the colorful fish and gleaming tiles of muralist Hilaire Hiler's expressionist vision of Atlantis. Displays include panels, video, oral history re-creations, models and interactive exhibits.
The Steamship Room illustrates the technological evolution of wind-to-steam power. The Mermaid, the one-man sailboat that transported a solo adventurer across the Pacific from Japan in 94 days, is displayed on the balcony, along with a statue by San Francisco sculptor Beniamino Bufano. The current third floor exhibit is "Sparks, Waves and Wizards: Communications at Sea." Second floor displays include three photomurals of early the early San Francisco waterfront, lithographic stones, scrimshaw and whaling guns.
Murals
Click on each image for a larger view.
Accessibility:
A limited number of accessible parking spaces are located at the entrance to the Museum Building. The first floor of the Maritime Museum is accessible (there is a photo album at the front desk which shows the exhibits on the second floor).
Special Needs:
If you require assistance (sighted guide or sign language interpreter) please call (415)561-7100 in advance. |
