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Arts in the Bay Area
San Francisco
May 27-June 1, 2009
sponsored by the Newark Museum
Newark Museum’s annual USA spring tour explores the San Francisco Bay Area and Napa Valley. The trip includes: airfare, 5 nights accommodations, daily breakfast, 5 lunches, 3 dinners and 2 performances.
San Francisco, a seaside metropolis is just seven by seven miles square, brimming with cosmopolitan appeal and exciting neighborhood niches. We will explore the arts scene with their great museums and theatre performances, take a trip to Napa Valley’s famous vineyards and enjoy the eclectic cuisines. A cool changeable climate, storied history and ardent culture make San Francisco one of the world’s most memorable destinations.
1. Wednesday, May 27
We depart from Newark airport at 8:45am and fly non stop on Continental Airlines to San Francisco. We arrive at noon and our guide and private coach takes us to Palo Alto for lunch and a tour of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. The 18th- and 19th-century American collection at the Cantor Center contains a rich variety of works by many of the most important California artists of the 19th-century. The Center’s Rodin collection is the world's largest public bronze collection outside of Paris. We travel to San Francisco where we check in at the Hotel 480, newly renovated and conveniently located in the heart of Union Square. Tonight we walk to nearby Chinatown with our guide, passing colorful markets and bustling shops for a Welcome Dinner (L/D)
2. Thursday, May 28
We take a walking tour in the heart of the city, through Union Square to tour the Museum of Modern Art, the second largest exhibition space for modern art in this country. SF MOMA opened to enthusiastic reviews for both its architecture by Mario Botta and its diverse permanent collection. After lunch we tour the Civic Center Plaza where the grand buildings are once again sparkling after major restoration. The Civic Center with its classic architecture was declared a national landmark in 1978. beautiful Beaux Arts-style building. Cultural showcases in the Center include the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, constructed in 1980 and the War Memorial Opera House which was where President Truman signed the United Nations charter on June 26, 1945. The Japanese Peace Treaty was drawn up in 1951 in the Veterans Building, and signed in the Opera House. We tour the Asian Art Museum, which recently relocated to its new home in the Civic Center Plaza. For 35 years the Asian Art Museum has served as one of San Francisco's premier arts institutions. At the museum's core is a permanent collection of more than 13,000 objects, spanning 6,000 years of history and representing the countries and cultures throughout Asia and is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art. Tonight enjoy a performance. (B/L)
3. Friday, May 29
We spend the day in Napa Valley on a narrated tour, visiting a winery with a wine tasting and Napa’s newest attraction, COPIA. The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, is the world's leading cultural center dedicated to the discovery, understanding and celebration of wine, food and the arts in American culture. Enjoy lunch at Julia’s Kitchen, the main dining room at COPIA, named for the patron saint of the pantry Julia Child. It encompasses a dramatic open kitchen, which allows guests to watch culinary masters in action while they dine on regional and seasonal menus highlighting produce and herbs from COPIA’s own extensive organic gardens and French California recipes. (B/L/)
4. Saturday, May 30
We visit the Legion of Honor Museum built to commemorate Californian soldiers who died in World War I. The beautiful Beaux-arts building overlooks the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Bridge and all of San Francisco. The collection includes European decorative arts and paintings, Ancient art, and one of the largest collections of prints and drawings in the country. Rodin's Thinker, sits in the museum's Court of Honor. After lunch (included) we tour the California Academy of Science, the newest and largest cultural attraction in San Francisco. The Academy is the only place on the planet that brings together a natural history museum, an aquarium, a planetarium and a 4-story rainforest under one living roof. Designed by world renowned architect, Renzo Piano, the Academy is believed to be the greenest museum in the world, and is on course to earn the highest rating possible for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Tonight we plan a performance. (B/L)
5. Sunday, May 31
We tour the de Young Museum of Fine Arts which houses one of the finest collections of American paintings in the United States. Strengthened by the acquisition of the Rockefeller Collection of American Art, the de Young's treasures include more than 1000 paintings that represent a spectrum of American art from colonial times through the twentieth century. The new de Young, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, of Basel, Switzerland, opened to the public in 2005.
After lunch we tour another of San Francisco’s new museum buildings, the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The new home, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, . has received rave reviews. Envisioned as a dynamic and welcoming space, the new 63,000-square-foot facility was planned to be a place to experience art, music, film, literature, debate, and most importantly, other people. Daniel Liebeskind's design for the Museum does not simply house this programmatic vision; it enables and inspires it. After our tour you have a free afternoon. We plan a farewell dinner tonight. (B/L/D)
6. Monday, June 1
We depart from San Francisco airport on Continental Airlines at 11:15am, arriving Newark airport at 7:52pm.
This engaging experience includes:
- Round trip airfare
- 5 nights accommodations
- Daily breakfast, 5 lunches, 3 dinners
- Guided tours and admissions as per itinerary
- Two performances
PROGRAM PRICES
Per person (double occupancy) from New York: $2400
Single Supplement: $595
Land Only deduct: $400
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