Visitors Free by Appointment Phone +1 415-512-7424 | Director Christopher McCall | |
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Established 2010; 7 years ago (2010) Founder Andrew Pilara and Mary Pilara Address 24 Pier, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA Hours Open today · 9AM–5PMCesar Chavez Day might affect these hoursFriday(Cesar Chavez Day)9AM–5PMHours might differSaturdayClosedSundayClosedMonday9AM–5PMTuesday9AM–5PMWednesday9AM–5PMThursday9AM–5PMSuggest an edit Public transit access Muni Metro, S Castro Shuttle, E Embarcadero, Bay Area Rapid Transit, Embarcadero station Similar San Francisco Museum, Wattis Institute for Contemp, Southern Exposure, De Young, Pier 23 Cafe Profiles |
Pier 24 Photography is a non-profit art museum located on the Port of San Francisco directly under the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The organization houses the permanent collection of the Pilara Foundation, which collects, preserves and exhibits photography. It produces exhibitions, publications, and public programs. Pier 24 Photography is the largest exhibition space in the world dedicated solely to photography.
Contents
Collection
Revelations – the Diane Arbus retrospective organized by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2003 – inspired the purchase of the Pilara Foundation’s first photograph, a portrait from her "Untitled" series. The collection has grown to over 4,000 works spanning the history of the medium and its international breadth. At the collection’s core are those photographers first exhibited in two seminal twentieth century exhibitions: New Documents (1967) at the Museum of Modern Art and New Topographics (1975) at George Eastman Museum. In recent years, the Foundation has collected more emerging photographers in depth, developing holdings that reflect evolving practices within the medium.
Exhibitions
Larry Sultan Visiting Artist Program
The Larry Sultan Visiting Artist Program is a collaboration between Pier 24 Photography, California College of the Arts and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art created in honor of the influential Bay Area photographer and educator, Larry Sultan. Each year, the program brings six international artists to San Francisco. During their visits, artists provide a free lecture open to the public. They also work with graduate students at California College of the Arts, mentoring them in the studio and taking them on citywide fieldtrips.
Larry Sultan Photography Award
In 2016, Pier 24 Photography in partnership with California College of the Arts, Headlands Center for the Arts, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art launched the Larry Sultan Photography Award. The award includes a six to ten week residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, California, and a $10,000 cash award.
Recipients
Publications
The building
Located just south of the Ferry Building on the Port of San Francisco, Pier 24 Photography is housed in the Pier 24 annex. Originally designed to connect Piers 24 and Pier 26, the Pier 24 annex was originally built to be a 28,000 square foot cargo shed for truck side loading. Pier 24 was constructed between 1912 and 1916, and the annex followed in 1935-36. Several businesses were housed in Pier 24 annex over the twentieth century, including Nelson Steamship Company, American-Hawaiian Steamship Company and Williams, Diamond & Company. The principal cargo stored by these companies included sugar, copra, vanilla, whale oil, and hides. Pier 24 was demolished after its transit shed and bulkhead caught fire in 1997. While the last remnants of Pier 24’s substructure were fully demolished in 2004, the Pier 24 annex remained intact.