Cartoon Art Museum

The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers


Founded on a grant from Bay Area cartoon legend Charles M Schultz of Peanuts fame, this bold museum isn't afraid of the dark, political or racy – cases in point: R Crumb drawings from the '70s and a retrospective of political cartoons from the Economist by Kevin 'Kal' Kallaugher. Lectures and openings are rare opportunities to mingle with comic legends, Pixar Studios heads and obsessive collectors.

Introducing this place to comic fans would be an insult: of course you recognize John Romita's amazing Spiderman cover drawings and you were probably raised on Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies, starting with 'A is for Amy who fell down the stairs/B is for Basil assaulted by bears…' But even fans will learn something from lectures about 1930s efforts to unionize overworked women animators and shows on underground cartoonist legends like Spain Rodriguez and Trina Robbins.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers attractions

1. Ghirardelli Square

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Willy Wonka would tip his hat to Domingo Ghirardelli (gear-ar-deli), whose business became the West’s largest chocolate factory in 1893. After the company…

2. National Park Visitors Center

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San Francisco grew from its docks, and this 10,000-sq-ft visitors center for the nearby maritime national historical park details how, with a permanent…

3. Aquatic Park

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Everyone loves this easy-access cove at Van Ness Ave's northern end, flanked by the massive comma-shaped Municipal Pier, where fishermen cast their lines…

4. Maritime Museum

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A monumental hint to sailors in need of a scrub, this restored, ship-shaped 1939 Streamline Moderne landmark is decked out with Works Progress…

5. Maritime National Historical Park

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Five historic ships are floating museums at this maritime national park, Fisherman's Wharf’s most authentic attraction. Moored along Hyde St Pier, the…

6. Fisherman's Wharf

0.32 MILES

Fisherman's Wharf – the Embarcadero and Jefferson St waterfront running from Pier 29 to Van Ness Ave – includes Pier 39, the Musée Mécanique, the Maritime…

7. San Francisco Art Institute

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Since the 1870s, SFAI has been at the vanguard of Bay Area art movements – including 1960s Bay Area abstraction, 1970s conceptual art and 1990s new-media…

8. Diego Rivera Gallery

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Diego Rivera's 1931 The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City is a trompe l'oeil fresco within a fresco, showing the artist himself pausing to…