First Tuesday At Yerba Buena: Amy Winehouse, Black Performance Art, Darth Vader And More

First Tuesday At Yerba Buena: Amy Winehouse, Black Performance Art, Darth Vader And MorePhoto: Contemporary Jewish Museum/Facebook
Brittany Hopkins
Published on August 03, 2015

On the first Tuesday of each month, many of the city's artistic and cultural institutions offer free or discounted admission, including three of Yerba Buena's renowned art museums. For the August edition of First Tuesday, they're offering culture-seekers on a budget a number of good reasons to take advantage of Tuesday's offering. Here are the highlights:

Contemporary Jewish Museum

Address: 736 Mission St.
Hours: 11am-5pm
First Tuesday Admission: Free

Get to know the real Amy Winehouse via the CJM's new exhibit, Amy Winehouse: Family Portrait. Honoring the life of the British singer-songwriter, who died in 2011 at age 27, the exhibition offers an intimate look (with never-before-seen family photos) of Winehouse's life before fame, alongside her iconic costumes, guitar and record collection.

The museum is also showcasing You Know I'm No Good, a collection of figure drawings of Winehouse by Bay Area and New York artists. If you want to make it a Winehouse-centric night, Amy, a documentary about Winehouse's life, is currently showing at the nearby Embarcadero Center Cinema

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Address: 701 Mission St.
Hours: 12-8pm
First Tuesday Admission: Free

YBCA is the only venue on the West Coast to present Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art, which surveys the history of performance art by black visual artists from the U.S. and the Caribbean. The exhibition features photos and video of performance art from the 1960s to the present day, as well as works created as a result of these performances. If you like what you see, come back on Wednesday, August 19th for a live performance from artist Coco Fusco. 

Cartoon Art Museum 

Address: 655 Mission St.
Hours: 11am-5pm
"First Toonsday" Admission: Pay What You Wish

With the Cartoon Art Museum closing its doors in Yerba Buena on September 12th (it's moving to an undisclosed location), now's the time to pay a visit. Despite the upcoming move, the museum still has five exhibitions running, including the newest, The Bronze Armory Showcase, featuring costumes and props from a variety of Marvel Studios films, including Iron Man, The Avengers and Captain America.

When you're done examining Captain America's shield, you can then visit the reimagined world of Darth Vader in the exhibit Darth Vader and Friends. This show features original art from cartoonist Jeffrey Brown's latest Star Wars book, which asks the question, “What if Darth Vader actively raised his son and daughter?” Brown's work twists the saga's classic moments, portraying the evil villain as just another stern father.