SFMOMA Free Community Day Access

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will hold its 2026 Free Community Day on Sunday, May 24, offering free admission across the museum and special programming tied to its new exhibition “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal.” The museum lists the event hours as 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and says general admission tickets are still required, even though entry is free. SFMOMA also says access to the Matisse exhibition will be handled separately through timed tickets distributed on-site. The museum describes those exhibition tickets as limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. ### Is the free day actually on May 22? SFMOMA’s own event listing says the Free Community Day is on Sunday, May 24, 2026, not May 22. The museum repeats that date on its events page, its dedicated Free Community Day page and a press release for the Matisse exhibition. May 22, 2026, is a Friday. The date appears to have been confused with broader arts-and-events listings for the week of May 21-26, but the museum’s official pages place the free-admission program on May 24. ### What does free admission include? SFMOMA says the event offers “museumwide” free admission for the day. That means visitors can enter the museum without paying the usual general admission price, subject to the museum’s ticketing process. The Matisse exhibition is included in the day’s programming, but SFMOMA says visitors should not assume open walk-in access. The museum’s event page says timed entry tickets for “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” will be available only on-site at the Floor 2 Ticketing Desk. ### How do visitors get into the Matisse show? Timed entry for the exhibition will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, according to SFMOMA’s event notice and exhibition FAQ. The museum says capacity is limited. SFMOMA’s exhibition page says “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” runs from May 16 through Sept. 13, 2026, on Floor 4. On regular days, the show carries a surcharge of $10 on weekdays and $12 on weekends and holidays, while members receive free access. The Free Community Day changes that cost structure for May 24, but not the timed-entry requirement. ### Why is this exhibition getting special handling? Henri Matisse’s “Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat)” is one of the best-known works in SFMOMA’s collection, according to the museum’s artwork and exhibition pages. SFMOMA says the 1905 painting caused controversy when it debuted in Paris and later became a touchstone in the history of modern art. A museum press release says the 2026 exhibition is the only venue for the show because the painting does not travel under the terms of its bequest. Janet Bishop, SFMOMA’s Thomas Weisel Family Chief Curator, said in that release that the exhibition gives the museum a chance to tell “the full story” of the painting and its influence. ### What else is tied to the event? SFMOMA’s Free Community Day page says the May 24 program also celebrates the museum’s newly reimagined Fisher Collection galleries. The event listing describes free public programming alongside free admission, though the museum’s page does not spell out every activity in the brief summary. The museum says support for Free Community Day is provided by the Walter & Elise Haas Fund in honor of Elise S. Haas. ### What should visitors do next? Sunday, May 24, is the date to plan around, based on SFMOMA’s official listings. Visitors who want to see “Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal” will need to go to the Floor 2 Ticketing Desk for same-day timed entry, and SFMOMA says those tickets are limited.