3 Best Sights in The Bay Area, California

Stanford’s main art museum is a wonderful indoor-outdoor mix, where it’s easy to linger for two or three hours. Outside is the acclaimed Rodin Sculpture Garden, home to the one of the largest collections of the legendary French sculptor’s works in the United States. Inside, beyond the ornate opening steps and grand entry hall are two levels of galleries that mix modern works with rotating exhibitions, indigenous American art, and classical European and American paintings.

This combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and film archive, known for its extensive collection of over 25,000 works of art and 18,000 films and videos, is also home to the world's largest collection of African American quilts. Artworks spans several centuries and include modernist notables Mark Rothko, David Smith, and Hans Hofmann. The Pacific Film Archive specializes in international films, offering regular screenings and performances. The architecture's contrast of art deco and a curvy stainless steel roof alone is worth a photo stop.

Modern, post–World War II art shines at the neighbor to the Cantor Arts Center, where the impressive collection from Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson and Mary Patricia Anderson Pence is displayed. Marquee mid-century artists including Richard Diebenkorn, Jackson Pollock, and Ellsworth Kelly are showcased in a gleaming concrete and glass-heavy building that smartly reflects the contemporary ethos of the artwork inside.