April in San Francisco means fog, tourists in shorts, and — if you're paying attention — a genuinely impressive museum lineup that deserves your time and your dollars.

SFMOMA is rolling out a reimagined presentation of the Fisher collection, one of the most significant private art holdings in the country. The Doris and Donald Fisher collection, built on the fortune from Gap Inc., represents exactly the kind of private philanthropy that makes world-class culture possible without raiding the public treasury. When individuals build wealth and choose to share it with their city, everybody wins. No bond measure needed.

Meanwhile, the Asian Art Museum is drawing visitors into an immersive new exhibition that reportedly pulls you into a web of interconnected works — the kind of experiential programming that keeps institutions relevant in an age where everyone's attention span has been obliterated by TikTok.

Here's what's worth noting: San Francisco's cultural institutions continue to be a genuine bright spot for the city, attracting foot traffic downtown at a time when we desperately need it. Every museum ticket sold is a small vote of confidence in a city that's spent the last few years giving people reasons to stay home — or leave entirely.

But let's not kid ourselves. These institutions thrive when the streets around them are safe, clean, and accessible. You can curate the most stunning collection on earth, but if visitors have to navigate open-air drug markets and shuttered storefronts to reach the front door, attendance suffers. The best thing City Hall can do for San Francisco's cultural economy isn't another grant program — it's basic governance.

So if you're looking for a reason to head downtown this month, the museums are giving you one. Support them with your wallet, not your tax dollars. That's how culture is supposed to work.