SFMOMA is dropping its general admission to $15 from March 2 through April 17, 2026 — a significant cut from its standard $25 ticket price. And honestly? It's about time.

Let's be real: charging twenty-five dollars to walk through a museum has been one of the quieter ways San Francisco's cultural institutions have priced out the very people they claim to serve. For a city that never shuts up about equity and access, a $25 museum ticket has always been a tough sell — especially when you're a young professional already hemorrhaging money on rent and $7 coffee.

The temporary discount is a welcome move, but it also raises an uncomfortable question: if the museum can operate at $15 a head for six weeks, why not permanently? Museums across the country have been grappling with this tension between revenue needs and public mission. The smart ones — looking at you, National Gallery — figured out long ago that lower barriers to entry mean more visitors, more memberships, more gift shop revenue, and a broader base of community support.

SFMOMA sits on some of the most valuable modern art in the world. It receives significant philanthropic support and tax advantages as a nonprofit institution. The idea that it needs to charge $25 per person to keep the lights on deserves more scrutiny than it typically gets.

To be fair, this is still a positive development. If you've been putting off a visit, the March-April window is your chance. Bring a friend. Bring a date. Actually look at the Rothkos instead of just snapping photos for Instagram.

But let's not pretend a six-week discount is the same thing as making art genuinely accessible. San Francisco's institutions need to stop treating affordability like a limited-time promotion and start treating it like a core value.

We'll take the win — but we're watching.