we went for a team event. I checked it out online so had an idea of what it would be like, but it still exceeded my expectations. our guide, Kayla, was awesome. our tour was at the de Young museum in SF. but this isn't a typical, stuffy lecture. Kayla would stop and tell us really cool stories about some of the pieces, and she did it with great humor and enthusiasm. it sounds like a cliche, but she really made the history behind the works come alive. the last 40 minutes or so we broke up into teams and did a scavenger hunt I have spent a ton of time in museums all over the world because I travel a lot internationally, used to live in NYC and my favorite thing to do in any city is visit their museums. I thought I would be bored by this tour because I assumed it was designed for people who don't spend much time in a museum. but I was definitely mistaken. this was so much fun and I will definitely do it again, in SF, NYC and anywhere else they run this program another shout-out to Kayla who was amazing!! read more

I hate to be a downer and be the only one with a less than 5 star review, but it was still fun. We went to the De Young Museum for a team bonding scavenger hunt and Julian was our guide. Julian is funny and is very passionate about what we were doing which made it fun. Our hunt was to figure out "who did it" (I won't say what it is in case I spoil something). We split up into 4 groups and 2 groups went with Julian and 2 went with someone else. We went around the museum trying to find clues for the puzzles we we're trying to figure out. The only thing that I didn't like was that the other team was too close so it was pretty obvious when they found a clue or it made it kind of intimidating when we saw them whispering in a group and we we're still looking for the clue. It kind of hindered the experience. Overall though, it was fun and I learned a lot from the scavenger hunt. Our team miraculously ended up winning so we were psyched about that. read more

My friend and I signed up for the wizard tour and weren't really sure what to expect. We both had an amazing time and loved our guide, Kate. She kept the whole group entertained the entire time and did an amazing job explaining the different art pieces and their background. I especially loved all the hidden references and creativity that Kate and Museum Hack put into this tour, definitely will recommend! read more

My work colleagues and I selected Kate and Julian as guides for the museum hack of SF MOMA. They were entertaining, funny, engaging and fun. It was a fun outing and got people to talk and have fun and learn interesting tidbits that were a little off the beaten path. Great fun! read more

We had such a great time at The deyoung museum for the Boy Wizard Tour with Kate. W basically got a private tour, and it was both informative and interactive. I loved how Kate engaged the kids and peppered the tour with such interesting facts. It was both educational and fun! read more

A fun and memorable way to explore a museum. Casey ran the Clue themed scavenger hunt/tour we went on and she was great! She's funny and engaging. And we got to meet some nice folks as we were put into a small team. We know the de Young quite well and the way the scavenger hunt was designed brought home how well. It was fun to cut through the clues quickly based on our experience with the museum. It created new memories along with bringing up memories of past visits and past things learned about the exhibits. So if you're someone who likes having context to a museum visit and like cooperation and competition this would be a great event for you. I also imagine if you don't know the de Young well that it would provide some focus and highlights to your visit. Additional notes: * Be prepared to get in a lot of walking as you make your way from clue to clue * There was a warm up exercise that got us in an observant mental space. read more

This a review written by my mom, she asked me to post it for her (as she said "I'm computer illiterate" - got to love that.) Without further ado.... "My daughter called and asked if I wanted to go on a feminist tour at the deYoung with a company called Museum Hack, the tour would be led by Casey and Kate. I had no idea what to expect and went. When Casey said that was over I couldn't believe we had just spent 2 hours--it flew by. Casey and Kate presented their material with humor and knowledge. I have a membership and go often but I learned more in that short time(and enjoyed myself more) than in several of my trips put together. It was well worth it--------GO." - Chris Granahan I will be posting my own review of the same tour as well! read more

AMAZING! I don't know how to rave about our experience enough. We contacted Museum Hack to do a team building experience for our AmeriCorps team at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, and they went WAY above and beyond our expectations. The tour guide contacted us ahead of time to determine which skills we wanted to provide our team (in our case- communication, adaptability, and trust) and how they can best incorporate our organizational mindset into the experience. And boy did they deliver! Our tour guides Kate and Julian provided some of the most funny and unique backstories on the museum's pieces, broke up the day with meaningful icebreakers, and set our team off on one of the most epic scavenger hunts I've ever seen! Our team could not stop talking about the experience all day - it was a totally unique outing! We will absolutely be sharing Museum Hack with all our chapters. read more

Museum Hack - Team building tour with Museum Hack! - Art Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Katie was our tour guide and she was exceptional! The clue themed hunt/game/competition/tour was great. We had a wonderful time with an incredibly knowledgeable guide. Katie pointed out many things one wouldn't notice on a normal boring tour and shared many fun facts! I cannot recommend this tour enough! Her passion/excitement are contagious and the tour is appropriate for art-snobs and art-newbies alike. read more

Casey was our guide in the De Young Musem, she was a treasure trove of interesting chunks of knowledge about the various exhibitions in the museum. So wide was Casey's knowledge that she asked everyone in our small group, what topics are they most interested in in the De Young and then devoted a little bit of extra time to whatever we were particularly curious about. Also I thought a really nice touch on the whole experience was that Casey bought some De Young post cards for everyone in our group (old school, but great form of sending someone a message) and we all filled in the postcards, and Casey took them off us and sent them all out!! My family ended up getting a lovely postcard from me in the De Young because of it! I'd highly recommend going with Museum Hack and trying to get a tour with Casey at the De Young, super interesting, vivacious and knowledgeable guide! read more

Organized a last minute tour with some people I met at Hustlecon and it was awesome! Our guide, Kate, had some amazing stories. Already planning to come back with some co-workers for a team building day. read more

Great job, Julian! (And great job, us! We found which painting murdered Julian!) Museum hack presents artsy and historical tour with a bit of a twist. The renegade fun twist, that is. It is certainly not your boring textbook explanation. It's especially fun if you go with your crew, especially after a little bit of pre-gaming. *wink wink* But in case you got stuck with strangers, the guides know how to break that cold ice among you. :) read more

Highly recommend! Kayla Mahoney was an awesome guide at the de Young Museum. Her well-researched stories and passion for art were contagious. Our group of all ages had a blast. read more

I've lived in the Bay Area and visited the DeYoung numerous times, it's a great place but honestly after the third or fourth visit the permanent collection becomes a little flat. This is mostly due to the lack of overall context you're given of the pieces. Without studying ahead of time the pieces are beautiful, but again just lack that extra focus of interest. For me, this is where Museum Hack thrives. It has rejuvenated my interest in the De Young, making it extra vibrant. Since coming to their events I've actually gone out of my way to bring people to the museum to show them some of the same excitement that Museum Hack brought me. Their humor, insight and general love and appreciation for the works also make them an experience unlike what I would except to get from a curated tour offered by the museum. In a time where most paintings and art are accessible via the internet, I can't praise enough of the work Museum Hack does to make the work accessible, interesting and topical. Most of my friends know the kind of praise I have for Museum Hack and hopefully this review helps tourists and other lovers of the SF art scene too. read more

I always appreciate hearing back from proprietors . It shows they care enough to read the reviews. In this case, the ticketing issue was acknowledged. For that, I'll add a star. Mistakes happen, sometimes repeatedly as in this case. But the fact that no one even showed up wasn't addressed at all. That's just rude all over again. If this is what they mean by encouraging people to "experience museums in unexpected ways", mission accomplished. read more

What a great experience. Thank you Julian for a fabulous boy wizard tour of the de Young Museum. It's a great way to discover the museum and many obscure facts about exhibits which you otherwise might glide past without noticing. Knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you. read more

Just finished my third MuseumHack tour and this one was as great as the first two. Thanks to Julian for creating a memorable team outing and helping us take in a *lot* of art in a short period of time -- and also appreciate what it even means to "take in" art in the first place. read more

This was so awesome!!! We did a team building tour with our hustlecon group and I've had more fun with history and art then I thought possible . read more

Museum Hack - Art Tours Near Me - San Francisco, California

Julian was amazing! Super knowledgeable about the art at the deYoung and told the history with humor and flair. Thanks for a great time!

Had a great Badass Bitches tour with Kate at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. She is an entertaining and energetic guide who made the time fly by too quickly. We learned a lot of amazing things today about BBs. If you're looking for an average docent led tour, this is not for you. If you're looking for some interesting and often overlooked facts in a fun setting, this is it! Thank you, Kate! read more

The unofficial Boy Wizard tour with Kate at the De Young brought back all the fun and games I use to enjoy to enjoy at the midnight releases for the Harry Potter books/movies. It was wonderful looking through the museum I've seen a dozen times as a member through a new light, lots of laughs thanks to Kate and a good time nerding out! read more

Probably the BEST art museum tour I've ever been on. Kate brought the art to life and was super engaging the entire time! Highly recommend! I'm an art novice and this tour was fascinating and so unintimidating. Kate rocks! read more

Kate was the best! She's an incredibly engaging and knowledgeable guide- this is a great way to experience the museum, I'll definitely be back soon. Thanks, Kate! read more

Phil Wong was our tour guide and he was fantastic! Had a wonderful time with an incredibly knowledgeable guide. I've been to the DeYoung before, but Phil pointed out many things I hadn't noticed before, and shared many fun facts! Cannot recommend this tour enough! His passion/excitement are contagious and the tour is appropriate for art-snobs and art-newbies alike. read more

I did the Harry Potter tour at the de Young museum and it was amazing! It was great the way the weaved in the Harry Potter storylines. I've been coming to the de Young since childhood and learned things I had never known before. These guys definitely know their stuff, are energetic and passionate. I took my 16 year old niece and a friend as a Christmas gift and they were engaged and smiling the entire time. 10/10 would recommend! read more

We had a team building event at DeYoung last week and Julian, our guide, was fantastic! Very funny, engaging and the team had a fantastic time while learning a lot of fun facts about art & the city of san francisco. read more

I saw this advertised on instagram (I think) and it looked awesome so I took the leap. Surprised my best friend with a Harry Potter themed scavenger hunt before hand leading to their boy wizard tour at the de Young. It was SO AMAZING. Kate was our tour guide and she was the absolute coolest. This might be my favorite thing ever to do in SF. Learned so many weird awesome facts about the paintings that were not on the museum signage. I was also blown away by their customer service. I got reminders before hand and our guide texted us in case we had trouble finding the group. I cannot recommend this activity enough. I felt like I was on a museum tour with my best friends. I'm for sure coming back with more people. read more

We went to the wizard tour last weekend. Julian was an amazing guide and super entertaining. We had a great time - puts museum pieces and the background of the wizarding world according to Rowling in a whole new light. Loved it! read more

Casey and Kate did an amazing job on our beta tour called "Badass Bitches." I was in SF for a few days and decided to use a Groupon to explore the DeYoung Museum, as I'd never been there before. Truthfully, while I love art and the performing arts, I am not much of a museum person. Most museum tours I have been on lose me after the first 15 minutes and I find myself waiting for them to be over. This tour couldn't have been farther from that! The 2 hours flew by and I loved learning about women as both subjects and creators of art through the years, and it was interesting to look at why more museums don't have a broader representation of women artists. I was worried it might be a little hokey, but it wasn't. The tour was fun, informative, engaging and still very respectful of the museum environment. I would highly recommend! read more

Attended the unofficial Harry Potter tour and our group had the best time!! Julian was amazing and extremely knowledgeable with both the beautiful artwork and wizarding world of Harry Potter. Highly recommend!!! So much info, so much to see and an awesome docent. read more

What an experience! My tour guide, Casey, is the queen of the De Young! I really enjoyed her fun and original approach of presenting some of the really cool parts of the museum. I spent an awesome afternoon and learned a lot. Many thanks again for your contagious passion, Casey ;-) read more

Really enjoyed my irreverent and informative tour led by Casey. Met some other fun folks while participating in a photo scavenger hunt, and it was interesting to see which pieces called out to other people in the group. There was chocolate provided just when I was starting to feel "museum fatigue". I've heard great things from friends about the Badass Bitches and Clue-themed tours that Museum Hack does, so I'm eager to go back! read more

I thought that I wasn't the right demographic for this (I love museums, I don't drink, and I'm probably not in their standard age range) but I tried it anyway and it was excellent! Kate told us some great stories and is clearly a research ninja. Though they target these mostly at millenials and companies doing team building, I will definitely be saving my pennies and booking a family tour - it's short and memorable enough that I'm sure my kids will start to love museums too :). read more

We took our entire school faculty and staff to Museum Hack at the deYoung, and while I was nervous about the "unknown" in terms of what the day would bring, I was more than pleasantly surprised! My group was led by Casey and she was dynamic, engaging and she really helped us step outside of our comfort zones when it was our turn to "hack" some art. I'll never look at art the same and I have learned to question and explore when I see something that isn't quite fully explained by the small placard on the wall. I recommend Museum Hack for a small group, team-building, and I hear they get a little crazy and even do bachelorette parties!! Thank you, Museum Hack Team, for a unique morning for teachers and staff to have some fun and learn a lot in the process! read more

I had an amazing time at the de Young museum playing the game of clue. Casey was the guide, and you couldn't ask for a better host. She keeps things fun and interesting, a nice touch when you're at a museum. Highly recommend Museum hack for future gatherings- whether it's a work thing or something to do with friends in the city. Bonus tip: it's a great holiday event! Remember to ask for Casey when booking, she's the best. Thanks museum hack! read more

I recently went on one of the public tours and it was a blast! Kate was really engaging and we learned so much about the de Young museum itself as well as the art in various exhibits. The other couple that was supposed to be on the tour didn't show so it ended up being just me and my boyfriend. At first I was nervous that it was going to be awkward/not as fun with just the two of us, but it ended up being even more fun because we were able to tell Kate what kinds of art we were interested in and she tailored the tour for us a bit. Definitely recommend going on a tour if you get the opportunity, it's a great way to see the museum in a unique way! read more

I went on the unhighlight tour with Kayla. She had good energy and had a lot of fun activities. I definitely know how she is from San Francisco. She also had a good way of tying pieces together with her knowledge of the city. read more

I had heard great things about Museum Hack at the De Young but I was nervous because of the diversity of our work group. I just wasn't sure everyone would enjoy it. I was wrong. Our Museum Hack tour was a hit with everyone and as was our Tour Guide. Highly recommended for a different kind of company off-site event. read more

I worked with Julian for a team event in December 2018. What a fun time! Great team building event with lots of laughs. Everyone had a great time and I would highly recommend for a fun team work event! read more

Our company flew in our remote employees from across the country to San Francisco for a weeklong offsite retreat. The first thing we did as a team was tour the de Young with Museum Hack. We had a terrific time! Our guides were engaging, knowledgable, and creative. They each did a terrific job engaging all members of our team from CEO to software engineer and encouraged participation from everyone. It was an energizing and informative way to start our week. Thank you, Museum Hack! read more