De Saisset Museum

Opened in 1950, the De Saisset Museum, residing on the Santa Clara University, is located at 500 El Camino Real. Isabel de Saisset, the last member of the De Saisset family, donated the building along with many personal possessions to the university. The museum houses nearly 10,000 art works and historical artifacts, and provides a lecture hall for presentations and events.

The de Saisset Museum's collection includes Renaissance, Baroque, 19th century paintings, as well as modern and contemporary prints with a special emphasis on San Francisco Bay Area artists. The museum owns a comprehensive photography collection including prints by Ansel Adams among others.

The de Saisset Museum also exhibits the University's California History Collection, which includes Native American art and artifacts; an extensive Mission Collection and Gold Rush era artifacts. The collection is at the heart of its educational program that provides free docent tours of the Mission and California History exhibits.

The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free. The museum does not have a gift shop, but the university's bookstore is open Monday through Saturday.

The de Saisset Museum, just south of the San Jose International Airport, is three miles from the center of San Jose and 46 miles south of San Francisco.