San Francisco's de Young Museum reopens after being closed for 6 months

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's de Young Museum opened to its members on Tuesday for the first time in six months. It will open to the general public on Friday.

"It feels weird. It is exciting at the same time. A new thing for everybody. New rules, new everything. But it is a good experience," said Erika Cipres of Richmond as she walked into the museum.

RELATED: San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay reopens after pandemic shutdown

San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 reopened Monday after being closed for 27 weeks, the longest closure in the aquarium's 25-year history. Under COVID-19 guidelines, the aquarium is only allowed to welcome in 25% of its normal capacity.

There was a line of people waiting to get inside as the museum opened at 9:30 a.m. People seemed very excited to be in the de Young again, but another big draw is the Frida Kahlo exhibit.

"I'm from Mexico City and that is where Frida is from and I am a huge fan. I love Frida. I was waiting and waiting for this opening. I was so frustrated when everything got canceled. But I am so glad we got a chance to see her today," Cipres said.

"We are finding that people are really longing to get back here. In fact, our Frida Kahlo show -- tickets are sold out for the first two weeks. They went like that," said Tom Campbell as he snapped his fingers. Campbell is the Director and CEO of Fine Art Museums of San Francisco.

WATCH: Frida Kahlo exhibit finally reopening at San Francisco's de Young Museum

The de Young Museum announced it is reopening next week and on display is an exhibit of famed Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

The museum is only allowed to fill 25% of its capacity. People will be allowed in on a timed ticketed system. It is recommended that visitors buy tickets online before arriving. Some walk-ins will be allowed but they may experience a wait.

"We just want people to come back and enjoy being here. After six months of engaging with the world in a digital realm, for me anyway, it is so nice to be engaging with objects again, with real art objects," Campbell said, who was wearing a mask but said if he wasn't people could see that he was grinning from ear to ear.

INTERACTIVE: Here's the reopening status of every Bay Area county

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