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By Root 1189 0

and you’ll find that people-watching is what separates San Francisco from other cities. Theater-goers debate the merits of the latest Tom Stoppard and David Mamet productions, attempting to hear each other over drummers banging on buckets. Down Geary St, gallerists gingerly load bubble-wrapped sculptures into waiting hybrid SUVs. Nob Hill society dames in dark glasses duck into Maiden Lane spas for facials, or into Sutter St doctors’ offices for Botox, while giddy teens and their worn-out parents shop for school clothes and prom dresses at Macy’s and the behemoth Westfield San Francisco Centre further down 4th St.

49 GEARY Map

San Francisco Art Dealers Association 415-788-9818; www.sfada.com; 49 Geary St; admission free; galleries 10:30am-5:30pm Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat; 5, 6, 7, 15, 21, 31, 38, 71, F, J, K, L, M, N; & Montgomery St

Pity collectors silently nibbling endive in austere Chelsea galleries – at 49 Geary, openings mean unexpected art, goldfish-shaped crackers and outspoken crowds. Four floors of galleries feature standout international and local works including eclectic, eye-popping photography ranging from the 19th to 21st centuries at Fraenkel Gallery to sculptor Seth Koen’s crocheted minimalist pieces at Gregory Lind. Beat the crowds on weekdays for quieter contemplation. (For top gallery picks, see the boxed text.)

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TRANSPORTATION: DOWNTOWN

BART Montgomery St station serves the Financial District; Powell St serves Union Square.

Bus Market St Muni lines serve Downtown, as does the 38 Geary bus.

Cable car All lines run through Downtown. The Powell St lines link Union Square to Chinatown, North Beach, Russian Hill and Fisherman’s Wharf. The California St line links the Financial District with Nob Hill.

Metro The J, K, L, M and N metro lines run under Market St.

Streetcar F streetcars run above Market St.

Parking Street parking is difficult. The lot at Stockton and Sutter Sts is convenient to the Financial District and Union Square. The lot at 5th and Mission Sts is convenient to Union Square.

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77 GEARY Map

77 Geary St; admission free; 10:30am-5:30pm Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat; 5, 6, 7, 15, 21, 31, 38, 71, F, J, K, L, M, N; & Montgomery St

The most intriguing art usually appears in what looks like the wrong place, and 77 Geary’s unmarked entryway is no exception. Get seduced on the mezzanine by the minimalism of Patricia Sweetow Gallery (www.patriciasweetowgallery.com) and shaken up on the 2nd floor by the political art of Togonon Gallery (www.togonongallery.com). For beauty with brains, see Marx & Zavattero (www.marxzav.com) next door for David Hevel’s neo-baroque, middle-America-meets-Hollywood taxidermy sculptures and Paul Mullins’ tragic-comic exploration of rural contentment. Sensitive meets sensational at Rena Bransten Gallery (www.renabranstengallery.com), featuring shows such as Hung Liu’s miragelike portraits of found ancestors, and collaged stills from ‘unwatchable’ movies by a man who should know: Polyester cult sensation John Waters.

GALLERY PAULE ANGLIM Map

415-433-2710; www.gallerypauleanglim.com; 14 Geary St; admission free; 10am-5:30pm Tue-Fri, to 5pm Sat; 5, 6, 7, 15, 21, 31, 38, 71, F, J, K, L, M, N; & Montgomery St

Here you’ll find marquee names like Tony Oursler, whose video projections of distorted faces grumble and squeak in the corner. But works by local upstarts threaten to steal the show, including Ala Ebtekar’s paintings of soldiers and storm clouds gathering on ancient Iranian prayer scriptures, and Bull Miletic’s video views of San Francisco from the perspective of a flitting butterfly.

UNION SQUARE Map

intersection of Geary, Powell, Post & Stockton Sts; 5, 6, 7, 21, 31, 38, 71, F, J, K, L, M, N; & Powell St; Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde

Louis Vuitton is more top-of-mind than the Emancipation Proclamation, but this plaza, bordered by brand-name retailers, was named after pro-Union Civil War rallies held here 150 years ago. A misguided renovation paved the place and installed benches narrow enough to keep junkies from nodding off, turning this