Foster Museum, Palo Alto near Mountain View
The Foster Museum is very satisfying to walk through. I love art museums based on one artist and their life adventures! It's also nice that this museum has lifelike rather than abstract art- that makes it far more interesting to everyone in the family including kids. Our whole family absolutely loved this museum.
Each section of a room is dedicated to a different exotic location or national park that Tony Foster visited. His watercolors are very detailed with wonderful color palettes and skies. They are just so beautiful! Underneath each painting there is usually a small map as well as a talisman or object that he collected in the location, and a short journal entry. These objects match the painting in color. It is so lovely!
The only thing I didn't like is that the building isn't very nice. There aren't many windows and it is slightly musty. When you arrive though, the building looks pretty, with ivy growing on the outside.
Four minutes away, check out the Computer History Museum, for a very balanced rainy day, with art and technology education in one morning! We really enjoyed seeing both.
After, have a meal at Castro Street in Mountain View, a pedestrian-only street with flowers baskets, talented street musicians, and cafes with cuisines from around the world, especially Asia. It is a 12 minute drive south.
The Foster Museum is located in an ivy-covered building.
Looking South to Bell Rock. There are many things on the talisman, including a silver dreamcatcher, rose quartz, turquoise beads, marble cross, and a Tibetan knot.
I like the river painted below and in between the pictures on the wall.
Camp VI- Mile 48. I like the carved animal made of apple coral and turquoise.
Camp III- Below Eight Foot Rapid.
A turquoise talisman with a stone arrowhead, lapis lazuli rock, and feather.
Tsoodzit/Blue Mountain (Mt. Taylor).
Looking West from Pencarrow Head.
Fall Colour in Great Meadow, Concord.
Day 2/3- From Underhill Camp Looking SW.
Looking East from Coombe.
Tywardreath Marsh- Observations (looking East South East).
Ilulissat from 400' above Our Camp at Kingigtoq. Melted iceberg water is in the glass vial below the painting!
Objects and map below a painting.
From Homer looking across the Cook Inlet to Halibut Cove. The object below the painting is shell, beads of bone and glass, felt, on twine.
A room in the museum.
Seven Days Rafting the Colorado River.
Mont Blanc from above Bel Aire.
Painting of wildflowers below the Mont Blanc painting. I love this! It makes the presentation of the paintings so nice!
From near Paku Falls Looking South- 5 Days.
Looking Out from Deer Cave, Mulu- 6 Days.
Beads and button in a clear box, plus string of beads with animal tooth. Below the painting of Mulu.
A couple thoroughly enjoying the museum. They commented enthusiastically about each painting!
A station with art supplies where kids can work.
Dive 132 Little Cayman.
All art is about exploration...It is about seeing things fresh...as if for the first time, and immersing oneself, not just in the appearance of things, but in all their aspects.
People often ask me, 'What was the most magical moment in your career as a naturalist?' I always say, 'The first time I put on a mask and went below the surface of the ocean...'
Tony Foster in the forest.
Machapuchare 3- Looking SSE from Annapurna Basecamp.
Sea urchin in an acrylic box, and map, under a painting of Bahia Comache.
7 November- The Night Sky from ALMA. There is a meteorite in an acrylic box below the painting!
Mementos from Tony Foster's travels, to accompany the Sacred Places exhibit.
Spider Rock from Spider Rock Overlook. Underneath the painting is woven wool.
Vilamendhoo- South Ari Atoll- Looking West. This was my favorite painting. The colors are so wonderful when you see them in person.
Little fish painting below the main painting of Vilamendhoo. Plus a glass tube with seashell and cork inside. The color gradient in the glass tube is so lovely!
Stone arrowhead and petroglyph below a painting of Mesa Verde.
Mesa Verde looking Southwest from Long House. Below is an animal sculpture carved of turquoise and Picasso marble.
The Foster Museum is located at 940 Commercial Street in Palo Alto, in the south of Palo Alto closer to Mountain View.
Admission is free, and it's good if you call to make an appointment if you visit on a weekday in case no one is there, though we just arrived and that worked out.
Last Updated: Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:55:00 GMT
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