set within the north wing of the stately Palace of Fine Arts of San Francisco. Oppenheimer was able to fund the opening of the Exploratorium partly due to a grant from the San Francisco Foundation. The San Francisco Foundation gave a $50,000 grant to Oppenheimer to open the facility. Oppenheimer served as the first director of the museum, and was personally involved in almost every aspect of its daily operations for the rest of his life. Frank had also visited the Tel Aviv Science Museum in 1965, and later used several of Ivan Moscovich's designs and exhibits in his revolutionary Exploratorium in San Francisco. There were no admission charges at the Exploratorium for a full twelve years after its opening. The first exhibits in the Exploratorium were constructed with the aid of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and the Ames Research Center (NASA). Frank Oppenheimer had a lifelong belief in the importance of art in an equal and closely connected relationship to science. He personally recruited artist Bob Miller to create Sun Painting, the first major art installation at the Exploratorium. Another early work was the Tactile Dome (1971), by August Coppola (father of actor Nicolas Cage and brother of the film director Francis Coppola). This was a 3-dimensional tightly convoluted passage that was completely dark inside, and which visitors had to explore relying on the sense of touch, encountering many tactile experiences along the way. Both installations proved to be immensely popular, and renewed versions of both are still on display today. In 1974, Oppenheimer established an ongoing artist-in-residence program at the Exploratorium, regularly bringing in a succession of emerging and established artists working at the boundaries of art and science. The Exploratorium aimed to introduce and inspire, as well as teach. The museum exposed people to science by means of human perception. It provides a form of "educational sightseeing" as well as the understanding of the underlying principles. Its intention was not to replace a science class, but rather to inspire people to learn about science. The exhibits were arranged and structured to allow for free access to any part of the museum. Oppenheimer wanted people to be able to explore the museum and learn at their own pace, following a path that made sense to them and stimulated their curiosity. The idea of having people explore the museum in a way that appeals to everyone was