• Visit
    • Calendar
    • After Dark Thursdays
    • Buy Tickets
    • Exhibits
    • Museum Galleries
    • Artworks on View
    • Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Visitor FAQ
    • Event Rentals
    • Field Trips
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
    • Free Educator Workshops
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
    • Learning About Learning
    • Community Programs
    • Educator Newsletter
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
    • Activities
    • Video
    • Exhibits
    • Apps
    • Blogs
    • Websites
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Partnerships
    • Global Collaborations
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
    • Contact Us
  • Join + Support
    • Donate Today!
    • Membership
    • Join Our Donor Community
    • Engage Your Business
    • Attend a Fundraiser
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Thank You to Our Supporters
    • Donor & Corporate Member FAQ
    • Host Your Event
    • Volunteer
  • Store

Pi (π) Day

  • About Pi (π) Day
  • Guide to Celebrating Pi (π) Day
  • A Brief History of Pi (π)
  • A Slice of Pi (π) Day History
  • Pi (π) Day Activities

Masks and vaccinations are recommended. Plan your visit  

Visitor FAQ Buy Tickets Donate Today
Exploratorium
Exploratorium
  • Visit
    • Calendar
    • After Dark Thursdays
    • Buy Tickets
    • Exhibits
    • Museum Galleries
    • Artworks on View
    • Hours
    • Getting Here
    • Visitor FAQ
    • Event Rentals
    • Field Trips
  • Education
    • Professional Development Programs
    • Free Educator Workshops
    • Tools for Teaching and Learning
    • Learning About Learning
    • Community Programs
    • Educator Newsletter
  • Explore
    • Browse by Subject
    • Activities
    • Video
    • Exhibits
    • Apps
    • Blogs
    • Websites
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Partnerships
    • Global Collaborations
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Arts at the Exploratorium
    • Contact Us
  • Join + Support
    • Donate Today!
    • Membership
    • Join Our Donor Community
    • Engage Your Business
    • Attend a Fundraiser
    • Explore Our Reach
    • Thank You to Our Supporters
    • Donor & Corporate Member FAQ
    • Host Your Event
    • Volunteer
  • Store
  • Photo of the Pi Day Shrine, which is on the Exploratorium's Plaza.

Pi (π) Day

Celebrate Pi (π) Day with Math Artist John Sims
Monday, March 14, 2022 • 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Reserve Tickets

Join the 35th annual celebration of our own homegrown holiday! March 14th (3/14) commemorates the irrational, transcendent, and never ending ratio that helps describe circles of all sizes. Watch resident artist John Sims (creator of the Pi Day Anthem) showcase his handmade Pi Quilt and perform spoken word poems with poets Kim Schuck and Sylvia Blalock and original music performed by Science Band. Explore math inspired activities and presentations, then join our pi parade and eat a free piece of pie. Come for the STEAM and stay for the slice! 

Pi (π) Day Livestream
Art + Science of Pi
With John Sims, Kim Shuck, Sylvia Blalock, and Science Band

12:00–1:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Wattis Studio
Free online event—join via Facebook or YouTube

No matter how you slice it, you don’t want to miss Pi (π) Day. Math artist John Sims will share some of his pi inspired visual art, poetry, and music. Poets Kim Shuck, and Sylvia Blalock will join in performing their own spoken word odes to pi. Jazz combo Science Band will perform John Sims’ latest composition, Pi Notes. Afterward, our expert educators Ron Hipschman and Lori Lamberston will share pi’s mathematical history and activities you can try at the museum and at home.

John Sims, a Detroit native, is a Sarasota based conceptual artist, writer, and activist who creates art and curatorial projects spanning the areas of installation, performance, text, music, film, and large-scale activism, informed by mathematics, design, the politics of white supremacy, sacred symbols/anniversaries, and poetic/political text.

Kim Shuck is a silly protein. Shuck is the seventh Poet Laureate of San Francisco Emerita, solo author of eight books, and a long time fan of whimsical numbers.

Sylvia Blalock is a San Francisco native and former Explainer under Darlene Librero and Frank Oppenheimer. She is the author of Uprising-A Book of Poetry and founder of Queendom Network LLC. Her latest project is "Voices That Carry: Being Loud on Purpose"

Math artist John Sims; an image of "Civil Pi," a quilt made by Sims as part of his project, SquareRoots: A Quilted Manifesto

Pi Day Musical Performance
With Science Band

2:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Wattis Studio

Groove with Science Band’s setlist as they pair pi trivia and science facts with a full jazz combo.

The Value of Pi
With the Facilitators

10:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. and 2:30–4:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Demo Station

Can you estimate the value of pi with string and scissors? Or by tossing pie pans? Can pi help determine the best deal when buying a pie or pizza pie? Explore these questions and more with our team of informal, museum educators.

Storytime Science for Kids: March Mathness
With Vivian Altmann

11:00 a.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Classroom 1606

Join us for a special math-inspired edition of Storytime Science! Enjoy a math-themed storybook read-aloud for children and their grown-ups. The Exploratorium's own Vivian Altmann will read The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat and Mo Willems. After the story, take math into the third dimension by crafting paper plate Bucky balls, greeting card boxes, and pinwheel shapes.

Pi (π) Day Celebration
With John Sims
Join for free online via Facebook or YouTube
 or at the Exploratorium
Noon–1:30 p.m.
Bechtel Gallery 3, Wattis Studio

No matter how you slice it, you don’t want to miss Pi (π) Day. Math artist John Sims will perform work from his music project 31415: The Pi Collection and showcase his Pi Quilt. Afterward, our expert educators share pi’s mathematical history and activities you can try at the museum and at home. 

Pi Procession
1:59 p.m.
Plaza

Grab your digit and get in line for the annual Pi Procession! A high-spirited crowd parades through the museum and circles the Pi Shrine 3.14 times, waving the digits of pi and singing a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” to Einstein. All participants will enjoy a free slice of pie following the parade.


What Is Pi (π) Day?

Founded in 1988 at the Exploratorium, Pi (π) Day has become an international holiday, celebrated live and online all around the world. The numbers in the date (3/14) match the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi.

What is pi, anyway? Divide any circle’s circumference by its diameter; the answer (whether for a pie plate or a planet) is always approximately 3.14, a number we represent with the Greek letter π. Keep calculating pi’s digits with more and more accuracy—as mathematicians have been doing for 4,000 years—and you’ll discover they go on literally forever, with no pattern.

Pi (π) Day Celebration with John Sims
Why Pi?
Pi: the Story of an Extra Little Bit
Pi is Women's Work: Celebrating Women in Mathematics
When Pi isn't Enough
Pi Day 2020: Why π?
Pi Day Celebration
Say it with Trike: Pi Day
Pi (π) Day “Round” Table + Listening Party



Learn More

Guide to Celebrating Pi (π) Day

Celebrate Pi (π) Day wherever you are.

A Brief History of Pi (π)

Learn about the long and rich history of π.

A Slice of Pi (π) Day History

Plumb the history of Pi Day—and its founder, Larry Shaw (pictured). 

Activities

Science activity to demonstrate pi using circumference and string
Cutting Pi

String and scissors are all you need to find pi all around you.

Science activity to estimate pi with the random tossing of toothpicks
Pi Toss

Randomly toss some toothpicks, with pi as your reward.

Science activity using straight lines to learn about circles
Pi Graph

Use straight lines to learn about circles.

At-Home Pi Day Celebrations

Share your celebrations by tagging @Exploratorium #PiDaySF



Exhibits

Pi Has Your Number
Pi Has Your Number

Use a touchscreen to search for any number hidden in the first 3 million digits of pi.

Pi Toss
Pi Toss

Toss some chips to estimate pi.

Pi Shrine
Pi Shrine

This circular piece of Exploratorium history has held pride of place in π Day festivities since 1988.

Pi (π) Day

  • About Pi (π) Day
  • Guide to Celebrating Pi (π) Day
  • A Brief History of Pi (π)
  • A Slice of Pi (π) Day History
  • Pi (π) Day Activities

Donate Today! →

Exploratorium
Visit
Join
Give

Pier 15
(Embarcadero at Green Street)
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.528.4444

Contact Us

  • Plan Your Visit
  • Calendar
  • Buy Tickets
  • Getting Here
  • Store
  • Event Rentals
  • About Us
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Jobs
  • Volunteer
  • Press Office
  • Land Acknowledgment

Get at-home activities and learning tools delivered straight to your inbox

The Exploratorium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our tax ID #: 94-1696494
© 2023 Exploratorium | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights |