I absolutely love this exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art!
Local artists have reimagined the Spanish Colonial Revival façade of the museum, an iconic landmark in the heart of Balboa Park.
The exhibition in Gallery 6 is titled Local Visions: Reimagining the Façade. What a perfect way to help celebrate the SDMA Centennial! The art is on view through July 26, 2026.
Perhaps you recognize some of these names. I personally recall photographing street art created by two of the artists. To see art that Hilary Dufour painted in Pacific Beach, click here. To see the distinctive art of Mary Jhun all around San Diego, click here.
Here are a few examples of the San Diego Museum of Art’s reimagined façade…
Sunday in Balboa Park, by artist Annie Holley.SDMA 100, by artist Brandon Palma.Golden Hour at The San Diego Museum of Art, by artist Stefanie Bales.The Spaces Between, by artist Hilary Dufour.Genius Loci: The Spirit of a Place, by artist Mary Jhun.Colors: Reimagining the Façade with Color, by artist Susan Stone.
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An artistic soccer goal that celebrates the upcoming World Cup was being set up today in San Diego’s Balboa Park!
Noted Mexican artist Betsabeé Romero and some helpers were creating the outdoor installation in the Plaza de Panama, in front of the San Diego Museum of Art. They got started at nine this morning. What you see is their progress by early afternoon.
This unique public art is being created in partnership with the General Consulate of Mexico in San Diego.
The colorful goal is half the size of a regulation goal. Its woven nets contains colorful Aztec and soccer motifs made of metal, as you can see in one of my photos.
Betsabeé (smiling in my final photo) told me that the goal and the space in front of it can be used as a sort of public performance stage.
Many similar goals are being created around the United States, where World Cup teams will be based or where games will take place. There’s also an artistic goal in Tijuana, Mexico that faces this one in San Diego, forming a “vast field of play” that includes both international border cities!
UPDATE!
A couple days later, I noticed this sign. It shows how these goals have been erected in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The art connects soccer with migration, native cultures and the diverse fans who enjoy the popular international sport.
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Before creating their pieces, these Atelier artists spent time walking around Imperial Avenue east of downtown San Diego. Their inspired interpretation of the historic neighborhood can be viewed in the TULAROSA gallery, which is appropriately located at 2602 Imperial Avenue.
The exhibition is titled One Day in the Life on Imperial.
I swung by after 11 am today, shortly after the gallery opened. And whom should I meet as I stepped through the door? Renowned muralist Mario Torero! He was just as friendly and gracious as ever.
I enjoyed looking at all the pieces. Some of the artwork includes buildings and murals one might see on the street nearby. It was fun trying to find them!
The exhibition will continue at TULAROSA through Sunday, March 29, 2026. The gallery is open 11 am to 7 pm.
What special events at the gallery are coming up?
Wednesday, March 25: Community & Artist Leaders Panel. 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Thursday, March 26: San Diego Artists Guild Panel II. Continuation of artist discussions and exhibition programming. 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM.
Friday, March 27: Jazz, Soul & R&B Legacy Night, celebrating the musical history of Imperial Avenue, once one of San Diego’s most important music corridors.
Saturday, March 28: Community Mural Activation. Community painting of the 19th Street Mural Project. Artists participating include Mario Torero. 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
Sunday, March 29: Closing Day of the exhibition. Final mural painting session for the 19th Street Mural Project. 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
Here are some examples of the artwork on display…
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A special art exhibition will soon be opening in Grant Hill, across Imperial Avenue from neighboring Logan Heights. One Day in the Life on Imperial will feature works by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. The exhibition will be open to the public beginning March 21, 2026 at the TULAROSA gallery, located at 2602 Imperial Avenue. The Opening Reception is from 4 to 7 pm.
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild has initiated an “Atelier” for the purpose of experimentation with conceptual art and community engagement. This exhibition is its inaugural event. The Barrio Artists Partnership is participating, too. The Atelier artists have, for three months, been walking, talking, observing and creating art based on their community centered dialogue.
Seventeen artists from diverse areas of San Diego will present their finished art as well as their concept behind the art.
Everyone is invited to drop by and see their inspired work!
After March 29 the exhibit will be moved to Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center, where it will open on April 7.
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The San Diego Museum of Art is celebrating its centennial in 2026. First opening in 1926 as the Fine Arts Gallery, the world-class museum has grown and experienced many remarkable moments over the past hundred years.
That history is remembered in a free exhibition titled SDMA 100 Years. The exhibit opened yesterday in the museum’s Galleries 14/15, which are accessible to the public through a door at Panama 66 in the museum’s sculpture courtyard.
SDMA 100 Years features a timeline of photographs that document the museum’s evolution, from the building’s construction in Balboa Park right up to the present day. There’s also a short documentary video and a display case full of ephemera.
Visitors can observe how the San Diego Museum of Art had its origins in the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, had its successful grand opening in 1926, served as a naval hospital during World War II, and how west and east wings were added for significant expansions.
You’ll see photos showing museum contributions to art education and the San Diego community over the years. You’ll see renowned artists who’ve contributed their work, and relive major exhibitions. You’ll envision what the museum plans for their future, too!
You are invited to contribute to the exhibition! Anyone can submit their personal memories and photographs of the museum. To participate, look for the link at the bottom of this webpage!
SDMA 100 Years will be displayed through 2026, right up to February 2, 2027.
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Today the finishing touches were being put on a new exhibition of outstanding art in Balboa Park. The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild Membership Exhibition is now open in Spanish Village Art Center’s Gallery 21!
Several of the participating artists were in the gallery and were happy to talk about their creations. I learned the public is invited to attend the show’s official reception on Sunday, November 9 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Learn more here.
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild strengthens the bond between the Museum and the artist community of San Diego County by enhancing the Museum’s awareness and appreciation of local artists.
Their annual exhibition in Balboa Park will continue through November 17, 2025. Diverse works in many styles are on display. All of the pieces are for sale.
The exhibition was juried by Johnny Tran of the Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla. I think you’ll really enjoy it.
Some photos, and friendly guild artists I met today…
Artist Charlene Mosley smiles beside her oil on canvas piece, This Is All That Is Me.Artist Olga Freedman’s very beautiful watercolor Aspen grove near Lake Sabrina.James Bliesner is both artist and President of San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. His half-abstract/half-realistic piece is Wind and Sea. Materials are plaster, paper, acrylic, pastel and oil.
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Fantastic public sculptures by world-renowned Spanish Basque artist Eduardo Chillida stand in cities around the globe. San Diego is fortunate that many Chillida sculptures–large and small–can now be experienced in an important exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art!
Eduardo Chillida: Convergence includes dozens of amazing abstract pieces that challenge museum visitors with their visual complexity.
Many of these sculptures combine sharp angles with sinuous curves, and are puzzle-like. They can make one wonder about the composition of reality–how space and matter interact.
As the San Diego Museum of Art web page explains: Each of these creations are points of convergence where myriad forces, including nature and culture, material and immaterial, form and void, all meet.
I like how many of the sculptures appear like paper cut in irregular ways with scissors then twisted impossibly every which way. Gazing at the sculptures from different angles, I wondered if their divergent parts could somehow be pieced together.
They somehow recall that three-dimensional puzzle cube I once played with as a boy. One docent at the museum told me a child called these sculptures Puzzles of the Gods. How appropriate!
The sculptures can be made of oak, iron, alabaster or other earthy materials. There are also works on paper. For very abstract works of art, they are strangely natural, weirdly familiar. Chillida liked to call himself a realist sculptor.
Visitors have the opportunity, for an additional five dollars, to experience a virtual reality flight around Comb of the Wind XV, Chillida’s famous installation that rises above the bluffs of La Concha Bay in San Sebastián, Spain.
The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park has plans to substantially expand. The proposed renovation of the West Wing celebrates the centennial of the museum in 2026.
A physical model of an early design concept for this new West Wing extension can be viewed today inside the museum. The design was conceived by the prestigious international architectural firm Foster + Partners, and the model is part of an exhibition that shows their other work around the world.
I got a look at the model yesterday and took some photos so you might visualize how Balboa Park might appear in the future. Obviously, this is important to everyone in San Diego.
Like other Foster + Partners projects, the design will create an experience that is spacious and full of natural light. The proposed expansion will add 37,000 square feet of gallery space, including an immersive digital space. There will also be a community engagement pavilion that will provide interactive space for artists and visitors alike.
As you can see, this large expansion will replace today’s sculpture court and garden.
Personally, I’m not really sure what to think of it.
I like the general idea, but how will this new structure fit in with the surrounding, entirely different Spanish Colonial Revival architecture? It will stand across Plaza de Panama from the much smaller Timken Museum, which also has a more sleek, modern appearance, perhaps creating a visual counter-balance.
The very first thing that struck me is how small the historic San Diego Museum of Art appears beside their wide, taller expansion. No other buildings are shown in the model such as the nearby House of Charm, but I imagine it, too, will appear small in comparison.
My main concern is how this fairly tall new structure might obscure or partially obscure views of Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower, which is arguably the most beloved sight in all of San Diego. The expansion will almost certainly hide the California Tower from people who are in the north part of the Plaza de Panama.
It also appears the design work at the sculpture court and garden by renowned modernist Malcolm Leland will disappear. You can see photographs of that in one of my past blog posts by clicking here.
Well, what do you think?
If you visit the model in the museum, there’s a nearby video that helps you better visualize how this expansion will appear, and an opportunity to leave your own comment.
Here’s a photo I took a few years ago from a short distance up El Prado. You can see the present-day sculpture court with its columns and banners to the right of the California Building’s dome.
The proposed expansion, to my eye, appears to be about three times the height of the sculpture court. So imagine that. The California Tower should remain visible down El Prado, fortunately.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
This very beautiful outdoor mural appeared several days ago in Balboa Park. You can’t miss the bright colors as you approach the San Diego Museum of Art.
Visitors to Balboa Park can use the butterfly for a selfie backdrop. The butterfly artwork enlivens the Plaza de Panama near the entrance of Panama 66, close to the spot where augmented reality artwork had been installed until recently. The colorful new mural promotes the San Diego Museum of Art’s big upcoming Art Alive 2025 event!
I see the artist is German Corrales aka Butterfly Man (@germancorralesarte), a well-known Chicano Park muralist.
Art Alive 2025 is coming April 24–27, 2025. The super popular event fills the San Diego Museum of Art with lavish floral displays and raises funds for the museum. Find out more about Art Alive by clicking here!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Walk through Galleries 14/15 at the San Diego Museum of Art and you might think you’re strolling through a bright dream–a dream of intense beauty that is both real and unreal.
Ruud van Empel: Theatre is an exhibition that opened a little over a week ago at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.
Ruud van Empel is a Dutch photographer and visual artist who makes spectacular digital collages like the ones you see in my photos. He finds beautiful plant forms in nature–in forests, marshes, deserts, and wherever he travels–then digitally combines them into images that look both alien and familiar. To me, the images are of a paradise. He’ll introduce the human form into some of the creations.
When you visit this exhibit, make sure to watch the short film, which describes Ruud van Empel’s creative process. I’m envious. He gets to journey through some of our world’s most amazing natural places while simultaneously creating dreamlike worlds of his own.
If you’d like to view his beautiful worlds, step into the two free combined Galleries 14 and 15. You can access the galleries near the entrance to the courtyard Panama 66 restaurant, located on the west side of Plaza de Panama and the museum. Simply walk through the door that leads to the public restrooms. Ask someone working at Panama 66 if you’re not sure where to go!
Ruud van Empel: Theatre will be on view through July 27, 2025.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
