Tag: museum of art

Beautiful butterfly arrives at San Diego Museum of Art!

A large, very beautiful butterfly has fluttered into the San Diego Museum of Art’s library. It has spread its welcoming wings on the floor, inviting children to take a seat during the SDMA’s monthly Storytime in the Library!

This sculptural multi-piece rug, if I can call it that, arrived at the museum a couple weeks ago. It made its official debut today. I just happened to see a sign pointing the way!

The interdisciplinary Chicana artist artist who created this amazing fabric artwork is Katie Ruiz. Ring a bell? She’s the artist behind the Pompom Project. I blogged about one of her installations at Civic Center Plaza back in 2023. You can see those photographs by clicking here.

This new many-colored butterfly is a cozy place for kids to sit while listening to readings of fun art-inspired children’s books. It sort of feels like sitting in a (p)lush, flowery garden. You can see a video of its creation on the San Diego Museum of Art’s Instagram by clicking here.

Do you have children who’d like to enjoy Storytime in the Library. It’s free, every second Thursday of each month. Readings are at 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

The San Diego Museum of Art’s library can be found by walking through the museum’s sculpture court and Panama 66. Look around–you will find it! You’ll also find the big, beautiful butterfly that now makes the art library home!

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Exhibition by San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild.

An excellent exhibition by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild is now showing inside Gallery 21 at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center.

The exhibition, curated by Alex DeCosta of the Hyde Art Gallery, features fine works by some of our city’s most outstanding artists. These eclectic pieces, all of which are for sale, would be valuable additions to any art collection.

I wandered into Gallery 21 late this afternoon and enjoyed viewing all the artwork. I took a few photographs so you get an idea of what you’ll find when you visit.

Make sure to swing by in the next few days. The 2024 SMMAAG Membership Exhibition will be on view in person through December 2, 2024. If you can’t make it by then, view the exhibition online here until the end of the year.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Making an inspired work of art in Balboa Park!

The San Diego Museum of Art held a fun community workshop today in Balboa Park. Those who participated would create a Jasper Johns-inspired work of art!

The event took place in the shade of the World Design Capital’s temporary Exchange Pavilion, in the Plaza de Panama, directly in front of the museum. SDMA educators showed me how, by tracing various pre-cut silhouettes on paper and adding different colors, an original abstract work of art might emerge!

Families sat at tables with their creative juices flowing.

Which colors to choose? How to design the finished piece so that it’s visually interesting? How does one create a balanced composition?

(If you look at the upper left corner of the next photo, you’ll see local artist Paul Strahm at work! One of his works is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Lately, he frequently paints along the boardwalk in Pacific Beach.)

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Creative fun at San Diego Museum of Art!

At the San Diego Museum of Art, you can do more than walk through its amazing galleries. You can create amazing art, too!

Yesterday, during my visit to Balboa Park, I stumbled upon two art-making workshops at the museum.

A table was set up on the grass of the museum’s outdoor sculpture garden. Participants in this Community Art Workshop would use geometry and compass to design their own birthdate star marker. The cool markers have an antique appearance, and depict a person’s birthdate and corresponding constellation.

This workshop will be repeated on Saturday, October 19th.

Next, I was kindly permitted to view a Book Binding activity inside the museum library.

According to the SDMA website, participants explore Islamic book binding techniques and the practices of codex creation by engaging in folding, wrapping, decorating, and binding a book.

This Community Art Workshop is inspired by the astrolabes on view in Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World, a special exhibition on view at The San Diego Museum of Art September 7, 2024–January 5, 2025.

If you’d like to create your own art at the museum, keep an eye on their event calendar here. You’ll find future opportunities!

Next month there’s a chance to create a Jasper Johns-inspired work of art!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Man of the Crowd at San Diego Museum of Art.

Extraordinary photographs by preeminent mid-20th century photographer Garry Winogrand are currently on display at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.

Images of people in the act of being very human line the walls of the museum’s free-to-the-public Galleries 14 and 15. The exhibition is titled Garry Winogrand: Man of the Crowd.

Yes, there are photographs of celebrities and social activism, but images of ordinary people on the street are perhaps more interesting. Moments captured spontaneously in different settings show unexpected contrasts, humor, pathos, and quirks of human nature. These often surprising photos reveal truths about life and living.

Nowadays, in our brave new world of social media and smartphones, most photos seem taken to gain self-centered attention. It’s refreshing to view extraordinary photographs that are dedicated to investigating this captivating world that is all around us.

I took my own photos from a video in the exhibition, where Garry Winogrand provides his thoughts on photography. (That explains the subtitles.)

Garry Winogrand: Man of the Crowd will be on view through January 12, 2025. The free exhibition can be accessed through a door next to Panama 66 that leads to museum restrooms. Look for the following sign:

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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.

Beautiful, mysterious art of Korea in Color!

The San Diego Museum of Art is presently home to a very special exhibition. It’s titled Korea in Color: A Legacy of Auspicious Images.

My docent friend provided an excellent tour of fifty Korean masterpieces that were created during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many artists are represented and the styles are diverse.

The exhibition emphasizes the use of color in Korean painting. Polychrome painting (chaesaekhwa) flourished for half a millennium during Korea’s long Joseon dynasty. Many of the amazing colors you’ll see in these more contemporary pieces will cause you to stand and stare!

Four overarching themes in five museum galleries represent ideas that have been historically prominent in Korean culture: the protection against evil spirits provided by guardian animals; the symbols of abundance and longevity that are found in nature; the value of scholarly objects and books; and the unique appreciation of mountain landscapes.

The artwork–whether religious or secular–is complex and often mysterious. Looking closely, visitors to the exhibition will spy surprising, tiny details that compound the possible meaning and effect produced by each work. Some of the works are intricately beautiful. Others are disturbing. Some of the symbolism can be perplexing. That’s art.

If you pay a visit to the museum, make sure to enjoy a tour led by a docent. Much of this astonishing artwork might not be easily understood or appreciated by those (like me) who know little about Korean history, geography and culture. Once you view these fine works, you’ll certainly have a greater appreciation of this great big world we live in!

If you’d like to view some fantastic art, visit the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park before the exhibition ends on March 3, 2024.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild exhibition.

When I walk through Balboa Park, I usually wander into Spanish Village Art Center, then through the door of Gallery 21. I did exactly that today.

What did I find? A whole lot of great art, of course!

I had stumbled upon the Fall Membership Exhibition of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild.

Unfortunately, exhibitions in Gallery 21 typically last two weeks, and tomorrow is the final day of this one. But I figured I’d post a few photos anyway, to bring attention to a group of local professional artists who actively support the San Diego Museum of Art.

I moved in a circle through the gallery, peering at various types and styles of art, wowed by the talent of these great artists.

Friendly artist Ed Whitmore, who was manning the information desk, answered my questions about his own pieces–very unique, strangely organic works. He uses the controlled oxidation of iron, copper, and bronze metal effects paints, a process that quickly creates patina.

Check out one of his pieces…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Beautiful new Iranian art installed in Balboa Park!

A live art installation that visitors could view during the past few days in Balboa Park has been completed!

The artwork, brought to life by the San Diego Museum of Art and renowned Iranian-born artist Mohammad Barrangi (@mohammad.barrangi), decorates a section of wall outside the museum’s courtyard, near the entrance to Panama 66. As I understand it, this work will remain on display through October.

I took these photos early this evening. You can compare them to photos I took the past two days as the art was being created by clicking here. You’ll also see a smiling photograph of the artist!

During the live installation, Mohammad demonstrated the reverse print transfer process while creating a diptych inspired by Iranian history and visual traditions. You can see a short video of him working on this artwork here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Watch a Live Art Installation in Balboa Park!

During the next few days, renowned illustrator and artist Mohammad Barrangi will be performing a live demonstration of the reverse print transfer process as he installs new art in San Diego’s always amazing Balboa Park!

Those walking through the Plaza de Panama near the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor courtyard should look for Mohammad and his work in progress. The finished large-scale piece will be a diptych inspired by Iranian history and visual traditions.

The installation precedes this weekend’s Mehregan Fall Fête at the San Diego Museum of Art. The Iranian festival of Mehregan will be celebrated at the museum with a performance of Voices Unveiled, which invites audiences to listen to and feel the stories of two Iranian women as they experience oppression and seek freedom and justice.

Click the above links to learn more!

I’ll try to swing by in the next few days and provide an update here with additional photographs!

UPDATE!

The following day, I walked by in the early evening and took these photos…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Create and display beauty at the museum!

Would you like to hang one of your drawings at the San Diego Museum of Art?

A fun activity can be enjoyed by visitors to the O’Keeffe and Moore exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park!

Seashells, conches and smooth river stones scattered among bits of paper and colored pencils wait for inspired people.

Will your work of art rival the nearby masterpieces created by American painter Georgia O’Keeffe and British sculptor Henry Moore?

Nobody will know until you try!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 Twitter!