From major museums highlighting the region's multicultural visual arts to annual film festivals that celebrate diverse cultures and lifestyles, San Diego's vibrant and eclectic art scene provides an inspiring and unexpected cultural adventure.  

BALBOA PARK
 
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2015, Balboa Park is the largest urban cultural park in the United States and often referred to as the "Smithsonian of the West" for its impressive collection of cultural institutions. Adjacent to downtown San Diego, more than 1,200 acres comprise a number of attractions, including museums, art galleries and the Tony Award®-winning Old Globe theater.  Especially striking are the museums located along the park's El Prado walkway and housed in beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival-style buildings, built during the Panama-California Exposition of 1915. 

Balboa Park's 15 diverse museums range from the Mingei International Museum showcasing folk art from around the world to the San Diego Automotive Museum displaying classic automobiles and motorcycles from yesteryear.  Balboa Park's ethnic diversity is celebrated in popular facilities like the Centro Cultural de la Raza showcasing the art and culture of Mexicans, Chicanos and Native Americans and the WorldBeat Center which celebrates cultures of African origins.            

UNIQUELY SAN DIEGO MUSEUMS

Beyond the borders of Balboa Park, San Diego's museums explore the everyday and the unexpected.  The California Surf Museum in Oceanside preserves the legacy of pioneering legends of the surfing world, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego displays modern masterpieces, including multi-media exhibits from world-renowned contemporary artists, in two locations, downtown San Diego and La Jolla.  Other notable San Diego museums include the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, The New Children's Museum in downtown San Diego, the Maritime Museum of San Diego and the USS Midway Museum, both set along San Diego Bay.

GALLERIES AND ART DISTRICTS

Hidden amongst the boulevards and back alleys of San Diego's diverse neighborhoods are galleries and artists collectives showcasing a broad spectrum of work, ranging from under-the-radar photographers and street artists to the big names artists sought out by the country's leading collectors.

Notable offerings include the LUX Art Institute in Encinitas which maintains an artist-in-residence program and up-close opportunities to view international artists at work.  The posh seaside village of La Jolla is home to some of San Diego's hippest galleries including Thumbprint, the Scott White Contemporary Art and Quint Contemporary Art which brings in big names like Ryan McGinnis and Manny Farber to an intimate gallery setting.

Little Italy's north end is home to the Kettner Art & Design District, and young urbanites and artists are spurring a creative renaissance in Barrio Logan, a historic Latino neighborhood bordering downtown.  East Village, a revitalized warehouse district in downtown San Diego, offers unique art-viewing experiences like Warehouse1425, featuring works by more than 30 of San Diego's most innovative street artists and photographers adorning its warehouse walls.

URBAN AND PUBLIC ART

San Diego's dynamic urban and public art complement the city's diverse neighborhoods and regions.  More than a dozen artists have transformed the coastal seaside village of La Jolla into an outdoor contemporary art gallery; the Murals of La Jolla feature massive painted and photographic works by local artists as well as international contemporary art stars.

In the early 1970s, the Latino community established Chicano Park beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge overpass, as part of a community empowerment effort.  The park is home to a dazzling display of colorful sculptures and political murals painted on the bridge's pillars.  In San Diego's East County surrounded by the vast Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and citrus groves, Galleta Meadows features 40 fantastic metal sculptures of dinosaurs, mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, sloths and other ancient former residents, as well as life-size animals of the non-prehistoric kind like camels, tortoises and wild stallions. Created by artist Ricardo Breceda, his “Sky Art” project tells the tale of San Diego's fascinating and fossilized past with one free-standing, steel-welded sculpture at a time.

FILM

Film buffs can enjoy classic and independent cinema in two San Diego museums, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, which presents ongoing screenings of film classics and animation at its La Jolla location, and the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park, which features an intimate screening space for local and regional film organizations. 

Each year, new stars shine on the silver screen during San Diego's diverse annual film festivals.  The most popular festivals are the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the San Diego Latino Film Festival and the San Diego International Film Festival in downtown San Diego.   

CULTURAL EVENTS

There are many events both big and small throughout the year that celebrate San Diego's diverse arts and cultural offerings.  Every November, galleries from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia showcase paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, videos and cutting-edge multimedia artworks during Art San Diego. The contemporary art fair serves as a marketplace for the world's leading contemporary art galleries. 

Held every April, Mission Federal ArtWalk is a free visual and performing arts celebration that takes place in downtown San Diego's colorful Little Italy neighborhood and is the largest art event in San Diego.  The largest comics and pop culture event in the United States and one of the most popular events in Southern California, Comic-Con International attracts thousands of artists, celebrities and fans of comic books, movie memorabilia and all things related to pop culture every July to the San Diego Convention Center in downtown San Diego.  Attendees travel from all over the world to attend this unique, one-of-a-kind event.

For more information on San Diego's offerings, visit the San Diego Tourism Authority's website at www.sandiego.org.