Arts and Museums

The Maritime Museum of San Diego, home to a collection of historic vessels, is displaying two new art exhibits during Feb. 23–Sept. 30, 2019. The new exhibitions are located aboard the 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley and included with general admission. Arthur Beaumont’s Art of the Sea exhibit, displayed on the lower deck of the Berkeley, encompasses portraits of naval vessels, including aircraft carriers and battleships as well as personal yachts of presidents and celebrities. In 1958, Beaumont was named Artist Laureate of the U.S. Fleet. His art portrays not only admirals, but also common sailors and soldiers, and they formed the core of his series of significant wartime commissions for National Geographic magazine. The second exhibit, Sea and Shore, is displayed in the Compass Gallery on the main level of the Berkeley. The exhibit features paintings from members of the Plein Air Painters Association of San Diego (PAPASAN) and captures San Diego’s beautiful beaches, tidepools, estuaries, harbors and marinas “en plein air” (painting outdoors).