Visual Art and Museums

In 2026, the San Diego Museum of Art will be hosting its Centennial Celebration. The celebration kicks off in January with a special exhibition, SDMA 100 Years. On February 28, the museum’s official birthday, visitors can attend the Birthday Fest, complete with free admission, live music and dance performances, a Cake Party for an additional fee, and more. 

 At Arts District Liberty Station, visitors can experience the new open-air gallery and enjoy the 2025 Installations at the Station Program. New installations include multidisciplinary artist and textile designer Mischka Ippólita’s mural “Vitral Sunset: A Marine Perspective Across the Border” and “Fuente Fantasma”, a six-tiered fountain structure incorporating traditional Tijuana alcancias by multidisciplinary artist Beliz Iristay. The gallery and installations both offer an interactive, bilingual (English/Spanish) experience for visitors.

Running November 20, 2025 through May 25, 2026, A Decade of Pop Prints and Multiples, 1962–1972: The Frank Mitzel Collection marks the public debut of Southern California-based collector Frank Mitzel’s gift of more than sixty Pop Art prints to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Assembled by Mitzel over the course of three decades, this vibrant collection offers an impressive and valuable survey of Pop’s growth across the United States, England, and Europe during an era of rapid transformation. 

The San Diego Maritime Museum has introduced a new self-guided audio tour, which lets visitors explore the museum’s historic fleet and exhibits while discovering 500 years of seafaring history and maritime stories at their own pace. Audio tours are available in English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, and Chinese.