The holidays can be stressful, not just on our ability to plan one more event or outing, but also on our wallets. We've rounded up 20 art exhibits in San Diego where you can pop in to get some culture — without a ticket.
Highlights from the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild at MOPA
Currently on view at MOPA@SDMA (in the previous MOPA space) is an exhibit of works by 45 artists from the SDMA Artists Guild, which — at 109 years old — claims to be the oldest artists' association in town. This exhibit is curated by Dr. Hugh M. Davies, the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Details: Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Through March 9, 2025. MOPA@SDMA, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Free/pay what you can.
'Jewels of the Season' at The Timken
This annual holiday installation fills the Timken's foyer with 1,000 intricate, handmade ornaments by local artists Florence Hord and Elizabeth Schlappi. The installation involves a collection of Christmas trees, ornaments hanging from the ceiling, some festive model trains (courtesy of the San Diego Model Railroad Museum) and is a set design collaboration with SDSU's Theatre, Television, and Film program.
Also on view: the Kehinde Wiley painting, and a special 19th-century sculpture collection.
Details: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday (closed Christmas Day). Through Dec. 29. Timken Museum of Art, 1500 El Prado, Balboa Park. Free.
Marisa DeLuca at The Hill Street Country Club
Don't miss the final exhibit in this Oceanside art space before it closes its doors for good in the current location. DeLuca's paintings are powerful representations of buildings and spaces on their way out — abandoned, run-down or otherwise overlooked. One work, "She's Not There," is a painting of the Oceanside Pier on fire, using charcoal and remnants of the pier collected from the beach the day after the blaze.
"My work has always been kind of a love letter to Oceanside and to the ancestors of Oceanside. And when that fire happened, it really put an exclamation point on the rapid change in the region," DeLuca said. "The remains that I picked up were, I kind of felt, you know, the remains of a loved one. So, it becomes like a reliquary painting — in the same way the relics of saints hold divine energy. I feel like the paintings that I've made here in the gallery hold that same memory."
Details: Open noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (holiday hours may vary). The Hill Street Country Club, 530 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Free.
Melissa Walter and Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado at ICA San Diego-North
Local artist Melissa Walter and New Mexico-based mixed-media artist Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado have separate exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) San Diego-North campus in Encinitas. Rodríguez-Delgado's installation work, "Futuros Itinerantes," includes self-contained survival systems made out of found materials and electronics, inspired partly by “Star Trek,” the U.S. Space Program and Puerto Rico's unsuccessful late-1980s bid to host the 2004 Olympics.
Walter's work is always fascinating and science-informed, and for this show, she debuted experimental animation and ceramic sculptures — her first foray into both forms. Her exhibit, "Plexus," is informed by her study of DNA-based identification processes in the criminal justice system, and the evolution from early technology to the AI-based systems on the horizon. Her art is often paper-based, and the (often beautiful) visual imagery represents abstractions of the science and data she's studied.
Details: Open noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Through Dec. 29. ICA San Diego-North, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Free.
Nathalie Miebach and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer at ICA San Diego-Central
Nathalie Miebach's incredible woven assemblage-style work, "Restless Waters," is still on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego's Central location in Balboa Park this weekend. Also on view is Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's "Remote Pulse," which is a collaboration with Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT), where visitors in both locations can interact — transcending space and borders — using pulse-sensing stations.
Details: Open noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Through Jan. 26, 2025. ICA San Diego-Central, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Free.
'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart' at The Front
Local, cross-border arts collaborative Cog•nate Collective will open a new exhibit at The Front Arte & Cultura, featuring works made alongside the communities of Tijuana and San Ysidro. The exhibit includes sound art, sculptures, performance and video. Cog•nate Collective received the 2022 San Diego Art Prize.
Details: Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday (closed Dec. 21, 2024 through Jan. 7, 2025). Through Jan. 17, 2025. The Front, 147 W. San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro. Free.
'Quilt Visions,' 'Constellations' and 'Intimate Wilderness' at Visions
Forget what you think you know about quilts. The "Quilt Visions" exhibit is a juried collection of contemporary art quilts from around the world. You can check out photos of some of the award winners for a little taste here. Also on view at Visions Museum of Textile Art is Amy Sands' "Constellations," a collection of paper-cut art; and Charlotte Bird's whimsical and immersive mixed-media "Intimate Wilderness" exhibit.
Details: Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Visions Museum of Textile Art, 2825 Dewey Road Suite 100, Liberty Station. Free.
Santiago Parra at Madison Gallery
Colombian artist Santiago Parra is known for his distinctive abstract, oversized black paint brushwork. Currently on view at Madison Gallery in Solana Beach is a collection of pieces inspired by the wild and animal nature of humans.
Details: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (holiday hours may vary). Through Jan. 15, 2025. Madison Gallery, 320 South Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Free.
Bread & Salt: Kitschmas, Luis Alonso Sánchez, Adam Belt and more
Pop in Bread & Salt to visit not one but seven exhibits currently on view (maybe more … there's always something surprising in this art space). At Athenaeum Art Center (AAC), Brian and Ryan's "Kitschmas" installation is still up alongside the AAC Faculty Exhibition. At ICE Gallery, Adam Belt's perplexing full-room installation is on view for just a few more weeks. At Quint ONE, check out Marcos Ramirez ERRE's "Whites Always Move First" chess-informed installation. At the Burn All Books newsstand, Matty Terrones has a sound installation installed. In the main gallery, INSITE's "The Mexicali Experimental Project" and "Commonplaces: The Sedimentary Effect" are still on view. And Bread & Salt's Impact Artist-in-Residence, Luis Alonso Sánchez, has been busy creating works since his residency began last month.
Details: Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. ICE Gallery is open Saturday only. Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Free.
Christian Garcia Olivo at Gallery 201
I love the way San Diego-based artist Christian Garcia-Olivo uses "paint skins" as material in his sculptures, and he has a new exhibit at Liberty Station's Gallery 201 curated by The Hill Street Country Club and Dinah Poellnitz. The exhibit, "Interlaced," indicates the complex and delicate interaction and cause-and-effect that exists between identity and culture — and also a disruption of the boundaries surrounding identity. In one work, Garcia-Olivo has literally woven what appears to be drizzled and dried strands of paint, forming a striking acrylic textile.
Details: Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Through January 10, 2025. Gallery 201, 2820 Roosevelt Road #204, Liberty Station. Free.
Looking for more free art? Check out our recent public art series:
Looking for holiday-themed events? Check out our collection of winter holiday events here:
