Exhibitions

Current Exhibitions

A Practical Guide to Modest Magic

June 1 – August 17, 2024

A Practical Guide to Modest Magic takes the art assignment as its point of departure, with written instructions that ask college and university student participants to respond to find magic in the everyday. The assignments encouraged students to explore various themes, including cross-border collaborations, curating their own exhibitions in unconventional spaces, and more, to build empathy by recognizing and appreciating the magic inherent in each artist’s practice. The prompts sparked creativity from students at colleges and universities across San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles, and Tijuana. Over 70 artists were selected from over 100 submissions.

Combined, the selections showcase a diverse array of approaches and philosophies to artmaking, including large-scale installations, interactive murals, video, photography, painting, sculpture, sound, poetry, choreography, and dance.

Highlights from the Permanent Collection

June 1 – August 17, 2024

Over the past three decades, artists have played a pivotal role in animating the spaces of the Center Museum, infusing them with creativity, dialogue, and contemplation. This exhibition highlights a selection of artworks from the Museum’s collection, inviting viewers to explore the ways in which artists have engaged with and enriched the city’s cultural landscape.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Helen and Newton Harrison: California Work

September 21, 2024 – January 19, 2025

As part of the Getty Foundation’s PST ART: Art and Science Collide, California Center for the Arts, Escondido presents Helen and Newton Harrison: California Work, a retrospective exhibition about the work of husband-and-wife team of Helen Mayer and Newton Harrison, who were among the earliest and most notable ecological artists. Founding members of the Visual Arts Department at UC San Diego, Helen and Newton were local San Diego artists for nearly four decades, where they developed their pioneering concepts of Ecological Art.

Helen and Newton Harrison: California Work is the first exhibition to focus on their California work, including nearly 20 projects produced between the late 1960s and 2000s. Responding to growing environmental awareness, the Harrisons pushed conceptual art in new directions, from their efforts to make topsoil—endangered in many places—to their transformation of a Pasadena debris basin into a recreational area. The couple agreed that they would only take on projects that benefited the ecosystem. California Work revisits the Harrisons’ groundbreaking ecological concepts through re-staged performance artworks, drawings, paintings, photography, collages, maps, archival documentation of large-scale installations, and unrealized proposals for real-world ecological solutions.

About the Museum

The Center Museum seeks to provide North County San Diego with access to relevant, thought-provoking, and wide-ranging exhibitions that highlight contemporary artists and artworks.

Let us know when you go

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For questions, contact [email protected]