Summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21, but this is the busy season for gallery attendance so special programs and events are getting started at San Diego’s major museums.
The Museum of Contemporary Art kicks things off at their downtown Jacobs Building location with their first Summer Solstice Soiree on June 22. For $125, you can join other art lovers for cocktails, solstice-inspired art-making activities and a “one-of-a-kind dinner experience.” The price is steep, but the evening sounds full of surprises.
Also, check out Emperor’s River, local photographer and teacher Philipp Scholz Rittermann’s exhibition of photographs from China that runs through September.
The Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park has been marketing itself to a younger crowd for a while now with POP Thursday. The theme for Thursday, June 16 is San Diego: Tattoo Town, which includes a screening of Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World, live tattoo demos, a DJ and vintage tattoo images documenting San Diego’s tattoo history from the 1940s to the present day. Free to members, $7 or $8 otherwise. Starts at 7 p.m.
The most impressive summer program of all is the 2011 Summer Salon Series, happening at the San Diego Museum of Art (SDAI). Last year’s program was such a success that the museum decided to do it again. The museum will spend 14 weeks examining what a city needs with the help of contemporary artists, musicians, poets and speakers. The theme is inspired by the exhibition Gustav Stickley and American Arts and Crafts Movement that is scheduled simultaneously.
