Programs: Education

Kick off your weekend with a bite-sized happy hour version of our renowned Studio Arts workshops.

Collage and Collagraphs

Surprising visual results will happen by using spontaneous applications of printmaking techniques and using different textures of cardboard and exotic papers to create a rich surface.

All levels of experience are encouraged to participate. OMA provides food, drinks, and supplies; all you have to do is get yourself out of work, grab your friends, and have fun!

Exclusively for OMA members at the Patron, President's Circle, Founder's Circle, Millennium Club, and Director's Circle levels, please join us for some all-American burgers, hot dogs, and thirst-quenching refreshments to celebrate your loyalty and generous support and for an insider’s update from Executive Director Maria Mingalone. Attire is summer casual.

Not yet a Patron, President's Circle, Founder's Circle, Millennium Club, and Director's Circle level member? Join or upgrade today!Please RSVP by May 9, 2025.

 

Join OMA's Artist Alliance at Sparks Gallery for the reception of Elemental on Sunday, May 25, from 5–8pm. OMA’s Artist Alliance is thrilled to present 38 artworks in their third exhibition at Sparks Gallery in San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter downtown. Selected by juror Sonya Sparks, many of the artworks are loosely themed to the title, Elemental, work that explores the vibrancy and vitality of the core elements—earth, air, fire, and water—that shape the world around us. The exhibition aims to evoke the raw, powerful essence of these elements, revealing their interconnectedness with life and the environment. The Elemental theme highlights how these fundamental components permeate our daily existence, inspire creativity, and foster growth, yet also have the capacity for destruction and transformation.

In this meet-and-greet with artist Matt Devine, learn about his immersive installation Walk with Me.

Matt will lead a brief tour of the gallery while in conversation with OMA's Director of Exhibitions and Collections, Katie Dolgov. Questions are encouraged.

Leave behind the chaos of modern life and step into a tranquil space where the restorative qualities of nature take center stage.

This program is free with regular museum admission.

FREE | Relax over a steaming cup of coffee while engaging in lively conversations with local fellow artists and explore the captivating exhibitions at OMA for free. OMA's Artist Alliance extends a warm invitation to sculptors, painters, photographers, and artists of all backgrounds to join in the experience.  

FREE | Each month OMA welcomes friends and neighbors on Free First Sundays from 12-2pm to join in Art For All, our fun hands-on art-making experience led by artists and cultural partners from our community.

Neurodiverse Expressions

Join us on June 1 for a community celebration with The Art of Autism during our inclusive resource fair. This public fair on OMA’s terrace will include vendors working in the neurodiverse space, bringing together practitioners, resources, and community partners to elevate the understanding and inclusion of neurodiverse individuals.

This month’s art activity will be inspired by Nicholas Kontaxis and his colorful paintings. We invite guests to view his work in the exhibition and find inspiration for their own multi-media collage.

Whether you’re new to art or have your own creative flow, Art For All is the time to let your imagination soar. Visit our current exhibitions to spark your creativity! Explore different art-making materials through creative projects at each session while learning from local and regional artists. Check back each month to see what we’re up to next!

These informal drop-in workshops are open to all ages. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. All materials are provided free of charge, while supplies last.

 

Join us at OMA on June 6 for Street Level x Art Walk!

Discover musicians, artists, and craftspeople from across your street to all across Southern California. 

 

This month we are featuring Celeste Barbier, a singer and sound healer with a voice that blends vintage charm and modern elegance. Her background in classical music, jazz, and contemporary favorites allows her to create an atmosphere of warmth, and sophistication. 

We will also have an artist tour of Mary Jhun’s Exhibition In Losing Sleep, I Painted at 6pm and local artists and craftspeople selling their work on our terrace and in the OMA store.

Bring your family, meet new friends, or roll in with your crew to create your O’riginal experience with artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs at OMA’s biggest social events of the summer.

Street Level is open to all ages and admission is FREE for all guests in partnership with Oceanside Art Walk.

Drink tickets are an additional fee. Adults 21+ who would like to purchase alcoholic beverages must show ID. 

Reserved Tables are available for sale to accommodate our music lovers. CLICK HERE to reserve yours now!

Join us for Studio Arts, when OMA transforms into an artist’s studio, offering skill-building workshops led by distinguished professor and arts educator Robin Douglas.

“Multiple Energetic Drawing and Painting Techniques”

Spend this studio exploring wet and dry media exercises with pen, ink, charcoal, markers, and watercolors on a variety of surfaces. There will be many still-life and model options to inspire. Create final imagery utilizing your experimental drawings and paintings.

A break for lunch and a relaxed discussion will occur at midday. Please bring your own bagged lunch or feel free to visit one of the restaurants close by on our provided list.

Space is limited. Register today!

 

Hosted by: Lorraine Cote

It’s just beautiful all along the lake shore with water fowl, children, and lovely water vistas. Parking is $3 (bring ones) and restrooms are available.

Open to All Levels!

Whether you're a seasoned plein air painter or just starting your artistic journey, this event is for you! Beginners and experienced painters can find fresh inspiration in the urban and natural landscape.

How to Participate:

1. Register for the event on the San Diego Plein Air Painters Meetup Group site: https://www.meetup.com/painter-86/
2. Bring your painting supplies, easel, and canvases. Don't forget sunscreen and a hat for the California sun!

This is a non-instructional event. Paint to your heart's content and enjoy the dynamic surroundings.

Become an Artist Alliance Member:

Join and learn more about Artist Alliance and the activities at Oceanside Museum of Art at: https://oma-online.org/membership/

 

Kick off your weekend with a bite-sized happy hour version of our renowned Studio Arts workshops.

Printmaking Mono Printing

Create several one-of-a-kind landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, or mindscapes with this quick, colorful, and energetic process.

All levels of experience are encouraged to participate. OMA provides food, drinks, and supplies; all you have to do is get yourself out of work, grab your friends, and have fun!

FREE | Relax over a steaming cup of coffee while engaging in lively conversations with local fellow artists and explore the captivating exhibitions at OMA for free. OMA's Artist Alliance extends a warm invitation to sculptors, painters, photographers, and artists of all backgrounds to join in the experience.  

FREE | Each month OMA welcomes friends and neighbors on Free First Sundays from 12-2pm to join in Art For All, our fun hands-on art-making experience led by artists and cultural partners from our community.

Sunprint Banners

This in-house project on July 6 invites participants to create magical, sun-powered prints using natural objects and light! Soak up the summer sun and combine science and art to watch your designs develop in real time using special sun-sensitive cyanotype paper.

Whether you’re new to art or have your own creative flow, Art For All is the time to let your imagination soar. Visit our current exhibitions to spark your creativity! Explore different art-making materials through creative projects at each session while learning from local and regional artists. Check back each month to see what we’re up to next!

These informal drop-in workshops are open to all ages. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. All materials are provided free of charge, while supplies last.

 

Join us for Studio Arts, when OMA transforms into an artist’s studio, offering skill-building workshops led by distinguished professor and arts educator Robin Douglas.

“Expansive Paintings”

Using huge painting tools including brooms, mops, sponges and scrapers loose and dynamic large-format paintings will be created on the floor and table tops. Multi-layered colors will be used to create a soak-and-stain effect on loose canvases.

A break for lunch and a relaxed discussion will occur at midday. Please bring your own bagged lunch or feel free to visit one of the restaurants close by on our provided list.

Space is limited. Register today!

 

Hosted by: Lorraine Cote

Paint boats, restaurants, the lighthouse, pedestrians, or a friendly seal. Park in the second row of spots for free, restrooms are available.

Open to All Levels!

Whether you're a seasoned plein air painter or just starting your artistic journey, this event is for you! Beginners and experienced painters can find fresh inspiration in the urban and natural landscape.

How to Participate:

1. Register for the event on the San Diego Plein Air Painters Meetup Group site: https://www.meetup.com/painter-86/
2. Bring your painting supplies, easel, and canvases. Don't forget sunscreen and a hat for the California sun!

This is a non-instructional event. Paint to your heart's content and enjoy the dynamic surroundings.

Become an Artist Alliance Member:

Join and learn more about Artist Alliance and the activities at Oceanside Museum of Art at: https://oma-online.org/membership/

 

Kick off your weekend with a bite-sized happy hour version of our renowned Studio Arts workshops.

Watercolor Techniques

Combining many styles and techniques of watercolor painting on quality paper will lead to your own fluid imagery. Many images and demonstrations will be used to inspire these paintings.

All levels of experience are encouraged to participate. OMA provides food, drinks, and supplies; all you have to do is get yourself out of work, grab your friends, and have fun!

FABULOUS FIBER is a dazzling celebration of textile artistry, where tradition meets innovation in a vibrant display of texture, color, and creativity. This immersive exhibition brings together contemporary works crafted with both time-honored and cutting-edge techniques, from quilting and tufting to felting, embroidery, weaving, beading, crochet, basketry, and beyond. Each piece breathes new life into fiber art, transforming familiar crafts into bold, modern expressions.

 

Join us at OMA on August 1 for Street Level x Art Walk!

Discover musicians, artists, and craftspeople from across your street to all across Southern California. 

 

This month we are featuring Lea Love, a singer-songwriter whose songs range from R&B/soul to island reggae to pop and draw from her rich Hawaiian, Samoan and Japanese heritage.

We will also have a curators tour of Stories that connect us: Selections from the OMA Collection with Danielle Deery at 6pm and local artists and craftspeople selling their work on our terrace and in the OMA store. 

Bring your family, meet new friends, or roll in with your crew to create your O’riginal experience with artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs at OMA’s biggest social events of the summer.

Street Level is open to all ages and admission is FREE for all guests in partnership with Oceanside Art Walk.

Drink tickets are an additional fee. Adults 21+ who would like to purchase alcoholic beverages must show ID. 

Reserved Tables are available for sale to accommodate our music lovers. CLICK HERE to reserve yours now!

FREE | Relax over a steaming cup of coffee while engaging in lively conversations with local fellow artists and explore the captivating exhibitions at OMA for free. OMA's Artist Alliance extends a warm invitation to sculptors, painters, photographers, and artists of all backgrounds to join in the experience.  

FREE | Each month OMA welcomes friends and neighbors on Free First Sundays from 12-2pm to join in Art For All, our fun hands-on art-making experience led by artists and cultural partners from our community.

Surfboard Stories

Inspired by Oceanside’s surf culture, join us on August 3 to decorate mini surfboard cutouts with paint, stencils, and personal symbols. Ride the creative wave with us!

Whether you’re new to art or have your own creative flow, Art For All is the time to let your imagination soar. Visit our current exhibitions to spark your creativity! Explore different art-making materials through creative projects at each session while learning from local and regional artists. Check back each month to see what we’re up to next!

These informal drop-in workshops are open to all ages. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. All materials are provided free of charge, while supplies last.

 

Join us on First Free Sunday for the closing celebration of The Art of Autism: A Different Lens.

 

The program will start with an inspiring conversation and Q&A between exhibition curator Debra Muzikar and neurodiversity consultant Alexander Plank, offering insights into the creative processes and perspectives behind the exhibition. Then, guests are invited to meet the artists, explore the gallery at their own pace, and dive deeper into the bold, expressive works.

Celebrate neurodiverse creativity through connection, insight, and discovery.

 

Join us for Studio Arts, when OMA transforms into an artist’s studio, offering skill-building workshops led by distinguished professor and arts educator Robin Douglas.

‘’21st Century Impressionist Paintings”

After 150 years of Impressionism, artists today still use the “fleeting moment” of sensation to create spectacular painting results. We will use a broad spectrum of techniques to achieve these optic phenomena.

A break for lunch and a relaxed discussion will occur at midday. Please bring your own bagged lunch or feel free to visit one of the restaurants close by on our provided list.

Space is limited. Register today!

 

Hosted by: Lorraine Cote

There are docks, trails, trees and water fowl at this lovely spot. Ample parking and restrooms available inside the nature center.

Open to All Levels!

Whether you're a seasoned plein air painter or just starting your artistic journey, this event is for you! Beginners and experienced painters can find fresh inspiration in the urban and natural landscape.

How to Participate:

1. Register for the event on the San Diego Plein Air Painters Meetup Group site: https://www.meetup.com/painter-86/
2. Bring your painting supplies, easel, and canvases. Don't forget sunscreen and a hat for the California sun!

This is a non-instructional event. Paint to your heart's content and enjoy the dynamic surroundings.

Become an Artist Alliance Member:

Join and learn more about Artist Alliance and the activities at Oceanside Museum of Art at: https://oma-online.org/membership/

 

Artist Alliance members, along with their guests, are welcome to engage in a group art share and critique, aimed at fostering professional growth. Not yet part of the alliance? No worries, you can join either before the event or on-site!

Kick off your weekend with a bite-sized happy hour version of our renowned Studio Arts workshops.

Abstract Painting

Immerse yourself in loose and lively, gestural, and large expressive paintings to create a mood, dream, or emotion.

All levels of experience are encouraged to participate. OMA provides food, drinks, and supplies; all you have to do is get yourself out of work, grab your friends, and have fun!

This exhibition will explore art that has emerged from the surf-culture lifestyle and surfing’s influence on artists. Everyone who has experienced the feeling of riding a wave understands just how hard it is to describe that incredible sensation, referred to as “stoke”. It seems that only through creative self-expression can surfer-artists capture the essence of stoke and the inspiration that can be found between the surfer and the wave. Artists who surf may take this creative energy in many directions and may explore subjects outside of surfing and surf culture. This joint exhibition will feature a variety of media, from traditional art making methods to works in resin, murals, surfboards, graphic art, sculpture, or fabric, all with the goal to convey the creative power that all artists experience, on or off the wave.

 

Join us for an evening of art and drinks as we celebrate the opening of our newest exhibitions:

Denja Harris: The Space Between

Fabulous Fiber

The Art of Surfing

Discover and connect with fellow artists, dedicated curators, and a vibrant community as you explore the art and stories of Southern California artists in three new exhibitions at OMA.

 

2025 Oceanside Plein Air Festival

Painting Southern California in the Open Air September 6 - 13, 2025

Come together to celebrate creativity and the natural environment with artists of various skills to take over our beautiful city with plein air painting. There will be Artist Workshops, Artist Networking Events, Easel Sales, Quick Paint Challenges, and Awards during the Festival. Artwork created during the Festival will also be up for selection for our Plein Air Exhibition that will run through November 2025 at OMA.

 

 

FREE | Relax over a steaming cup of coffee while engaging in lively conversations with local fellow artists and explore the captivating exhibitions at OMA for free. OMA's Artist Alliance extends a warm invitation to sculptors, painters, photographers, and artists of all backgrounds to join in the experience.  

FREE | Each month OMA welcomes friends and neighbors on Free First Sundays from 12-2pm to join in Art For All, our fun hands-on art-making experience led by artists and cultural partners from our community.

Plein Air Painting Party

On September 7, celebrate the outdoors with a plein air painting experience. Grab a brush, pick your view, and express the beauty of Oceanside’s surroundings through color and creativity in the open air.

Whether you’re new to art or have your own creative flow, Art For All is the time to let your imagination soar. Visit our current exhibitions to spark your creativity! Explore different art-making materials through creative projects at each session while learning from local and regional artists. Check back each month to see what we’re up to next!

These informal drop-in workshops are open to all ages. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. All materials are provided free of charge, while supplies last.

 

Join us for Studio Arts, when OMA transforms into an artist’s studio, offering skill-building workshops led by distinguished professor and arts educator Robin Douglas.

“The Flash and Sparkle of Mickalene Thomas”

Sequins, buttons, beads, collages, and stencils are the trademark of Thomas. We will glue certain small objects in some areas of the painting to emphasize the passion for sparkle in our lives. These joyful creations will speak to the heart.

A break for lunch and a relaxed discussion will occur at midday. Please bring your own bagged lunch or feel free to visit one of the restaurants close by on our provided list.

Space is limited. Register today!

 

Kick off your weekend with a bite-sized happy hour version of our renowned Studio Arts workshops.

Art and Music

Inspired by music, start hearing colors and shapes. Painting to music will bring out your lyrical composition. Many techniques and tools will be available for added expression.

All levels of experience are encouraged to participate. OMA provides food, drinks, and supplies; all you have to do is get yourself out of work, grab your friends, and have fun!