Exhibitions: At OMA

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!