The San Diego Museum of Art
Local Visions: Reimagining the Facade
On view January 24–July 26, 2026

by Cornelia Feye

February 7, 2026

To visit the Local Visions exhibition, I drove to Balboa Park for the first time since the new parking fees had been applied. It was a Tuesday, when several museums in the park offer free admission, and usually the Organ Pavilion Parking Lot is packed. I arrived around noon and three-quarters of the lot were empty. Where are all the families, I wondered, who usually come on free days with their children, to immerse them in San Diego’s crown jewel and its cultural institutions? They don’t come any more, I was told by museum staff. Parking fees of $10 minimum are too high. These children would support the museum in the future, they’d be the audience, incorporating the lessons about history and art they absorbed at the museums in their work and lives. What a short-sighted decision to cut the future population of San Diego off from this life-long enrichment.  

Local Visions celebrates the history of Balboa Park and the 100 Anniversary of the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) in particular. In 1926, inspired by the façade of the University of Salamanca in Spain, architect William Templeton Johnson designed a building for the New Fine Arts Gallery in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style. The press praised it as one of the most beautiful and technologically advanced museums of the nation. The façade features as a focal point three live-size sculptures of Spanish painters: Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Circular relief emblems below feature two more Spanish artists Jusepe de Ribera and El Greco.

Murillo, Zurbarán, Ribera and El Greco are represented in SDMA’s permanent collection with exquisite Baroque paintings. The only one currently on view is Zurbarán’s Virgin and Child with St. John.

In two niches below, the façade features small works by Italian sculptors, Michelangelo’s David and Donatello’s St. George. Neither one is represented in the museum’s collection, since the focus was on Spanish art. Above the museum’s entrance a large shell fans out like an umbrella. Scallop shells are carried by the pilgrims on the Camino on their walk to Santiago de Compostella through Spain, because they represent Saint Santiago. The shell, a national symbol of Spain, has become an emblem of SDMA.

The intricate ornamentation was originally constructed using concrete molded to simulate carved stone. For its 100th anniversary in 2026, the museum is featuring artistic reinterpretations of this iconic facade. 

The small exhibition Local Visions: Reimagining the Facade is located in the back of the museum facing the Zoo. Here I met Lori Mitchell, one of the ten local artists chosen to reimagine the façade as a canvas for storytelling, identity, and the future of San Diego’s cultural landscape. She was one of three artists named official Centennial Artist Honorees.

Lori Mitchell is a San Diego art educator whose work highlights the importance of creativity, mentorship, and arts education. Lori told me she has loved visiting museums her entire life, and SDMA is particularly special to her. She has drawn the museum’s ornate Spanish Renaissance facade dozens of times, captivated by its incredible detail, just for fun. So, when she heard about the open call forthe Local Vision exhibit, with the façade as subject, she sat down with a small sketchbook and sketched the building in pen on-site. She then took photos of passersby to incorporate into the composition later. She also included some famous artist as “hidden surprises”.

If you look very closely at her picture you can recognize one man on the left side of the steps with red hair and beard who looks like van Gogh. There is also Yayoi Kusama, with her bright red bob hairdo in the center. Basquiat is seen from behind but his distinctive hairdo makes him recognizable. Frida Kahlo stands on the right, behind a woman whose skirt is reminiscent of a Rothko painting. Another woman carries a handbag referencing Paul Klee’s cat. Mitchell also included actual museum staff, as well as her mother and daughter. Her mother, who was an artist and passed away at age 96 while she was working on this project, is depicted to the right of the entrance in a wheelchair, wearing a Marimekko print shirt. Her daughter, also an artist, stands behind her.

“I wanted to show how the museum influences us, and can affect our lives and our fashion choices so that’s the reason why I sprinkled in these artists,” she said.

Vertical flags on either side of the entrance depict two of the most famous paintings in SDMA’s collection:  Joaquín de Sorolla’s, Maria at la Granja, in her white dress, and The Young Shepherdess by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Mitchell admits that replicating the two famous paintings was her greatest challenge. “While I was nervous about making them recognizable, the process of copying them was a profound learning experience,” she explained.

            Once the pen drawing was complete, she had it enlarged and printed onto watercolor paper using a flatbed printer. She painted the piece section by section, using plastic film to protect the unworked areas. She prefers working flat on a table and conducted several color tests for the clothing before applying the final paint. Mitchell’s goal was to represent the museum as a place for everyone. By depicting attributes of different artists to the individuals in front of the museum, she hoped to convey how art inspires and touches us all. San Diego Museum of Art remains a constant source of inspiration for Mitchell, and she is honored to share this tribute.

Wagner Humphreys (Chula Vista), another official Centennial artist honoree, is a San Diego Zoo tour operator by day and artist by night. His work bridges everyday experience and artistic practice. His large horizontal drawing Timeless features the façade of SDMA in the center, topped by a large golden number 100. It depicts a monochrome view of Balboa Park in 1926 on the left and then transitions to 2026, in color pencil on the right.

Tim Novara (San Diego), the third honoree, is a widely recognized local artist whose work has been featured at San Diego’s International Airport. He brought his background in architecture to the graphic depiction of the façade.

Balboa Park is San Diego’s crown jewel, and the SD Museum of Art is its centerpiece. Hopefully it will remain accessible to local and national visitors alike for the foreseeable future.

The exhibit will be on display in gallery 6 until July 26, 2026. There will be a chance to talk to all the artists on July 23rd from 6-8 pm and there will be a birthday celebration on February 28th.