Press Release
The Center Museum Announces Public Community Dialogues for 2003
ESCONDIDO, CA (February 12, 2003) – The Museum, California Center for the Arts, Escondido invites the local community to join in a series of dialogues scheduled for the four phases of the new exhibit LOOK. REACT. ENGAGE: The Art of Collecting at Two San Diego Museums. These community dialogues will explore how The Center’s Museum and visual arts program can become even more effective using the visual arts to contribute to civic engagement in Escondido and San Diego North County. The dialogues will involve Center staff, board and community members. The community dialogues are open to the public and will be held in The Center Museum and other local venues. The first community dialogue will be held on Thursday, March 13, 2003 from 6:30-8pm at The Center Museum.
The remaining community dialogues are scheduled for Thursday, June 12, 2003 6:30-8pm, Thursday, September 11, 2003 6:30-8pm and Thursday, December 11, 2003 6:30-8pm. The venues for these subsequent dialogues will be announced at a later date.
These community dialogues will explore how we learn to see and experience art and how art museums develop and build collections. The community dialogues planned for 2003 will be modeled on the American Association of Museum’s (AAM) Museums and Community Initiative, a national program that since 2000 has convened community forums in six cities nationwide with the goal of making our nation’s museums more responsive, integral and valuable to their communities. For more information on AAM Museums and Community Initiative, visit http://www.aam-us.org/
Often, art museums are established to house existing collections, while some museums are conceived to collect for a community. Although quite distinct in size, history and programmatic focus, both The Center Museum and the SDMA were established in part to create collections for their respective cities in San Diego County. The Center Museum, founded at the end of the twentieth century, has a fledgling collection of some 100 works by notable regional, national and international artists, acquired primarily by donation and commission. The San Diego Museum of Art, an institution established in 1924, has a renowned collection of more than 12,000 works.
LOOK. REACT. ENGAGE Phase One focuses on the American collections of the Center Museum and the San Diego Museum of Art. The show, which includes a number of interactive elements, is designed to stimulate, provoke and intrigue patrons to consider their own responses to art and to explore the individual and institutional forces behind the formation of two San Diego art collections.
From January 26 through April 13, prints and paintings by George Bellows (1882-1925) and Harry Sternberg (1904-2001) will be exhibited together with the experimental photographic prints of Herbert Ohm (1898-1972).
For press images please contact Sean Doorly at (760) 839-4175 or Sdoorly@artcenter.org
For more information on The Center Museum community dialogues please visit www.artcenter.org.
ABOUT THE CENTER
Located in North San Diego County at 340 North Escondido Boulevard in
Escondido, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido is accessible
by major interstate highways. The Center’s 12-acre campus offers
a Performing Arts season with internationally renowned artists, acclaimed
contemporary art exhibitions in the Museum, an education complex offering
classes and workshops for young people, families and adults, and an awarding-winning
Conference Center which hosts more than 700 events each year in North
County’s largest meeting facility. The Center is a non-profit organization
that is supported by a combination of public and private donations. For
more information, please visit http://www.artcenter.org.
ABOUT THE SAN DIEGO
MUSEUM OF ART
First opened in 1926, the San Diego Museum of Art is the region’s
oldest and largest art museum, providing access to great achievements
in art to all of San Diego’s diverse communities. Supporting its
first-rate collections of European, Asian, American, and contemporary
art and year-round schedule of nationally touring exhibitions are a wide
variety of lectures, concerts, films, and education classes. Located in
historic Balboa Park, the Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Thursday until 9:00 p.m. For information call (619)
232-7931 or log on to www.sdmart.org.
CALENDAR INFORMATION:
LOOK. REACT. ENGAGE: The Art of Collecting at Two San Diego Museums
Through December 31, 2003
Museum, California Center for the Arts, Escondido
340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido
800-988-4253 or 760-839-4120
CENTER MUSEUM COMMUNITY
DIALOGUES:
Thursday, March 13, 2003 6:30-8pm
Thursday, June 12, 2003 6:30-8pm
Thursday, September 11, 2003 6:30-8pm
Thursday, December 11, 2003 6:30-8pm
MUSEUM HOURS:
Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday, 12:00 to 5:00 pm
Closed Mondays and major holidays (call for holiday hours)
Open until curtain for Center-sponsored events in the Concert Hall and
Center Theater on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
MUSEUM ADMISSION:
$5.00 Adults:
$4.00 Seniors (65+), Active Military
$3.00 Students with ID, Youth 12-18
FREE Youth under 12, Center Members
Performance ticket holders receive free admission day of performance
First Wednesdays of each month are free
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