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The San Diego Museum Of Art Continually Fills Me With Wonder

The entrance to The San Diego Museum of Art, July 10, 2014.
The San Diego Museum of Art
The entrance to The San Diego Museum of Art, July 10, 2014.

The Usonian home installed in Balboa Park for The San Diego Museum of Art's Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit is pictured in this undated photo.
The San Diego Museum of Art
The Usonian home installed in Balboa Park for The San Diego Museum of Art's Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit is pictured in this undated photo.
"Spirit of the Dead Watching," 1892, by Paul Gauguin was on display as part of The San Diego Museum of Art's "Gauguin to Warhol" exhibit.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
"Spirit of the Dead Watching," 1892, by Paul Gauguin was on display as part of The San Diego Museum of Art's "Gauguin to Warhol" exhibit.
The grand staircase at The San Diego Museum of Art is pictured in this photo taken by Harold A. Taylor in 1927.
The San Diego Museum of Art
The grand staircase at The San Diego Museum of Art is pictured in this photo taken by Harold A. Taylor in 1927.

The San Diego Museum of Art continually fills me with wonder and simultaneously moves me to focus deeply on each exhibition.

A native of Chula Vista, I was not often able to go to Balboa Park. It was so far away! Thankfully, I began to visit regularly as a young adult. Art Alive is magic each year. In the early 90s, a comprehensive exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright's work - including a Usonian home installed in the park - opened my heart to fascination with the geometry of architecture. At the turn of 21st century, a breathtaking exhibit of Alphonse Mucha's legacy held my heart.

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Once we saw a live interpretation of what our gem of a museum was like when it was a hospital during WWII. In more recent years, there have been fabulous exhibits of kimonos, John Singer Sargent, and "Gauguin to Warhol."

As a teacher, I've gotten vicarious joy as some of my students have seen their own work on display during Young Art exhibits.

The building itself is not too big, not too small. It is elegantly designed. I feel like royalty each time I descend the grand staircase. And there's a lovely piece by Edouard Manet I visit each time I go. Thank you, San Diego Museum of Art!

KPBS is collecting your Balboa Park memories as the city marks the 100th anniversary of Balboa Park's 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

Share yours here: Tell us about your Balboa Park memory