Oceanside Museum of Art is hosting the 2026 San Diego Art Prize exhibition for the first time ever, and this one’s a must-see. Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance opens this September, and it’s exactly the kind of show that gets people talking.

Between the artists, the themes, and the fact that OMA is stepping into this role for the first time, there’s a lot riding on this one, and it delivers.

Three Artists, One Powerful Exhibition

This year’s San Diego Art Prize recipients, Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernández, and Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio, come together under curator Lara Bullock, Ph.D. for an exhibition that digs into identity, environment, and the systems of power we don’t always notice.

Through photography, installation, and mixed-media work, Soft Power asks you to slow down and look closer at the narratives we take for granted. It’s less about answers and more about the questions that stick with you long after you leave the gallery.

What’s on the Walls at OMA

Each artist brings a completely different lens to the show. Danielle Dean’s White takes on the dairy farming industry, unpacking how pastoral imagery and ideas of health have shaped the concept of “whiteness” as an ideal.

Ingrid Hernández’s Sedimentations series offers minimalist photographic studies of Tijuana’s asentamientos, squatter settlements built from repurposed materials tied to transborder economies, capturing both resilience and the deep connection between the U.S. and Mexico.

Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio’s contemplative mixed-media installations challenge ableist systems and question our assumptions about productivity, labor, and human value. Together, it’s a show that doesn’t hand you conclusions, it just gives you a lot to sit with.

Talk Art With the Artists Themselves

If the exhibition alone isn’t enough, you can hear directly from the artists at Soft Power in Practice: A Conversation with the 2026 San Diego Art Prize Recipients, moderated by Lara Bullock.

Expect a real look into their creative processes, followed by an audience Q&A. Tickets range from $20 to $50, with discounts available for seniors, students, OMA Members, OMA Artist Alliance Members, and active military.

And if you want to make a full day of it, OMA’s public Exhibition Celebration lets you experience Soft Power alongside the museum’s other fall exhibitions.

A Legacy Two Decades in the Making

The San Diego Art Prize has been around since 2006, established by the San Diego Visual Arts Network to celebrate excellence in visual art across the San Diego and Baja California region.

In that time, it’s recognized more than 75 artists who’ve genuinely shaped the region’s cultural landscape, and this exhibition marks a new chapter for the prize as it lands at OMA for the very first time.

See you there!

Powerful art, big questions, and a chance to meet the artists behind it all. This is the kind of exhibition worth making time for.

📆 Saturday, September 5, 2026 – Sunday, February 7, 2027 | 11 AM – 5 PM
📍704 Pier View Wy, Oceanside
🎟️ Included in museum admission
ℹ️ Get more details here

See you there, San Diego!