SDMA Celebrates 100 Years With Local Artists Reimagining Its Iconic Façade

The San Diego Museum of Art is marking its Centennial with an exhibition that hands over creative control to the local arts community. Local Visions: Reimagining the Façade asks ten San Diego-area artists to rethink one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks – SDMA’s historic Spanish Colonial Revival façade in Balboa Park.

It’s a smart way to celebrate 100 years: instead of looking backward, they’re asking local artists to imagine what comes next.

Local Visions Reimagining the Façade exhibit at SDMA — Wagner Humphreys, Timeless, 2025. Color pencil and color marker on paper. Courtesy of the artist. © Wagner Humphreys

Ten Artists, Ten Visions

The museum put out an open call that generated a huge response from the local arts community, and ten artists were selected to reimagine the façade as a canvas for storytelling, identity, and the future of San Diego’s cultural landscape.

These aren’t just conceptual sketches – each artist brings their own perspective on what the museum represents and could become. It’s the kind of project that makes you see a building you’ve walked past a hundred times in a completely different way.

Three Centennial Artist Honorees

Among the ten featured artists, three were named official Centennial Artist Honorees:

Lori Mitchell, a San Diego art educator, focuses on creativity, mentorship, and arts education
Tim Novara, whose work has been featured at San Diego International Airport, is one of the most recognized local artists in the region
Wagner Humphreys, a San Diego Zoo tour operator by day and artist by night, bridges everyday experience and artistic practice in ways that feel grounded and accessible

It’s a diverse group that reflects different corners of San Diego’s creative community.

Why This Matters

Local Visions isn’t just about celebrating SDMA’s past – it’s about acknowledging the role local artists play in shaping how we experience shared civic spaces.

The façade has been a cultural icon for a century, but this exhibition asks: what could it mean for the next century? By centering San Diego voices, the museum is making a statement about whose perspectives matter when we think about art, history, and community.