Watch the Galleries Turn Into a Stage at The San Diego Museum of Art

The San Diego Museum of Art is handing its galleries over to dancers, opera singers, and Shakespeare this season.

Museum as a Stage is the Museum’s first performing arts season, built with five San Diego companies and running from late October through next June. Same collection, same building on El Prado, now with a live soundtrack.

Día de los Muertos, Spooky Shakespeare, and a Midsummer Night

San Diego Ballet opens the run with Día de los Muertos on October 30 and 31, and the San Diego Shakespeare Society follows with Spooky Shakespeare on Halloween. Classics 4 Kids brings a mariachi family concert on November 8.

From there it stretches well into next year. Camarada and San Diego Ballet pair up for a Let it Snow family concert in December, Romantic Shakespeare lands on Valentine’s weekend, and San Diego Ballet spends three days in February on Discover: Exploring the Asian Collection.

Spring brings Camarada’s Love, Light, and Longing in March and three nights of Imagine Dance Gallery in May. Midsummer closes the season on June 19.

Seven Ticketed Shows, Three Free Pop-Ups

The season splits into seven ticketed performances and three in-gallery pop-ups that are free with Museum admission. Every San Diego Shakespeare Society performance falls on the free side as well.

Ticketing for the rest depends on who is performing. San Diego Ballet and Camarada sell tickets directly through each company, while Classics 4 Kids tickets go through the Museum. Check which is which before you buy.

Bring Your Symphony Ticket to the Front Desk

The Museum also has a new partnership with the San Diego Symphony. Show your Family Concert ticket from the Jacobs Music Center at the Museum front desk and you get in free, plus a themed handout for a self-guided tour.

Each tour points you toward works in the collection that connect back to the music you just heard. It starts October 31 with Trick or Treat Symphony during the Museum’s Día de los Muertos weekend.

Lunar New Year: Music in Full Bloom follows on February 6 alongside the Museum’s Lunar New Year celebrations with the Chinese Historical Society, and Carnival of the Animals: Music on the Wild Side wraps it up on March 6.

Meteorites, Cecil Beaton, and the Neuroscience of Art

The Guest Lecture Series returns for 2026-2027 and runs through June at The Museum of Photographic Arts, a short walk down the park at El Prado. Every talk connects a subject to something in the permanent collection, and a docent-led tour follows.

Artist Ulrike Arnold opens with meteorites as artistic matter on October 16. Museum CEO Roxana Velásquez sits down with artist Betsabeé Romero on October 30, and historian Hugo Vickers takes on Cecil Beaton on November 19.

Later in the season, Sandra E. Bonura covers John D. Spreckels and the shaping of Balboa Park on February 19, and UC San Diego’s Ying Choon Wu gets into the neuroscience of art on May 21.

See you there!

Balboa Park is already worth the trip. Pick a date, bring someone who likes a surprise, and let the galleries do something they have never done before.

📆 October 30, 2026 – June 19, 2027
📍 1450 El Prado, San Diego
🎟️ View ticket options here
ℹ️ Check out the full lineup here

See you there, San Diego!