We’re always game for a little arts + culture. Some of San Diego’s most beloved museums will showcase new exhibitions this year. We want to share some new ones on our radar — and some that’ll wrap up their run in 2022.

Of course, as COVID-19 safety protocols continue to evolve + change, so check each museum’s website before visiting.

“Expedition Baja”
🏔️ The San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park
Set to open in late April or early May, “Expedition Baja” will explore the 775-mile Baja California Peninsula in Mexico and its diverse terrain — from coastal sand dunes and mountains, to desert flats + islands. This exhibition includes a gallery, conservation stories + specimens from theNat’s collections (see: species called the San Quintin kangaroo rat that we absolutely need to know more about).

Henri Matisse, View of Antibes, ca. 1925. Oil on canvas. | Bemberg Foundation. © 2022 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

“Monet to Matisse”
🖼️ The San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park
On view Sat., March 19-Sun., Aug. 7, this exhibition will feature 70 works from the biggest names in European painting, including Claude Monet, Henri Matisse + Pablo Picasso. The pieces — created between the 1870s to 1930s — are part of the Bemberg Foundation’s Impressionism collection in France. According to the San Diego Museum of Art, this is the first time the collection has traveled to California and is one of only two showcases of its kind in the U.S.

Inside “Teatro Piñata.” | Photo via The New Children’s Museum

“Teatro Piñata”
🪅 The New Children’s Museum, downtown San Diego
This interactive, immersive art installation created by local theatre designer David Israel Reynoso debuted in November 2021. It pulls back the curtain on the bright, whimsical world of a caravan theatre and features dramatic lighting, sounds, and props that encourage little ones to explore + play.

“Colorful Culture” is curated by Camille Bethune-Brown. | Photo via Mingei International Museum

“Colorful Culture: African Beads”
🌍 Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park
This exhibition debuted this past fall and runs through Mon., Aug. 22. It spotlights the Mingei’s collection of beaded jewelry + objects from Africa, which, per the museum, are part of a “multilayered communication system” across communities.

Marianela de la Hoz, 2020, Global Coup d’etat (2020, Golpe de estado global), 2020. Egg tempera on board. Private collection. | Image via Marianela de la Hoz

“Paintings from the Confinement”
🖌️ The San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park
On view through May 1, 2022, this installation features 11 egg tempera paintings created by San Diego-based artist Marianela de la Hoz during 2020 + 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pieces showcase the artist’s feelings about the unprecedented circumstances we all experienced.

“During these very long months of confinement all of us have changed in many ways. At least for me it has been a time to reevaluate and confirm that the only treasures I have are my loved ones, family, friends, and art; everything else remained as non-essential,” de la Hoz said.