The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) currently has 9 different exhibits; among those exhibits is Vochol: Huichol Art on Wheels is a very special exhibit. It took 8 Huichol artists a total of 4,760 hours to finish decorating this fascinating Volkswagen beetle with approximately 2,277,000 colorful and bright beads that make different shapes and written messages. Huicholes are best known for their colorful art that incorporates yarn and beading. They typically reside in the Sierra Madre Occidental area in Mexico – this area includes the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Durango.

Kids are always fascinated by color especially the more vibrant hues. The use of colors, coupled with the fact that the artists used an automobile, made this piece even more interesting.  This exhibit is ongoing through March 11th.  

The newly opened exhibit: Dyeing Elegance is very interesting and unique.  It features paintings on obi, screens and kimonos from artist Küboko Takaku. Kids and adults will love viewing beautifully hand painted kimonos and will learn through an ongoing video how to properly wear a one. This exhibit closes on May 27th.   

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan will transport you to Asia with its majestic Buddhist sculptures. In addition there are touch screens that will go back in time and show what the temples looked like before their destruction, make sure you visit before this exhibit ends on May 27th.

On the ground floor of SDMA, they have an art studio open to visitors with a large table and chairs for you to take your visit a step further. It is always stocked with plain white paper and colored pencils. On the walls you will notice guests’ art displayed and some books to inspire you to draw. On the third Sunday of each month SDMA has a great event for kids age 6+ called Family Drop-in Day. This event has an activity based on what’s on exhibit for example in February African paper dolls were made.

There are more exhibits open at the SDMA, but these exhibits kept us busy for a little over 2 hours and have impacted my kids in so many ways that they can’t stop talking about them.

We hope you visit SDMA before these fantastic and colorful exhibits close. To learn more about the museum please visit their official website http://www.sdmart.org

Guest Blogger, Maribel Reyes