SAN DIEGO—Museum visitors have two more weeks to take in the splendor of ancient Roman frescoes before In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite closes on Sunday, May 14. In conjunction, SDMA will present an in-depth exploration of the exhibition at a half-day symposium, titled "Views from Vesuvius: New Research and Interpretations," on Saturday, May 6, which will feature three experts on ancient Rome. Also, in the spirit of the Roman gods, In Stabiano will be going out in style with a night of libations and entertainment at this spring's Culture & Cocktails on Thursday, May 11.

In celebration of its 80th Anniversary, the Museum is taking visitors back to 1926 with an entertaining vintage radio show on Wednesday, May 17, featuring live music, dancing, and radio interviews. The following Sunday, May 21, the birthday celebration continues with a free Family Festival that explores SDMA's diverse collection of art from around the world. The festival will include interactive art projects, storytelling, and live entertainment. A special time capsule project will also begin that day, which will store children's artwork and visitors's memories of the Museum.

For more information on the Museum's performances and lectures, please call (619) 696-1966. To purchase tickets, please call Ticketmaster at (619) 220-8497. Museum members receive the discounted price for each of the events listed. Programs and artists are subject to change.

Museum hours: Tuesday-Wednesday, Friday-Sunday: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Thursday: 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Admission to the galleries: Adults, $10; seniors (65+) and active military, $8; students with ID, $7; youth (6-17), $4; 5 and under free.

Gallery tours: The Museum's docents offer free public tours of the galleries on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and on Fridays and Sundays at 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.

SDMA offers free admission for school groups and youth organizations with advance reservations. Call the education department at (619) 231-1996 for more information.

Water's Café @ SDMA: Open Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Reservations are not required. For more information, call the café at (619) 237-0675.


EXHIBITIONS

Continuing
Goya's Portraits
April 8-June 18, 2006
This special focused exhibition of approximately ten portrait paintings by the great Spanish master Francisco de Goya is being presented exclusively at the San Diego Museum of Art. The intriguing selection of works spans the artist's career, revealing the breadth and range of Goya's talents. The works on view come from a larger Mexico City show and include portraits from public and private collections in San Francisco, Indianapolis, Boston, Detroit, and Ponce (Puerto Rico). The display also highlights one of the Museum's most notable paintings, Goya's Marquis of Sofraga, providing context for Goya, his work, and the sitter of the SDMA painting.

Wit and Wisdom: The Making of the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection (NEW!)
April 15-October 29, 2006
This display of sixteen key examples from the Binney Collection turns the spotlight on Edwin Binney 3rd himself as a collector, who in 1986 bequeathed his encyclopedic collection of 1,453 South Asian paintings to SDMA. The majority of the paintings in the exhibition have never been shown in San Diego, and half have never been shown at all. Wall labels will include excerpts from Binney's personal notes, revealing his opinions and motivations for buying the pieces, which will be displayed in order of purchase. Beginning with the first and concluding with the last paintings that he bought, Wit and Wisdom explores Binney's development as a collector.

American Ceramics 1884-1972
February 25-September 3, 2006
Organized by the San Diego Museum of Art, this exhibition showcases ceramics from the Arts and Crafts and Studio Pottery movements and features works from SDMA's collection and loans from public and private collections in Southern California. During the 1930s, the Museum's founding director, Reginald Poland, began acquiring ceramics by Glen Lukens, Beatrice Wood, and Laura Andreson. In 1940 he met Getrud and Otto Natzler and invited them to exhibit their collaborative work at the Museum, their first solo exhibition. American Ceramics also presents works from the Rookwood, Grueby, Van Briggle, Newcomb, and Pewabic potteries as well as those by George E. Ohr. Ceramics by 20th-century studio potters, Marguerite Wildenhain, Harrison McIntosh, and Rolf Key-Oberg are also included, and special attention is given to San Diego firms such as the Valentien and Markham potteries.

Tracking and Tracing: Contemporary Acquisitions 2000-2005
December 17, 2005-July 9, 2006
This exhibition consists of approximately 90 works, plus a video program, that have come into the San Diego Museum of Art's collection through purchase or donation from 2000 to 2005. The exhibition tracks recent institutional history as represented in the acquisition strategies implemented in the last five years-during which time SDMA's contemporary collection has grown greatly-and traces links between and across these new additions to the collection. The exhibition demonstrates the Museum's collection priorities and also displays works that document exhibitions organized by SDMA.

Tastes in Asian Art
November 6, 2004-indefinite
View the latest rotation of some of the most significant works in SDMA's extensive Asian collection in this fresh thematic display in the Asian Court. Bringing back well-known works, while introducing new and rarely exhibited objects, the exhibition highlights the diverse tastes of different social groups-the imperial ruling class, scholars, warriors, and common people-and features a separate section dedicated to religious art. New to the current installation of Tastes in Asian Art is a recently restored Persian tile painting. In addition, the rotation features prints by Hiroshige, a fine 17th-century hanging scroll painting, and a dozen new Islamic paintings-further examining the tastes of various social classes across the Asian continent.

The Eye of the Collector, the Wishes of the Donor, the Spirit of the Philanthropist: Modern European Paintings at SDMA
December 17, 2005-April 15, 2007
In honor of the Museum's 80th Anniversary, this unique exhibition pays tribute to the generous individuals who shaped SDMA's collection of modern European painting. Works are grouped according to their donor, focusing attention on their interests, tastes, and connoisseurship. Pieces on display include visitor favorites such as William Bouguereau's Young Shepherdess, given by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Larsen in 1968, and Joaquín Sorolla's María at La Granja, from Mr. and Mrs. Archer M. Huntington, the very first object to enter the collection in 1925.

Closing
In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite
February 18-May 14, 2006
This rare traveling exhibition of Roman frescoes features 72 objects, all from the Roman villas of ancient Stabiae, an exclusive retreat for Rome's elite classes located on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Naples (approximately 4.5 kilometers southeast of Pompeii). Included in this spectacular exhibition are 24 ancient frescoes, many of the very highest quality, 11 stuccoes, as well as other significant art objects and archeological artifacts. The exhibition will also display a complete three-wall triclinium (dining room) fresco from Carmiano.


MAY EVENTS CALENDAR

May 3, Wednesday
5:30 p.m. CONCERT Jazz in the Park: Bob Magnusson Quintet CD Release Celebration
Ocean Beach bassist Bob Magnusson celebrates his latest project, Liquid Lines, inspired by the early surfing film music by jazz great Bud Shank. Bob is known worldwide from touring with Hank Jones, Linda Ronstadt, and countless others. The concert features San Diego jazz giants Peter Sprague, Tripp Sprague, Duncan Moore, and Oregon-based pianist Randy Porter.
$14 members/$17 nonmembers/$14 students with ID, James S. Copley Auditorium

May 4, Thursday
7:00 p.m. FILM Goya in Bordeaux (2000, R)
Directed by Carlos Saura, this film captures the great Spanish artist in his 82nd and final year, living in exile in Southern France, and winds through his personal memories. Saura dissolves the boundaries between Goya's turbulent life, the inner world of his imagination, and the glory of his paintings.
$7 members/$10 nonmembers/$8 students with ID, Museum of Photographic Arts

May 5, Friday
10:00 a.m. LECTURE "Moving In: Women in Art"
Jean Willette, Ph.D., associate professor at Otis College, Los Angeles, discusses selected female artists, including Beatrice Wood and Niki de St. Phalle, and compares and contrasts the position of women in art over the past three decades. Part of the Docent Guest Lecture Series.
$10, James S. Copley Auditorium

6:00 p.m. LECTURE "The Idea of Transformation in the Work of Cuban Artist Wifredo Lam"
Marta Garsd, former lecturer at UC Davis and American University in Washington, D.C., will discuss the development of Lam's powerful mythic imagery from 1941 to 1950 in the context of his Afro-Cuban roots and theories of the avant-garde. This lecture is sponsored by SDMA's Latin American Arts Committee.
Free, SDMA Boardroom

May 6, Saturday
9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. SYMPOSIUM "Views from Vesuvius: New Research and Interpretations"
Presented in conjunction with In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite, three experts from across the nation will present new research on Roman life. Hérica Valladares, Ph.D., will speak about the paintings of the Villa Arianna at Stabiae; John Clarke, Ph.D., will explore recent excavations and discoveries at the Villa of Oplontis at Torre Annunziata; and David Smith, Ph.D., will offer a geologist's look at the eruption of Vesuvius and its consequences. Continental breakfast will be served beginning at 9:00 a.m.
$10 members/$12 nonmembers/Free for students with ID, James S. Copley Auditorium

May 11, Thursday
6:00-8:00 p.m. Culture & Cocktails
Celebrate the last days of In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite at a fresh, spring Culture & Cocktails. Featuring lively DJ'd music, creative libations, and sophisticated revelers, it's a party sure to make even the Roman gods jealous. A limited number of discounted tickets are available for purchase in advance at www.ticketmaster.com.
$10 at the door/$7 in advance at www.ticketmaster.com

May 14, Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
May 18, Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
GALLERY TALK "Horrors of War"
Gwen Gómez, SDMA's manager of bilingual initiatives, tours this poignant exhibition of prints from the Museum's collection. Part of the Insight Gallery Talk Series.
Free with admission

May 17, Wednesday
7:00 p.m. PERFORMANCE Vintage Radio Show: The Great Broadcast of 1926
Celebrate SDMA's 80th Anniversary with a "live" 1926 radio variety show! This nostalgic family-friendly broadcast will include live music and sound effects by Scott Paulson and his Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra, dancing with the San Diego Vintage Dancers, and "mocktail" refreshments. The studio audience will be treated to live radio drama re-enactments, quiz show contests, and microphone interviews with Emily Thompson (current winner of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" Award), opera singer Martha Jane Weaver, and Sue Palmer, San Diego's Queen of Boogie Woogie. Presented in collaboration with the UCSD Arts Libraries.
$10 members/$12 nonmembers/$8 students, James S. Copley Auditorium

May 18, Thursday
6:00 p.m. POETRY READING Spoken Word at the Museum: "Goya"
In conjunction with the much-anticipated exhibition of portraits by Francisco de Goya, SDMA and UCSD collaborate once again to bring an evening of poetry and verse exploring the renowned Spanish master. The program will feature Jerome Rothenberg, American poet, editor, and teacher, and Roberto Tejada, visual arts critic, photography historian, and curator.
Free with museum admission, James S. Copley Auditorium

May 21, Sunday
12:00 noon-4:00 p.m. Family Festival: "Birthday Celebration"
Celebrate the Museum's 80th Anniversary by exploring treasures from SDMA's collection of art from Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Live performances, artist demonstrations, interactive art projects, and free exhibition tours will send participants to four different continents of the world. In addition, children can take part in the Museum's special time capsule project by bringing in artwork-or creating masterpieces during the festival-to be enclosed in a time capsule later this year. Artworks should be on paper and measure no larger than 8 ½" x 11," and should be a self-portrait or incorporate SDMA-related subject matter. Photographs of children with their artwork will also be included in the capsule, along with a video recording of visitors's SDMA memories, which will be filmed that day.
Free

2:00 p.m. CONCERT Cynthia Darby and Thomas Stauffer
The early music duo delights audiences with an afternoon of fortepiano and baroque cello. This concert is co-sponsored by the San Diego Early Music Society. Part of the Old Masters of Music and Art series.
Free with admission, Hibben Gallery

3:00 p.m. LECTURE "Building a Collection of Non-Western Art"
Ned and Mina Smith will share the insights they gained while forming the SANA Art Foundation in this lecture presented by the Museum's African Arts Council. The foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing appreciation of diversity in the world, providing educational programs related to the cultures of Native American, African, and Oceanic people, as well as supporting research of past and emerging cultures.
Free, SDMA Boardroom

May 24, Wednesday
7:00 p.m. LECTURE "Homenaje a José Alfredo Jiménez" (Homage to composer José Alfredo Jiménez)
Carlos Monsivais, essayist, satirist, and novelist, talks about the famous Mexican composer. This lecture is part of the Los Rostros de México Lecture Series and will be presented in Spanish.
$10 members and students, James S. Copley Auditorium

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