October 1, 2026

The San Diego Museum of Art Partners to Bring Performing Arts to the Museum, Launching Museum as a Stage

Inaugural Museum as a Stage Performing Arts Initiative and Revitalized Guest Lecture Series Bring New, More Plentiful Immersive Experiences to Visitors

Dancer image courtesy of San Diego Ballet. | Photo of The Camarada Tango Quartet by Gary Payne. Courtesy of Camarada. | Photo of ballet folkórico dancer courtesy of Classics 4 Kids.

SAN DIEGO (October 1, 2026) – Building on the momentum of its centennial year, The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) is launching its inaugural Museum as a Stage performing arts season to pair visual and performing arts, elevating both experiences. The Museum is also revitalizing its long-running Guest Lecture Series that invites the community to connect more deeply with the Museum collection and the San Diego arts scene.

Expanding Performing Arts with Museum as a Stage

Museum as a Stage is SDMA’s performing arts initiative, created to reconnect the performing and visual art traditions and expand the ways audiences experience art. Presented in partnership with Camarada, Classics 4 Kids, Opera Neo, San Diego Ballet, and the San Diego Shakespeare Society, the season includes seven upcoming ticketed performances and three in-gallery pop-up performances free with Museum admission.

“Visual and performing arts have always belonged together,” said Deidré Guevara, Director of Community Engagement at The San Diego Museum of Art. “Museum as a Stage invites visitors to experience the Museum’s collection through music, dance, and storytelling.”

Below is the schedule of upcoming Museum as a Stage performances, which all take place at SDMA.

Ticketing varies by performance. San Diego Ballet and Camarada tickets are sold directly through each organization. San Diego Shakespeare Society performances are free with Museum admission. Classics 4 Kids concert tickets are sold through the Museum. Full details and links for each event are available here.

SDMA and the San Diego Symphony: A New Family Partnership

The Museum is proud to announce a new partnership with the San Diego Symphony’s Family Concertsto further connect the performing and visual arts, encouraging families to explore San Diego’s cultural institutions through shared experiences that extend beyond the concert hall and into the Museum’s galleries.

The Museum and San Diego Symphony are introducing three specially designed, self-guided tours at the Museum to complement San Diego Symphony performances. Families attending Family Concerts at the Jacobs Music Center will be invited to extend their musical experience at SDMA by presenting their concert tickets at the Museum’s front desk in exchange for complimentary Museum admission and a themed tour handout. Each tour will guide families through the Museum’s collection, highlighting artworks connected to the music and stories presented in the concerts.

The partnership will launch on October 31 with Trick or Treat Symphony, as part of SDMA’s Día de los Muertos celebration weekend. On February 6, Lunar New Year: Music in Full Bloom will coincide with the Museum’s Lunar New Year celebrations, presented in partnership with the Chinese Historical Society. Finally, on March 6, Carnival of the Animals: Music on the Wild Side will conclude this year’s collaboration, inviting families to discover the animal kingdom through art and music.

Inviting Deeper Arts Engagement with Guest Lecture Series

The Museum has also finalized its 2026-2027 Guest Lecture Series, running through June. The series brings scholars, artists, authors, and experts from throughout the art world to San Diego for talks that connect a topic to the permanent collection of the Museum. Each lecture is hosted at the Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA), located in Balboa Park at 1649 El Prado, and is followed by a docent-led tour. The series is coordinated and sponsored by the Museum Docent Council.

Below is a sampling of the upcoming lectures. The full schedule can be viewed here.

“The Museum is home to incredible works of art, and we want every visitor not just to view it, but also to experience it, feel it, and hopefully learn from it,” said Roxana Velásquez, Maruja Baldwin Executive Director and CEO of The San Diego Museum of Art. “Museum as a Stage brings that to life with performing arts in our spaces, key partnerships create joyful art connections, and the Guest Lecture Series enables our visitors to hear directly from the scholars and experts who study this work most closely.”

To purchase Museum tickets, and for more information about SDMA, visit SDMArt.org.

About The San Diego Museum of Art

Providing a rich and diverse cultural experience, The San Diego Museum of Art houses some of the world’s finest art. Located in the heart of Balboa Park, the Museum’s internationally renowned collection of more than 35,000 works—dating from 3000 BC to present day—includes Spanish and Italian old masters, the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection of South Asian paintings, East Asian art, art from the Americas, Modern and Contemporary art, and the Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA). The Museum regularly features major exhibitions of art from around the world, as well as extensive cultural and community engagement programs for all ages. The San Diego Museum of Art hosts experiences that invite visitors to explore art through music, dance, film, food, and so much more. At The San Diego Museum of Art, exhibition text is always in English and Spanish.

The San Diego Museum of Art is located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, 92101.
The Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art is located at 1649 El Prado in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, 92101.

General Information: (619) 232-7931
Group Sales: (619) 696-1935

Website: SDMArt.org
X: @SDMA
Instagram: @SanDiegoMuseumofArt
Facebook: @TheSanDiegoMuseumofArt
YouTube: @SanDiegoMuseumofArt

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