San Diego Museum of Art<\/a> plans to spend 2026 celebrating its 100th anniversary<\/a> and the attraction has once-in-a-generation exhibits, unearthed archives and never-before-seen acquisitions ready to share.<\/p>\n The exhibits start rolling out Saturday, but the official commemoration takes place on Feb. 28 with a community birthday fest, cake party and more.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at what to expect for the celebration of San Diego\u2019s oldest art museum.<\/p>\n SDMA 100 Years<\/strong><\/p>\n The museum has a storied past, though its inception came later than many of its peers in Balboa Park. During World War II, the Navy took over the building to run a hospital, complete with a surgery suite and morgue. Meanwhile, the museum operated out of a Mission Hills mansion until it could return. More recently, it merged with the Museum of Photographic Arts.<\/p>\n Visitors will be able to learn about that period, along with the rest of the museum\u2019s history, through a massive exhibit pulling together photos, footage and ephemera from its archives.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t really see the archives very much, so we want to bring those out,\u201d said Anita Feldman, chief curator at SDMA.<\/p>\n The archives exhibit opens Saturday and continues through July 26.\n<\/p>\n Local Visions: Reimagining the Fa\u00e7ade<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks to its strong collection of master paintings, many assume SDMA focuses on historic art. In reality, when it opened in 1926 as the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, most pieces in the municipal art gallery were contemporary.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have a lot of contemporary art, and surprisingly, we always have people think that\u2019s something new, but it isn\u2019t actually,\u201d Feldman said.<\/p>\n The museum has expanded over the years, including through acquisitions of pieces from world-renowned artists, while continuing to highlight the works of local artists.<\/p>\n Some emerging locals, like Carlo Miranda<\/a> and Marianela de la Hoz<\/a>, had their first big show at SDMA. To support the community further, SDMA commissioned local artists to reimagine the museum\u2019s iconic exterior in new ways. After an open call, 10 artists were selected to show the creative range and depth of talent in San Diego, their diverse art styles and their vision as inspired by the building.<\/p>\n Maybe Jamul-based designer Brandon Palma will show a trippy collage over the fa\u00e7ade or Centennial Artist Honoree Tim Novara will reinterpret sculptures with prisms and lines.<\/p>\n Like \u201cSDMA 100 Years,\u201d it will be on display from Saturday through July 26.<\/p>\n Cafes and Cabarets: The Spectacular Art of Toulouse-Lautrec<\/strong><\/p>\n SDMA boasts the complete collection of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec\u2019s years of cabaret adverts. Yet most San Diegans have not seen his ground-breaking poster art illustrating Paris\u2019 bohemian night life.<\/p>\n That is for a simple reason: His works are on fragile, thin paper that will fall apart under too much light.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first started at the museum, I was told we couldn\u2019t show them for decades,\u201d Feldman, who has worked at SDMA for 11 years, said. \u201cI thought, if they\u2019re going to rest for decades, let\u2019s make a special occasion out of this centennial and let\u2019s bring them out just for this and let people of this generation have a chance to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0.100.jpg\")
<\/a>Wagner Humphreys\u2019 \u201cTimeless,\u201d part of the \u201cLocal Visions\u201d centennial exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art. (Image courtesy of the artist, Wagner Humphreys)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0.102.jpg\")
<\/a>Her Majesty Elizabeth II visiting the San Diego Museum of Art in 1983. (Image courtesy of the San Diego Museum of Art Archive)<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0.101.jpg\")
<\/a>Claude Monet, \u201cEglise de Varengeville,\u201d 1882, oil on canvas, from the collection of John and Toni Bloomberg and a promised gift to SDMA. (Image courtesy of the museum)<\/p>\n