Art museums in La Jolla and San Diego launch collaborative ‘Behold, America!’

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla celebrated the opening of a three-museum exhibition called “Behold, America!” on Nov. 8, 2012.

It’s a grand collaboration featuring American works from the permanent collections of MCASD, San Diego Museum of Art, and the Timken Museum.

Hundreds of museum members gathered for the preview, a progressive art party which began in La Jolla and moved on to the other two venues in Balboa Park.

A sweeping look at the history of American art from colonial times to the present, the exhibition is grouped into three sections: Figures, Forms and Frontiers. MCASD emphasizes Frontiers — i.e. landscapes; at SDMA, it’s Figures — i.e. portraits; and the Timken focuses on Forms, from traditional still-lifes to contemporary minimalism.

Addressing the crowd at the preview, SDMA Director Roxana Velasquez called the exhibit an example of what the synergy between art institutions can achieve.

“Together, we are building the cultural community San Diego deserves,” she said.

Behold, America! will be on view at all three museums through Feb. 10, 2013.

For information, visit

mcasd.org/exhibitions