From San Diego’s annual parade and festival to the Stonewall Rally and other events, there are plenty of ways to show up and show your pride and enjoy San Diego this week including at more than 55 San Diego museums.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and members of the City Council hosted the City of San Diego’s Pride Kickoff event at the Museum of Us in Balboa Park, which officially launched the City’s LGBTQ 2022 Pride festivities. As part of the event, the LGBTQ Progress Pride Flag was draped from the California Tower where it will remain through Pride weekend. Balboa Park is home to the world-renowned San Diego Zoo, plus an absolutely incredible collection of 17 museums and cultural institutions including the new Comic-Con Museum, Fleet Science Center, the San Diego Air & Space Museum, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the newly remodeled Mingei International Museum and the Timken Museum of Art.
Start Your Pride Weekend with FUN FRIDAYS at Balboa Park
Friday nights come alive this summer in Balboa Park! It’s the perfect spot for date nights, family fun, art exhibitions, big-screen movies, live music, and fabulous foods. Check out our Friday night museum guide here for great ideas and details.
See our picks at San Diego Museum of Art, Panama 66, Mingei International Museum, ARTIFACT at Mingei, San Diego Natural History Museum, Japanese Friendship Garden, Fleet Science Center, and the The Prado Restaurant.
San Diego Automotive Museum
Balboa Park
In celebration of PRIDE month, the Automotive Museum highlighted six courageous executives who have inspired other LGBTQ workers within the automotive industry. Ford: Alex Purdy, Director of Business Operations for Enterprise Connectivity, and Julien Jacquet, Chief Product Officer, Ford Credit. Jaguar Land Rover: James Hunt-Davies, Vice President of Human Resources. General Motors: Greg Hagy, Vice President of Global Corporate Development and Mergers & Acquisitions. Nissan: Travis Parman, Vice President, Communications, North America & International Communications, and Global Engagement. Volvo: Greg Nee, head of Digital, Americas, and a member of the Americas Executive Management Team.
This Friday, July 15 the San Diego Automotive Museum opens a new exhibition called “Cars with Character,” showcasing iconic vehicles from television and film. Included are Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, KITT from Knight Rider, the classic Jurassic Park tour vehicle, and many more!
If you want to have yourself a “motoring morning,” start with the monthly Cars and Coffee event this Sunday, July 17 at 7:30 am in the parking lot in front of the San Diego Automotive Museum, then head inside to check out the new exhibition. Learn more on the San Diego Automotive Museum’s website here.
Comic-Con Museum
Balboa Park
Marvel’s “Beyond Amazing: Spider-Man The Exhibition,” now open at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park. The exhibit celebrates the 60th anniversary of one of the most popular and enduring comic book characters. Fans entering the exhibit are greeted by wall-size reproductions of Spider-Man comic books with life-size cutouts of Spidey and villain Doctor Octopus literally jumping off the pages. All this while heroic music plays on loudspeakers and a light show flashes webs and Spidey’s mask on the floor in front of you. Tickets can be purchased online at beyondamazingexhibition.com.
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA Central)
Balboa Park
NextGen: Graduating Artist Exhibition opens Friday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. at ICA San Diego’s Central campus in Balboa Park. This new exhibition celebrates the San Diego/Tijuana art scene and is designed to support recently graduated artists while also fostering the local art ecosystem. The opening night includes drinks and live music. Learn more at https://icasandiego.org/event/next-gen-opening-reception/.
Discover Downtown San Diego & The Gaslamp Quarter
San Diego’s thriving Downtown and Gaslamp Quarter offer an abundance of options for accommodations, activities, dining and local favorites, including the USS Midway Museum, Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House, the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, and the New Children’s Museum.
Maritime Museum of San Diego
Downtown San Diego Bay Front
Mateys Beware! Sea monsters with massive red tentacles were spotted along San Diego Bay. Lucky for us, the experts at the Maritime Museum of San Diego are on the scene with Sea Monsters: Delving into the Deep Myth. Shiver me timbers! Better get tickets and details at http://www.sdmaritime.org/…/sea-monsters-delving-into…/.
USS Midway / Old Town Trolley / City Cruises Harbor Tour
Downtown San Diego Bay
Consider setting aside one day for coastal explorations including Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma. Up the coast, La Jolla offers the newly renovated La Jolla’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the La Jolla Historical Society and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps.
A bit further north, in Oceanside you can experience California history by visiting the “King of Missions” Mission San Luis Rey, or visit world-class museums like the California Surf Museum and Oceanside Museum of Art.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
La Jolla
Just in time for PRIDE, the world’s smallest penguins made their little and blue debut in San Diego. The Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins is now OPEN at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego 
Come face-to-face with the world’s smallest penguins as they waddle, swim and dive about their new home. Waddle you waiting for?!
Experience History and Art in Liberty Station
Arts District Liberty Station, San Diego’s largest Arts & Cultural District is located in the historic buildings of the former Naval Training Center, where from 1923 to 1997, nearly two million young men—and eventually women—were trained. The Art’s District’s restored 45 buildings are home to nearly 145 tenants including museums, galleries, artist studios, dance companies and non-profit organizations that showcase San Diego’s creative community. It’s home to Visions Museum of Textile Art and New Americans Museum.
Visions Museum of Textile Art
Liberty Station Point Loma
Visions Museum of Textile Art is premiering three new exhibits this Saturday, July 16 including Up Close and Personal, Where the Light Enters, and Symmetry & Surprise: The Art of Paula Nadelstern. Visions offers free admission and is open Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.
Women’s Museum of California
Jacobs Center, San Diego
While in San Diego, visit the new location of the Women’s Museum of California at the Jacob’s Center and check out their new exhibit, “Crafting Feminism: Textiles of the Women’s Movement.” From the consciousness-raising works by such local artists as Michelle Montjoy and Sew Loka fashion designer Claudia Biezunski-Rodriguez, to Ruiz’s selfie-friendly portraits of unsung feminist heroes, “Crafting Feminism” is an engaging, thought-provoking look at the history of feminism and the power of protest art.
San Diego Police Museum
College Area, San Diego
Located in the College Area, the San Diego Police Museum is home to San Diego’s largest collection of San Diego Police Department history and artifacts, in addition to the Fallen Officer Memorial Wall. Within its collection, the museum has curated a virtual timeline and overview of LGBTQ officers within SDPD from the first coming out in 1977 quickly followed by policies against harassment and discrimination.
