About Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA

Image Source – commons.wikimedia.org

The Bowers Museum of Art is a museum of contemporary art situated in Santa Ana, CA. The permanent collection of the museum totals more than 100,000 artifacts and is particularly strong in Native American art, pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Asian, African, and Oceanian art, and California plein-air painting. The Bowers arranges and presents traveling exhibitions from institutions across the globe.

More fun things to see in Discovery Cube Orange County!

Collections

“Spirits and Headhunters: Pacific Island Art” showcases masterpieces from Oceania’s 3 cultural areas namely Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. A special emphasis is put on New Guinea and the plethora of creative traditions that pervade everyday and ritual life. Objects related to the hidden Sepik River men’s home, shell and feather currency, magical figures and instruments of the shaman, objects associated with personal adornments, seagoing trade routes, and weapons of battle are included. The Bowers’ collection comprises works of art and antiquities from a variety of Pacific Island countries.

“California Legacies: Missions and Ranchos, 1768-1848” showcases objects from 3 distinct historical periods: the settlement of Alta California via Spanish land grants, the fortune and ways of life of the first households who thrived under Mexico’s rule of the Ranchos of California, and the life at the California Missions.

“California Bounty: Image and Identity, 1850-1930” delves into the state’s visual history, which has been formed by a unique fusion of Mexican and Anglo traditions, as well as the state’s Pacific Rim location. The exhibition demonstrates how paintings of California’s scenery, people, flowers, and fruits symbolize the state’s abundance and the vast advertising effort launched by real estate developers, citrus producers, railroads, and other supporters to lure people west. The collection’s centerpieces include a set of 40 pieces by William and Alberta McCloskey, as well as California plein air paintings.

“First Californians” is a comprehensive study of the art and artifacts of the indigenous peoples of California in the collection, illuminating the culture and history of the Southern California Coastal Indians. It delves into how the region’s Indians engaged with their surroundings in terms of food, dress, ornamentation, and spirituality. The Bowers Museum’s collection is richest in western and southwest cultures, although it also includes indigenous cultures from around the United States. Basketry, ceramics, beading, weapons, stone and shell tools, and jewelry are all included in the collection. These artifacts span the epochs from prehistory to the modern era. (Source: Wikipedia)

Location

TechWaste Recycling Inc. is nearby.

Directions