Bakersfield Museum of Art

Bakersfield Museum of Art Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Bakersfield Museum of Art, Art Museum, 1930 R Street, Bakersfield, CA.
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BMoA’s mission is to inspire and engage diverse audiences by providing a broad spectrum of creative visual arts experiences through the exhibition and preservation of fine art, educational programs, community outreach and special events. The Bakersfield Museum of Art is a non-profit 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization whose mission is to inspire and engage diverse audiences by providing a broad spectrum of creative visual arts experiences through the exhibition and preservation of fine art, educational programs, community outreach and special events.

Explore the relationships between identity, culture, place, and everyday life in Las Californias.  Internationally accla...
09/17/2026

Explore the relationships between identity, culture, place, and everyday life in Las Californias. 
 
Internationally acclaimed Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide initially studied filmmaking before turning to photography, and the world. Describing her photographs as “photo essays,” a significant portion of this exhibition comes from the White Fence series, which began in Boyle Heights in 1986. It also includes Iturbide’s 1991 portrait of labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta in Kern County. Together, the photographs resist a singular understanding of Mexican and Chicano identity. 
 
Be among the first to see Graciela Iturbide: Las Californias at our Opening Reception. 
 
Opening Reception: Fall 2026 Exhibitions
Thursday, October 1
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Member admission is free
 
Music by DJ Chuck 1
Drinks by Tiki-Ko and The Sinking Ship
 
RSVP for the reception at the link in bio. 
 
Graciela Iturbide
Rosario y Boo Boo, White Fence, East Los Ángeles, 1986
Signed by the artist in ink on recto
Silver Gelatin Print
Printed by the artist at a later date
14” x 11”
Courtesy the Artist and Ruiz-Healy Art, New York | San Antonio
 
Graciela Iturbide
White Fence, East Los Ángeles (Cristina and mural), 1986
Signed in ink on recto, signed, dated, and titled by the artist in pencil on verso
Vintage Silver Gelatin Print
10” x 8”
Courtesy the Artist and Ruiz-Healy Art, New York | San Antonio

Graciela Iturbide
Cholo Harpys, White Fence, East Los Ángeles, 1986
Signed by the artist in ink on recto
Silver Gelatin Print
Printed by the artist at a later date
10” x 8”
Courtesy the Artist and Ruiz-Healy Art, New York | San Antonio
 

 

SURPRISE - we’re extending the sponsors deadline to tonight! Hear from Mission Bank about their sponsorship and continue...
09/16/2026

SURPRISE - we’re extending the sponsors deadline to tonight! Hear from Mission Bank about their sponsorship and continued support.
 
“We love sponsoring the Via Arté Chalk Festival and are proud to be returning top sponsors for the 4th year in a row! At Mission Bank, we work to fuel and grow vibrant and prosperous communities, and public art is an important part of that work. It’s our pleasure to support BMoA as a Via Arté sponsor!”
 
Recognition for sponsors includes your name on an artist square, and your name/logo at the festival, on our website and in print materials. Sponsorships begin at $400. The deadline for appearing in printed materials has been extended to Wednesday, September 16 at 11:59 PM.
 
Click the link in our bio to sponsor the beloved community tradition of Via Arté today! 
 

Time is running out to sponsor for BMoA’s Via Arté Chalk Festival!Support our mission to make the visual arts accessible...
09/14/2026

Time is running out to sponsor for BMoA’s Via Arté Chalk Festival!

Support our mission to make the visual arts accessible in our community through exhibitions, art education, and community events.

As Via Arté sponsor, you’ll be part of a beloved community tradition. Every year, thousands of families join us at Via Arté to watch more than 100 professional and student artists transform asphalt into a stunning array of chalk paintings.
Your sponsorship funds:

✅ art education programs for kids and adults
✅ community programs like Art After Dark
✅ Free family-friendly community events

Recognition for sponsors includes your name on an artist square, and your name/logo at the festival, on our website and in print materials.

Sponsorships begin at $400. The deadline for appearing in printed materials is Tuesday, September 15. 👀

Join us in celebrating creativity, education, and community!

Click the link in our bio to sponsor Via Arté today!

09/13/2026

A lovely kick off to the fall performances at Jazz in the Garden, featuring BC Jazz Studies

The matcha 🫡
matcha de corazón llc

The music 🎶
Thank you Bakersfield College Foundation & Alumni Association and Bakersfield Alumni

The vibes! Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the afternoon with us.

And mark your calendars
📅 Saturday 10/10
🎟️ Second Saturday at BMoA
🎷 Jazz in the Garden returns for its final performance of the year.

Artist Juanita Donahoo (b. 1897 - d. 1990) quietly pursued spiritual and artistic exploration in California for decades....
09/10/2026

Artist Juanita Donahoo (b. 1897 - d. 1990) quietly pursued spiritual and artistic exploration in California for decades.

Commissioned by writer and psychic Dora van Gelder Kunz (b. 1904 - d. 1999), Donahoo developed aura portraits that captured the personality and character of the sitters van Gelder Kunz’s ability to visualize color and energy fields. Donahoo developed specific ethereal color palettes, combining airbrushing with other techniques.

The portraits were never publicly shown because van Gelder Kunz did not feel society was ready to understand a visual study of the personal aura in the 1930s. The portaits were discovered by BMoA’s executive director and chief curator Gilbert Vicario and Susan L. Aberth , the Edith C. Blum Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at Bard College, New York while on a research visit to the archives of the The Theosophical Society in Wheaton, Illinois.

Now, 22 of Donahoo’s rarely seen aura paintings take center stage in Colors of the Aura, their first museum presentation anywhere in the world.

Be among the first to see these fascinating aura studies at our opening reception.

Opening Reception: Fall 2026 Exhibitions
Thursday, October 1
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Member admission is free

Music by DJ Chuck 1
Drinks by Tiki-Ko and The Sinking Ship

RSVP for the reception at the link in our bio.

Juanita Donahoo, A Woman in Her Nineties, c. 1930’s, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, and pastel, 24” x 15” (unframed), Courtesy of Theosophical Society in America Archives, Wheaton, Illinois

Juanita Donahoo, An Adolescent Girl, c. 1930’s, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, and pastel, 24” x 15” (unframed), Courtesy of Theosophical Society in America Archives, Wheaton, Illinois

Juanita Donahoo
A Painter, c. 1930’s, watercolor, acrylic, gouache, and pastel
24” x 15” (unframed), Courtesy of Theosophical Society in America Archives, Wheaton, Illinois

Jazz in the garden returns for its fall season this ! Saturday, September 12✨11:00 AM - 1:00 PM✨Bring your lawn chairs,...
09/09/2026

Jazz in the garden returns for its fall season this !

Saturday, September 12
✨11:00 AM - 1:00 PM✨
Bring your lawn chairs, grab a drink from matcha de corazón llc and a spot in the sculpture garden for Jazz in the Garden! Doors open at 10:30 AM. Jazz is FREE!

Jazz in the Garden is generously sponsored by Bakersfield College Foundation and Alumni Association and Bakersfield College Alumni.

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Dive into our mixed media art project: create a banner using printmaking, paint markers and more.

👉 Art project included with admission. Member admission is FREE.

09/04/2026

📣 ARTISTS, LAST CALL! 📣

Artists, the deadline to apply for the Via Arté Chalk Festival is this Monday, September 7!

Don’t miss your chance to transform the pavement of Marketplace Bakersfield October 17 and 18 with your works of art. Go to the 🔗 in bio to apply today!

We are back in studio!Saturday Studio, that is!Art classes for kids ages 6-16 beginning on Saturday, October 3. This sea...
09/04/2026

We are back in studio!

Saturday Studio, that is!

Art classes for kids ages 6-16 beginning on Saturday, October 3. This season, your favorite young artist can study

- Watercolor
- Chalk Painting (at Via Arté!)
- Sculpture
- Photography

All materials are included with registration.

Tap the link in our bio to learn more.

Address

1930 R Street
Bakersfield, CA
93301

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+16613237219

Website

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