Art

Art Events

Albert Bierstadt. Yosemite Valley. 1868. oil on canvas. Gift of Miss Marguerite Laird in memory of Mr. and Mrs. P.W. Laird.

The OMCA Art Department, originally founded in 1916 as the Oakland Art Gallery, continues to be active in the acquisition and exhibition of art in all media - painting, sculpture, drawing, prints, photography, mixed media, installation, and craft - while actively circulating, nationally, exhibitions organized by the museum's curators. As defined by the guidelines for collecting the art of California, an artist may have been born, raised, or have studied in, moved to, or worked in the state to be considered for the Oakland Museum's collection. In the case of artists who worked in California for only a brief time, the museum collects pieces from that period alone.

The Oakland Museum of California is undergoing a major transformation project. To learn more, start here: www.museumca-campaign.org

The Art and History Galleries are currently under renovation, and will reopen in 2010. Please visit our special exhibitions, Natural Sciences Gallery. or join us for special events.

Due to staffing limitations during the renovation, our Rights and Reproductions services will be restricted until the end of 2009. We will be unable to accommodate requests that require new photography or research, and will review requests for existing imagery on a case-by-case basis. Turn-around time will be at least 12 weeks.

The Paul C. Mills Archive of California Art is closed due to the museum renovation project. The archive will reopen in the summer of 2010. We apologize for the inconvenience.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding during this very busy time.