Artists Tekpatl Patricia and Cihua Mazatl Jessica invite you into a plática on ancestral guidance—how the presence of our ancestors shapes creative practice, ritual, and healing. This conversation is grounded in lived experience and intergenerational memory.

Followed by a guided meditation with Tekpatl Patricia and drumming by Cihua Mazatl. Including a hands-on oil pastels workshop, exploring connection, guidance, and ancestral connection.

"We are never creating alone. Our ancestors whisper in every gesture."

Seating is limited. This program is free. RSVP HERE.

Every second Saturday of the month, the Museum offers pay-what-you-can admission for all. Visitors are invited to explore the galleries and participate in free drop-in art activities, artist-led workshops, talks, art demonstrations, and/or tours throughout the galleries and the Community Art Lab.

Join us between 11:00am and 2:00pm for a paper flower making experience! Participants will learn how to create native California flowers from crepe paper.

No prior experience needed. All materials provided.

Join sound healer and movement practitioner Noriko Whitfield for an immersive session exploring the connection between body, mind, and art. Through guided sound meditation and gentle movement, participants will engage in practices that support emotional balance, nervous system regulation, and self-awareness.

With over 16 years of experience in sound therapy and energy healing, Whitfield creates a calming environment that invites reflection and inner stillness. This session is open to all levels. No prior experience is needed. 

Please dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat. A pillow and sweater or blanket are also recommended.

Air-Dry Clay Handbuilding Workshop with Ellie Fonseca

Find your flow through touch and texture in this calming, hands-on workshop. No experience necessary—just bring your curiosity. Materials provided.

About the Instructor

With a passion for ceramics and hands-on creativity, Ellie Fonseca has been guiding students through the art of clay in Orange County and now San Diego. Specializing in hand-building, she brings dedicated experience from teaching workshops for local community and non-profit organizations. Her approach emphasizes mindfulness, sensory awareness, and artistic exploration, ensuring that every participant feels connected to the craft and empowered to create. Through engaging demonstrations and personalized guidance, Ellie Fonseca enjoys fostering a welcoming environment where creativity flourishes and clay transforms into art.  

How can exhibition design support emotional connection, healing, and shared experience? Join artist Dave Eassa and the curatorial team at the California Center for the Arts Museum for an intimate preview of Head Above the Clouds, opening to the public in early October.

This special program provides a behind-the-scenes look at the human-centered design strategies that shape the exhibition, from seating sculptures to participatory elements that invite visitors to become co-authors. The conversation will explore how layout, color, scale, and materials were intentionally used to evoke tenderness, grief, joy, and connection.

The preview will conclude with a Q&A.

Dave Eassa (b. 1991, Ellicott City, MD) is a visual artist, curator, and cultural organizer based in San Diego, CA. Working across painting, sculpture, and socially engaged practice, his work explores personal and collective memory, love, and the possibilities of community. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, with solo exhibitions at Cody Gallery (VA), The Shed Space (MD), and Sistered (ME), and group exhibitions at Marianne Boesky Gallery (NY), LVL3 (Chicago), and Signal (NY). Eassa’s work has been featured in New American Paintings, The Washington Post, and BmoreArt, and is held in collections including the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. A 2015 Open Society Institute Fellow, Eassa founded Free Space, a pioneering arts program in Maryland’s prison system. He has held senior roles at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where he led initiatives such as the BMA Lexington Market satellite and co-curated Histories Collide: Jackie Milad x Fred Wilson x Nekisha Durrett. A Salzburg Global Fellow and recipient of numerous public art and artist awards, Eassa continues to build projects that merge aesthetics with equity, and community with care.

Be part of a live recording of The Offerings of Copal Podcast for a special “Pass the Mic” episode. Guest artists from the XICANA! exhibition will respond to bold and reflective questions about what it means to be Chicana—today, in this place, in this body. The mic will move, the truths will unfold. Come listen, witness, and honor the multiplicity of voice.

"There is no one Chicana experience. But every voice adds to the fire."

This program is free.

XICANA! Block Party

Saturday, September 27, 2025 | 11 AM – 3 PM | Free Entry

Celebrate art, culture, and community at our all-ages XICANA! Block Party, a free day of lowriders, art, music, and creativity inspired by the exhibition XICANA! San Diego.

Event Highlights:

• Lowrider Car Show presented by Lady Lowrider Car Club and Galindo’s Bikes & Parts, with trophies for standout rides (11am - 3pm)

• Free admission to all Museum exhibitions during the event (11am - 5pm)

• Create Your Own Lowrider Workshop in the Museum’s Art Lab with artist Jacqueline Valenzuela (12pm - 3pm)

• A Marqueta XICANA featuring local vendors in the Museum Courtyard (11am - 3pm)

• Collaborative mural painting with artist Gloria Favela Rocha (12pm - 3pm)

• Plus food trucks, music, and more!

This community-led event is part of XICANA! San Diego, curated by Dulce Stein, organized in collaboration with ESMoA, and presented by City Heights Community Development Corporation. On view June 21 – November 2, 2025.

Join sound healer and movement practitioner Noriko Whitfield for an immersive session exploring the connection between body, mind, and art. Through guided sound meditation and gentle movement, participants will engage in practices that support emotional balance, nervous system regulation, and self-awareness.

With over 16 years of experience in sound therapy and energy healing, Whitfield creates a calming environment that invites reflection and inner stillness. This session is open to all levels. No prior experience is needed. 

Please dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat. A pillow and sweater or blanket are also recommended.

Air-Dry Clay Handbuilding Workshop with Ellie Fonseca

Find your flow through touch and texture in this calming, hands-on workshop. No experience necessary—just bring your curiosity. Materials provided.

About the Instructor

With a passion for ceramics and hands-on creativity, Ellie Fonseca has been guiding students through the art of clay in Orange County and now San Diego. Specializing in hand-building, she brings dedicated experience from teaching workshops for local community and non-profit organizations. Her approach emphasizes mindfulness, sensory awareness, and artistic exploration, ensuring that every participant feels connected to the craft and empowered to create. Through engaging demonstrations and personalized guidance, Ellie Fonseca enjoys fostering a welcoming environment where creativity flourishes and clay transforms into art.  

Other Places art fair (OPaf) is heading south for the first time. The inaugural OPaf South, co-presented with Harvest & Gather, will transform the California Center for the Arts, Escondido into a day-long meeting ground for artists, ideas, and neighbors on Saturday, October 25, 2025, from 11 AM to 6 PM. Admission is free, with a suggested $5 donation to sustain future programming.

Since 2017, OPaf has championed unconventional and underrepresented artists, artist-run spaces, and art programming that resists the constraints of the traditional art world. OPaf South extends this ethos to new terrain, creating an inclusive, outdoor–indoor platform for artists of all backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses.

This first edition will feature over thirty booths and installations from local, regional, and international participants, as well as performances, readings, talks, and the OPaf Workshop Tent—a community-powered space for interactive projects and skill-sharing. It will also feature an 他の場所 popup, hosting works by Japanese artists and galleries, bringing cross-cultural perspectives into the mix.

Participants 2025

Slowclub / Frankie Martin and Pumpernickel Palace / A History of Frogs / Yard Pedro / bed crumb show* / Gene's Dispensary / Emily and Walker / siege upon fortified fetus / K.I.T.E. Project & Project PAINT / Two Rooms / Taller California / Thresholds / Human Scale – Experimental Prints / Escolar / QuorumQuorum / Streetside Flag History / Locker 123 / Nefarious Contemporary / Unmade / Erick Perez / A tus ordenes / Harvest & Gather / Tigercrow Collective / Living Skin / Le Shed ...and more TBA.

OPaf has been featured in ArtForum, LA Weekly, KCRW, and Hyperallergic, recognized for its artist-centered approach and grassroots energy. OPaf South carries this spirit into a new community, inviting the public to step into a space where art and connection grow side by side.

A calendar of OPaf South–related events will be posted at opaf.info.

Support for OPaf South provided by: California Center for the Arts, Escondido.

As part of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido’s annual Día de los Muertos Festival, the Museum will open its doors for free admission to the galleries starting at 4:00pm with last entry at 8:00pm.

Highlights at the Museum this year will include:

• Free admission to the exhibitions, XICANA! San Diego and Dave Eassa: Head Above the Clouds

• Live music in the galleries

• Annual altar installation in the galleries

• Muerte de todos candle-making workshop in the Museum Courtyard

Muerte de todos Candle-making Workshop

During Día de los Muertos, candles are placed on ofrendas, or altars, to guide the spirits of the departed back to the world of the living. They are believed to illuminate the path for the souls back to their homes and loved ones, and symbolize hope and faith.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of artist Eloy Tarcisio’s site-specific installation, Muerte de todos: ofrenda de participación, the Museum will complement this year’s presentation of our most popular collection artwork with a candle-making workshop to contribute to personal ofrendas in Muerte de todos.

Personalize your traditional soy wax votive candle by sealing a handwritten message for your loved one into the wax. No experience required. Materials are provided. All ages are welcome with the assistance of an adult. 

Please note that supplies are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Join acclaimed designer and artist Louis Verdad for an in-depth conversation about his practice and recent installations. Verdad will discuss his powerful sculptural work, Tonántzin, featured in XICANA! San Diego, exploring its themes of ancestry, spirituality, and feminine strength.

This talk offers a unique opportunity to hear directly from Verdad about his creative process, influences, and the ways he bridges couture, cultural iconography, and storytelling in his work. Audience Q&A to follow.

This event is free.

Join sound healer and movement practitioner Noriko Whitfield for an immersive session exploring the connection between body, mind, and art. Through guided sound meditation and gentle movement, participants will engage in practices that support emotional balance, nervous system regulation, and self-awareness.

With over 16 years of experience in sound therapy and energy healing, Whitfield creates a calming environment that invites reflection and inner stillness. This session is open to all levels. No prior experience is needed. 

Please dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat. A pillow and sweater or blanket are also recommended.

Air-Dry Clay Handbuilding Workshop with Ellie Fonseca

Find your flow through touch and texture in this calming, hands-on workshop. No experience necessary—just bring your curiosity. Materials provided.

About the Instructor

With a passion for ceramics and hands-on creativity, Ellie Fonseca has been guiding students through the art of clay in Orange County and now San Diego. Specializing in hand-building, she brings dedicated experience from teaching workshops for local community and non-profit organizations. Her approach emphasizes mindfulness, sensory awareness, and artistic exploration, ensuring that every participant feels connected to the craft and empowered to create. Through engaging demonstrations and personalized guidance, Ellie Fonseca enjoys fostering a welcoming environment where creativity flourishes and clay transforms into art.  

Join sound healer and movement practitioner Noriko Whitfield for an immersive session exploring the connection between body, mind, and art. Through guided sound meditation and gentle movement, participants will engage in practices that support emotional balance, nervous system regulation, and self-awareness.

With over 16 years of experience in sound therapy and energy healing, Whitfield creates a calming environment that invites reflection and inner stillness. This session is open to all levels. No prior experience is needed. 

Please dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat. A pillow and sweater or blanket are also recommended.

Air-Dry Clay Handbuilding Workshop with Ellie Fonseca

Find your flow through touch and texture in this calming, hands-on workshop. No experience necessary—just bring your curiosity. Materials provided.

About the Instructor

With a passion for ceramics and hands-on creativity, Ellie Fonseca has been guiding students through the art of clay in Orange County and now San Diego. Specializing in hand-building, she brings dedicated experience from teaching workshops for local community and non-profit organizations. Her approach emphasizes mindfulness, sensory awareness, and artistic exploration, ensuring that every participant feels connected to the craft and empowered to create. Through engaging demonstrations and personalized guidance, Ellie Fonseca enjoys fostering a welcoming environment where creativity flourishes and clay transforms into art.