Bowers Museum

Attended a private event at this location last night and it was amazing! I had never heard of this museum until I visited it last night. It's a great location for a private venue , with an outdoor garden / seating area and modern accents.

The museum has a great collection of pieces and artwork adorned throughout. The Tamayo exhibit was rather fascinating , along with the art pieces from Nepal and other eras displayed. The staff members working the event were very friendly and the catered food was amazing !

So much to see and so little time. When I heard the Empress Dowager Cixi exhibit was showing at the Bowers, I asked my aunt, a retired docent for Bowers, to please, please, please give me a tour. As the posters claim, the exhibit is just a selection from the summer palace so it's not extensive, but still nicely curated. Usually, when I visit an exhibit, I like to look at every single thing AND read the corresponding information on my own. However, docents, like my aunt, can give additional insightful information that are not listed in the display.

BTW, docent tours are complimentary and take about 50 minutes which means you view about 8 - 10 displays. The tour schedule is listed at the desk.

Adjacent to the Dowager exhibit was the Shackleton exhibit which I had to fly through since I had people waiting for me. I love history!

Another program that the museum offers is Timeless Melodies, a lecture series for music lovers. I love music! December's theme was a A Salute to Marriage Music, a humorous lecture that included music ranging from 1892 Daisy (aka A Bicycle Built For Two) to 1964 Sunrise Sunset. Interspersed between the music videos were comic strips related to being married that merited plenty of chuckling from the audience due to the painful truths of marriage.

During my time at Bowers, I felt I only scratched the service as there is so much to see.

Parking is $6 and is validated if you eat at their in-house restaurant, Tangata (see my review).

The Bowers Museum provides a cultural experience through art pieces and artifacts with a healthy permanent collection (art of Africa, art of the Pacific, Asian art, Native American art, Pre-Columbian art, and Orange County history) and an commendable array of temporary and traveling exhibitions.

FRIDA KAHLO - HER PHOTOS
Such exhibitions as Frida Kahlo - Her Photos are certainly enjoyable (and heart-wrenching) and educational.

But if you're like my husband, my best friend for life and death, you'll also walk away with an immense inspiration to reconnect with your own artistic side.

The Frida exhibition ends on June 25, 2017, so you don't have much time, but I highly recommend it to you if there is a chance...

But if you miss out, they seem to bring in some incredibly interesting topics like... A Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition at the end of June, then later this fall is a Sir Ernest Shackleton (read "Endurance" - it's so captivating) - I'm intrigued with both!

TIP
- This Saturday, June 17, 2017 is a screening of "Frida." If I understand it correctly, you can pay $15 to watch the movie under the stars then have after-hours access to the exhibit inside the museum.

TICKETS
I purchased our tickets as a Groupon deal back in April. It was $32 for two adults to the Museum along with the "Her Photos" Exhibit. Children 12 and under were free. Additionally, if we had time, we would have paid the children's fees to the Kidseum. Us adults would have been free.

PARKING
Free public parking is available on Main Street close to the freeways. My husband thought it was a little sketchy at first, however, we didn't have any issues. It is a bit unkempt. Looks like a hangout spot for kids after school. It's just a short walk down the sidewalk and across the street to the Bowers. The museum parking lot charges $6.

OVERALL
The museum is honestly smaller than I anticipated, but the staff was friendly. Plus, the restrooms were clean and the temporary Frida gift shop was cute.

Happy summer Yelping, y'all!

#586
2017 Yelp Challenge 52/100

WOW!!! Came here for the Guo Pei exhibit and was beyond impressed with this museum. It's beautifully laid out and the Pacific Islander Cultural exhibit is TOP NOTCH.
While I gave it five stars, because I really think this is an 'as good as it gets' kind of museum, I had some minor gripes:

1. $6 parking although I didn't inspect how easy it would be to get street parking - this plus $15 entry starts to get a lil bit expensive (although the Getty has free admission, it gouges you with the $20 parking LOL.. the Getty also has a huge endowment, to be fair)
2. The Guo Pei exhibit, while fantastic, really could have used more information. We looked up the website they advised to see 'more information', but there really wasn't any more information. Just a date and a high level on what materials were used. That was kind of a bummer - I wanted to know a lot more about each piece (inspiration, more details on what went into the making, etc).
3. Museum closes at 4. I wish it stayed open until 5 for non-morning people that drive down from LA.

The Pacific Islander exhibit had tons of information and really told the story. The gemstones exhibit was really nice. The museum closes at 4 pm so we didn't have time to check out the rest of the museum or appreciate the lovely grounds. We did like the singing rock :)

I look forward to going back. This is a fantastic museum!

Just say no to this museum unless they have a cool special exhibit going on.
The mummy exhibit from a few years ago is really awesome, real mummies that you'll have to go overseas to see.
For the regular museum, it's super small. You can see everything in less than an hour. Their exhibits are very boring and don't make much sense. Not many videos or truly interesting info or artifacts.
The museum decor is nothing that great.
To top it off, the admission is expensive and parking cost money too. This is not downtown Los Angeles!
Will never return.

I had a great experience with both their free family events and temporary exhibits.
Free family events is great to get the community involved and especially the children.
Then their temporary exhibits are amazing to go and see with a friend.

It's a small museum, but has a nice selection of art, rocks, and sculptures. The Pacific Islander exhibit had a lot of variety and was my favorite too look at. Definitely recommend stopping by if you are in the mood to do something out of the ordinary in Orange County!

Hidden gem in Santa Ana. I'm really sad I didn't know about this museum until today. My girlfriend invited me to join her because she wanted to see Guo Pei the fashion designers collection. It was a fantastic and truly exceptional display. This is a limited exhibit that ends middle of July 2019. Entrance fee can be bought online or at the museum. Adult $15. There are senior and student ( with ID) discount too. They will apply the entrance fee towards an annual pass if you want to purchase it the same day. The permanent exhibits are worth exploring too. The Gemstone carvings, Spirit hunters and Ancient arts of China. We didn't allow enough time to see the entire museum this time. We only saw half the museum because we spent too much time looking at the special exhibit. I think you can spend at least 4 hours here. Not including eating at their restaurant, Tangata which will validate the $6 parking fee. Just make sure you show the valet the ticket ( with validation) and get a refund before he leaves for the day! I dilly dallied after closing time to take additional pics outside and the valet guy had already left. Oh well...
Stop by the museum store. Lots of goodies for purchase. Can't wait to go back. My friend was so impressed, she got an annual pass (duo). If her husband can't go, she is allowed to bring a plus one.

I'm always delighted when I visit this museum. Their permanent exhibits are remarkable but their temporary exhibits are exquisite. The museum store has an exceptional inventory of items that would satisfy most discriminating taste. The museum's restaurant should be included in your visit.

An absolutely fantastic museum in Santa Ana with a lot of great history. I come here again and again to see the beautiful artifacts and exhibits. The gemstone carvings display by Harold Van Pelt is a classic that I always enjoy admiring as well as the artifacts of the First Californians. I love how alive the Pacific Islanders exhibit is and how transported you feel once you're inside. A recent exhibit that opened that I really loved was the watercolor art by Arthur Beaumont.

Also, I enjoy conversing with the curators at Bowers. They're always very knowledgeable, genuinely enjoy history, and happy to guide you to where you want to go! Overall, I find this museum fascinating and a great place to spend time with friends and family.