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San Diego Air & Space Museum
This building was conceived by famous industrial designer / architect Charles Dorwin Teague in the dominant architectural style of the day, art deco. Its rounded interior display areas provide an ideal backdrop in which the Ford Motor Company could display its latest line of automobiles. The building contains a massive mural, another Juan Larrinaga design, depicting the progression of transportation throughout the ages and into a Hollywood-science fiction-matinee-inspired future. The mural; recessed, neon exterior lighting; a V-8 courtyard fountain; and numerous other features have been restored over the years. An open, sail-like covering, similar to that used in the San Diego Convention Center, was recently added to protect the vintage aircraft in the interior courtyard and to provide a unique venue for large receptions and private parties. Two historically-significant military aircraft, an A-12 Blackbird spy plane and a Convair Sea Dart, greet visitors as they approach the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
San Diego Automotive Museum
This building served as the California State Building during the second exposition. It was once adorned with colorful canvas murals created by Juan Larrinaga. A more Spartan building now remains housing the San Diego Automotive Museum. The museum showcases the dominant transportation vehicle of the 20th century, with rotating displays from other automobile exhibitors, as well as classics from their own permanent collection.
San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is one of the country's leading art institutions, with approximately 500,000 visitors annually. The museum's holdings include notable collections of Italian Renaissance, Dutch and Spanish Old Masters, Asian art, South Asian paintings, as well as comprehensive examples of American art, nineteenth-century European paintings, twentieth-century paintings and sculptures, a world-renowned collection of Indian paintings and the Frederick R. Weisman Gallery for Contemporary California Art. The Museum is host to major touring exhibitions and offers a complete, year-round schedule of performances, concerts, lectures, gallery talks, and films.
San Diego Museum of Man (California Tower)
The San Diego Museum of Man is a museum of anthropology with some of the greatest treasures in the city. Each exhibit is another chapter in the fascinating story of mankind and displays part of the Museum of Man's unique collection of artifacts, folklore, and physical remains. Learn about ancient Egypt and native cultures of the Western Americas. In living displays, demonstrators share their skills with visitors. Wednesdays through Sundays, tortillas are made in the traditional Mexican manner and an Oaxacan weaver demonstrates spinning and the floor loom. Youngsters of all ages can now explore the mysteries of ancient Egypt at the museum's innovative Children's Discovery Center.