The San Diego Museum of Art is a repository for more than 11,000 objects of art. It is one of the finest museums on the West Coast.

Two major expansions – one in 1966 that added the west wing, a second in 1974 that added the east wing – more than doubled the exhibition space. Since 1978 the facility has been the beneficiary of some major-league donations and bequests. It regularly displays important traveling exhibits; and as of 2006 it boasted annual visitors of more than 400,000.

Today, the permanent collections of San Diego Museum of Art hold more than 11,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures, artefacts, and other art objects spanning 5000 B.C. to A.D. 2001. The museum has built up outstanding collection of American, Asian, and Indian art – thousands of objects ranging from ancient Buddhist sculptures to Japanese woodblock prints.