Bonita Museum & Cultural Center Getting A New Look

At the Sweetwater Valley Civic Association annual meeting in July, there was a presentation of some new outside art additions being considered for the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center located at 4355 Bonita Road.

“The Bonita Museum & Cultural Center houses the Bonita Historical Society and over 2,000 objects connected to our region. It is the largest museum in South Bay San Diego dedicated to documenting the art, history and culture of the Sweetwater Valley.  The nonprofit museum provides a thriving cultural center for local residents through a rotating selection of fine art sculpture, painting, photography, architecture, design and media arts, housed in two interior galleries and an outdoor area.  The museum has sound baffles, providing for optimal sound for exhibitions and performances.” 

—BonitaHistoricalSociety.org

Museum Board President Michael Cohen presented the ideas and said that the Museum leadership wanted to design a plan to make the building more visible to the public. They would like to add an updated, more colorful and interesting facade to the Museum tower and entry to attract attention. In addition to this, they plan to add sculptures inside the parking lot and along the sidewalks. Mr. Cohen passed around the shiny metal facing that is to be applied to the building. It is not flat but has designs cut into it that are then pulled out, making it three dimensional. The color to be used will be the blue sample and will change throughout the day as the sun moves over it. It is very shiny and bright but the reflection generated will not affect the traffic passing by.

The artist involved with applying the façade is Michael Leaf and he will be donating “Hercules”, the large hanging man to be placed in the center section of the parking lot. It’s my understanding that Michael’s artwork will be used at the start but that the museum hopes to attract national and international artists to display their work at the Museum as time goes on.

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