The Museum of Us is open Wednesday through Sunday. We will be closed on Monday, April 1, per our usual business hours. Plan Your Visit

Two hands holding a smart phone. On the phone is an image of a group of individuals standing in a group, with historic census racial demographics on their shirts.

Your journey at the Museum of Us doesn’t begin or end within the Museum’s walls. In fact, you don’t even need to be in San Diego to experience the Museum!

Check out virtual exhibits, programs, and resources available for you to enjoy anywhere – free of charge.

Virtual Exhibits

Google Arts & Culture

Google Arts & Culture is a virtual platform that brings the world’s arts, and culture online through new technologies and curated exhibits with high-resolution images and videos.

Visit the Museum of Us Google Arts & Culture page for virtual exhibits on:

A vintage black and white photo of the Museum of Us façade. The nine colonizers etched into the Museum's exterior architecture are called out by white rectangles overlaid their statues.

Colonial Legacy: the Museum’s Façade

Take a closer look at the façade of the California Building, where the Museum of Us operates. Its intricate and ornate decoration hides a complex history of colonization and violence.

Person installing signage on a scissor lift outside the museum announcing the museum's name change.

Becoming "Us"

Evolve with “Us” on a virtual trip through time. Learn how the Museum of Us came to be, and what it represents today.

Combined photos of half of two individuals' faces, making a complete face. The individual on the left has brown eyes and brown skin, the individual on the right has blue eyes and white skin.

Race: Are We So Different?

The first of a three-part “Race: Are We So Different?” exhibit explains the origins of race and racism, and helps us understand how to deal with them in productive, enlightening ways.

Vintage photograph of teenager Elizabeth Eckford with snarling white parents following as she is turned away from entering Central High School by Arkansas National Guardsmen.

Race: Are We So Different? – Race and Education

Part two of the three-part series, this exhibit looks to understand how racism has been and currently is embedded in institutions such as education and schooling.

A white house with the windows boarded up with the words "HELP!! FORECLOSURE" painted on the exterior.

Race: Are We So Different? – Social Stratification

Part three of the three-part ‘Race: Are We So Different?’ exhibit aims to highlight how social stratification intersects with race to create significant impacts on how we experience our lives.

Smithsonian Learning Lab

The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a free, interactive platform for accessing millions of authentic digital resources, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian's expansive community of knowledge and learning.

Delve into the digital collections created by Smithsonian Affiliate Digital Learning and Engagement Interns at the Museum of Us. Digital collections are intended to serve as a resource for both personal and curriculum development.

A group of individuals sit scattered on the desert ground while one standing individual points off to the distance. White text overlayed the blue sky reads, "Indigenizing Science: A conversation with the non-profit Native Explorers".

Indigenizing Science: Exploring with Native Explorers
By Shahad Salman

This collection focuses on what Indigenizing science means and looks like through highlighting the “Native Explorers” program. Learn why the integration of culture, and specifically Indigenous culture and ways of knowing, into science curriculum is essential to cultivate more comprehensive and truthful science education.

A digital graphic features a black and white drawn image of a colonial clipper ship at sea. Title text reads, "Colonial Mascots, From Braves to Clippers". The Smithsonian Affiliate logo is on the bottom left corner and the Museum of Us logo is on the bottom right corner.

Colonial Mascots: From Braves to Clippers
By Jacob Pribilsky

This collection examines colonial legacies and processes through the lens of a professional men’s basketball team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Interact with the images, questions, and videos embedded in this exhibit to learn more about what it means to “be a Clipper.”

A digital graphic depicts a green text box that reads in white text, "A History of US Policy Around the Mexico Border: Grassroots Struggle in the Borderlands, Understanding the Hostile Terrain Caused by the American Enforcement of the Southern Border". The Museum of Us logo is in the bottom right corner. The text box is overlayed an image of a desert landscape and fence.

The Hostile Terrain Caused by the American Enforcement of the Southern Border
(English) | (Español)
By Laura Rosado

This collection includes an educational timeline on contemporary policies and relations at the United States-Mexico border, collectives and organizations that facilitate the grassroots resistance that developed in border towns, and pedagogical strategies for educators teaching about the border.

PostSecret.com

Check out the online blog that inspired the exhibit! Visit PostSecret.com for fresh secrets uploaded every Sunday by PostSecret founder Frank Warren. Viewer discretion is advised.

Virtual Programs

Reclaiming Wellness: Our Connection to Land, Tradition, and Art

Reclaiming Wellness is the first, virtual series of CONVERSATIONS that unpacks and breaks down the complexities and assumptions surrounding diverse methods of expression and engagement, and its influence on our health.

Join us as we move beyond the dominant cultural narrative to explore our connection to land, tradition, and art — and how it personally and communally impacts all of us.

CONVERSATIONS is a public programming initiative by the Museum of Us that brings topics from across the span of human cultures into community conversations for a shared understanding of the full human experience.

A gray digital graphic promoting a webinar series titled, "Conversations - Reclaiming Wellness: Outdoors". Around 4 black and white photos of the speakers, white text reads, "Our connection to land, tradition, and art." The four speakers are, Marc Chavez of Native Like Water, Amath Diouf of Melanin Base Camp, Dr. Mellissa Linton-Villafranco of Latino Outdoors, and Arya Tenzin Namdol of Ronsbikes.com. The program was held on May 19, 2021 and sponsored by The California Endowment and City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture.

Reclaiming Wellness: Outdoors
Feat. Marc Chavez, Dr. Mellissa Linton-Villafranco, Amath Diouf, and Arya Tenzin Namdol

A conversation on the joys and struggles QTBIPOC communities face in the outdoors. Panelists active within adventure sports and outdoor programming discuss the intersections of race, gender, and other structural oppressions and their effects on our relationships with nature and land.

Watch & Learn More

A blue digital graphic promoting a webinar series titled, "Conversations - Reclaiming Wellness: Birthwork". Above 3 black and white photos of the speakers, white text reads, "Our connection to land, tradition, and art." The three speakers are, Tema Mercado of La Matriz Birth, Rochelle Vincent of Lotus Birth & BodyWorks, and Rhonda Lee Grantham of Center for Indigenous Midwifery. The program was held on April 23, 2021 and sponsored by The California Endowment and City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture.

Reclaiming Wellness: Birthwork
Feat. Rochelle Vincent, Tema Mercado, and Rhonda Lee Grantham

A conversation with holistic birth-care panelists about the process of birthing beyond hospital walls. Panelists converse about the ways community-centered practices and pathways prioritize the integral wellness of child-bearers, children, and community.

Watch & Learn More

A light blue digital graphic promoting a webinar series titled, "Conversations - Reclaiming Wellness: Our connection to land, tradition, and art." Above a black and white photo of the speaker, red text reads, “Decolonizing Aerosol Art with Chor Boogie.” The program was held on November 11, 2020 and sponsored by The California Endowment and City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture.

Decolonizing Aerosol Art
Feat. Chor Boogie

An educational campaign that raises awareness about the true cultural roots of aerosol art or “Style Writing” in America, which first evolved in NYC as a form of resistance to oppression and coded communication within marginalized communities of color.

Watch & Learn More

A light blue digital graphic promoting a webinar series titled, "Conversations - Reclaiming Wellness: Our connection to land, tradition, and art." Red text next to a silhouetted figure writing reads, “East Coast, West Coast: A Conversation Around Aerosol Art Misconceptions with Chor Boogie, COCO144, and Sake One.” The program was held on November 13, 2020 and sponsored by The California Endowment and City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture.

East Coast, West Coast: A Conversation Around Aerosol Art Misconceptions
Feat. COCO144 (NYC), Sake One (SD), and Chor Boogie (SF)

A conversation between aerosol artists from different corners of the United States, who share the same love, respect, and connection to aerosol art. Artists discuss some of the myths and misconceptions that surround aerosol, and how they navigate the field.

Watch & Learn More

Thank you to our “CONVERSATIONS” series supporters:

San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture logo; The California Endowment logo

Looking for more virtual programs and videos? Vist our YouTube page for exclusive Museum of Us content!

Virtual Resources

Whose land do you reside on?

Search an interactive map to learn about the Indigenous land you reside on, and learn more about territory acknowledgments with Native Land Digital.

Museum of Us Blog

Stay up-to-date with the Museum of Us by visiting our blog and subscribing to our mailing list! You’ll be the first to know about exciting updates, interesting resources, behind-the-scenes content, and more.

UnderstandingRace.com

Learn how prevailing ideas in science, government, and culture intersected throughout history to shape our concept of race today on UnderstandingRace.com.

The Museum of Us recognizes that it sits on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Kumeyaay Nation. The Museum extends its respect and gratitude to the Kumeyaay peoples who have lived here for millennia.

The Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

1350 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101

Affiliations & Memberships:San Diego Museum Council logoCharity Navigator Four Star Charity logoBalboa Park Cultural Partnership Collaborative for Arts, Science and Culture logoAmerican Alliance of Museums logoSmithsonian Affiliate logoInternational Coalition of Sites of Conscience logo
Financial support provided by:San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture logo
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