VISIT STOCKTON
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Stockton's arts scene is always family-friendly. The Children's Museum of Stockton also creates programming that captures the imagination of young people who form the foundation of future art appreciation and application. With over 40 wide-ranging exhibits that vary from a Nature Station to a News Station, each experience is focused on hands-on, experiential learning and play. The Children's Museum entertains and educates everyone who attends, including older siblings, parents, and grandparents.
Studies and common sense suggest that everyone can benefit from time among the arts, yet often visiting a gallery or attending a musical performance slips off our calendars as routine tasks dictate our days. The Stockton arts community allows us to embrace the benefit of aesthetic nourishment easily and economically. Whether we spend the day at the Children’s Museum, an afternoon admiring the brilliance of J.C. Leyendecker inside the Haggin Museum, or an evening at the Symphony or laughing at the theater, a visit to Stockton provides exciting opportunities to immerse ourselves and our families in the arts.
The LH Horton Jr. Gallery at San Joaquin Delta College provides yet another opportunity to admire and discuss contemporary art. The gallery’s mission, naturally geared toward students, remains “to build knowledge in the aesthetic, technical, cultural and historical context of the visual arts.” Visitors are also welcome to visit the gallery and engage with artwork that often includes photography and technology. The Goodwin Gallery and Mexican Heritage Center also encourage culture lovers to visit during receptions, workshops, and others. And the Stockton Cambodian Buddhist Temple invites visitors to explore the vibrant representation of one of the world’s major religions.
Music and theater in Stockton, led by the Stockton Symphony, are every bit as dynamic as the visual arts. The 3rd oldest, longest consecutively performing orchestra in California, the Stockton Symphony hosts an Annual Series that includes five classic programs and a four-concert pop series. The Symphony performs in the acoustically pleasing Warren Atherton Auditorium to consistent sellouts.
The Haggin’s dedication to pop art exhibitions, in addition to more familiar traditional presentations, encourages us to look closely at our aesthetic surroundings. The exhibit, Luster: Realism & Hyperrealism in Contemporary Automobile & Motorcycle Painting, looks closely at how our fascination with automobiles helps define who we are. Rock ‘n’ Roll and Fast Cars adds music to the machine mix with over 30 images curated by Martyn Goddard from his archives. Goddard is well-known among celebrity photographers who have captured celebrity and culture over the past five decades.
The Haggin is regularly cited as the top visitor destination in Stockton; however, there are several other options for getting one's art fix. The Reynolds Gallery at the University of the Pacific hosts a dynamic, ever-changing series of exhibitions that are supplemented with lectures and workshops in an attempt to engender student and regional discussions. The Words, Tones, Notions exhibit, for example, features the career of Czech artist Alena Nievaldová, who transitioned from book to CD illustration over her forty-year career, providing a wonderful opportunity to discuss the role of media in our world.
J. C. Leyendecker remains the museum’s star artist, and many visitors don’t even realize they have seen his work before, though there it is, on cereal boxes and 322 Saturday Evening Post covers. The artist, who emigrated from Germany as a teenager, not only established the visual American “dream” we associate with the Post, he also created some of the first idealized versions of the American male and the American child. His work continues to resonate with museum visitors and foster conversations about the role of popular commercial art in historical and contemporary society.
The Haggin Museum can stand beside any art museum in America, an outstanding collection complemented by a forward-thinking exhibition schedule. Pieces from the museum’s permanent collection of 19th-century art have been displayed in many other galleries, including the White House. Renowned painter Albert Bierstadt's Yosemite landscapes remain the foundation of the collection, but there is also work by Thomas Moran, Julia Rix, and others. European masters are represented by Bonheur and Renoir, among others.
Even though we often assume that all the nation’s art, music, and theater resides in our largest cities, there are small cities all over America that offer unique cultural opportunities. Whether one is attending summer stock in Williamstown, Massachusetts or listening to the symphony in Eugene, Oregon, there are myriad towns that may not make the headlines, but still produce exceptional talent on canvas, in auditoriums, and on the boards.
Stockton, California is one such example, home to an impressive art collection at the Haggin Museum; the Stockton Symphony, a professional orchestra; and the Stockton Civic Theater, a marquee that features popular plays like Matilda: The Musical and August: Osage County. A weekend visit to Stockton reveals these stars and many others, with surrounding amenities that, like the shows, are priced very reasonably when compared to similar tickets in our glitzier, higher-priced cities.
Stockton Strikes Gold with Diverse Arts Offerings
visit Stockton
"The Haggin Museum can stand beside any art museum in America, an outstanding collection complemented by a forward-thinking exhibition schedule."
Like the Haggin Museum and other local arts organizations, the Stockton Symphony emphasizes cultural accessibility by scheduling interesting programs and offering a variety of ticket options, including the “Pick 3,” which enables you to purchase any three performances from the eight concerts. A Beethoven lover can catch the performance of the maestro’s complete Symphony No. 7 and still get a little diva on during "Bette, Babs, and Beyond," a musical tribute to Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, and other chanteuses.
Founded 69 years ago, the Stockton Civic Theater (SCT) shares in this legacy and colorful calendar of live arts. From musicals to drama, SCT puts up exciting and affordable evenings with favorite shows that include Gypsy and It’s Only a Play. The shows are just one exciting feature this year: SCT has completely renovated its main stage to support the actors physically, expand the staging, and enhance the live theatrical magic. Seeing a live performance with the Symphony at SCT or gallery exhibit in Stockton won’t break the bank, nor will it require hours of commuting in heavy traffic to and from the entertainment.
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05 | Stockton Symphony
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04 | Stockton Civic Theater
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03 | The Children's Museum of Stockton
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02 | Stockton's Cambodian Buddhist Temple
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01 | Stockton's Cambodian Buddhist Temple
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