San Diego's Best Arts & Cultural Attractions: Cutting-Edge Galleries to World-Class Opera

"San Diego is so fortunate to be the home of Malashock Dance," says Sonya Quintanilla, a curator at the San Diego Museum of Art. "Emmy-award winning artistic director John Malashock sensitively incorporates a deep appreciation for a variety of world cultures in collaborative projects that result in spectacular dance performances."  In addition to celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2008, the contemporary troupe moved into Dance Place San Diego, a new, state-of-the-art center housing three dance groups. It's located in a renovated historic building at the NTC Promenade, the former Naval Training Center that has been converted into a multi-venue complex for the arts, culture, science and technology. Check out Malashock's Website for upcoming performances, and try to book in advance as they have many admirers. "Of all the dance companies in San Diego, we absolutely prefer Malashock Dance," says Rebecca Gaffney, who, along with her business partner Mia Saling, owns Red Letter Days Events, one of the city's top wedding and party planning businesses. "The company produces and presents work that is innovative, attention grabbing, and thought provoking." Great news for local dance buffs, especially kids, is that Malashock now has a dance school offering an array of classes for children, teens, adults and professional dancers.

"The San Diego Museum of Art is a world-class art museum where you can have the sublime experience that you can only get when surrounded by great art," says Sonya Quintanilla, the SDMA's curator of Asian art. "There's always a rich variety in the exhibitions from which visitors can draw inspiration and become enriched in history and ideas from many ages and cultures. In the Asian Court, don't miss the image of the wrathful goddess while hearing a Tibetan Buddhist monk chant her invocation. A little-known fact is that the SDMA has one of the world's greatest collections of paintings from India, located in an intimate gallery on the second floor. Also worthy of note is that the museum offers art classes for adults and kids, and they have special seasonal programs, such as the Winter Break Workshops during which kids can keep busy making art during the holiday break. The teachers at SDMA's art school provide winter workshops that last all day, and that explore many media and themes. My seven-year-old loved them last year. Not only did she come home with sculptures, books, and prints that she had made, but she also grew a new love for and understanding of the many ways art can be made."

"I adore both locations that house the Museum of Contemporary Art, downtown and La Jolla," says Mia Saling of Red Letter Days Events. Founded in La Jolla 1941, the original location occupies the the former residence of Ellen Browning Scripps of the Scripps newspaper family, a cliff-top estate overlooking the ocean. In the '90s, MCASD opened an outpost downtown, but the big news is the new, second downtown location, a glittery, new building designed by architect Richard Gluckman, who designed the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Museo Picasso Malaga in Spain. The contemporary, three-story building has 30,000 more square feet of program and exhibition space, new outdoor exhibition facilities, and an artist-in-residence studio. All of MCAD's locations display pieces from its permanent collection of more than 4,000 works of various mediums, including photography and film, and different genres, such as Pop art, Latin American art, and pieces by artists from San Diego and Tijuana. Film connoisseurs can see cutting-edge films at the La Jolla branch, which also has a lovely sculpture garden and an outdoor cafe terrace—a stunning spot for lunch overlooking the ocean. For a fun mix of nightlife and culture, head to the new downtown location on the first Thursday of every month (excluding January) for "Thursday Night Thing," a series of artsy evenings which may include slide jams, DJ lessons, live music, poetry readings, artists' lectures and video projections.

To get a taste of San Diego's regional art scene, visit Limbo Fine Art Gallery in Hillcrest, a cutting-edge contemporary art gallery that features renowned and up-and-coming artists from Southern California, as well as painters from elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad. The gallery is open only on weekends, and otherwise by appointment, but it's also often open on weeknight and weekend evenings for special events, performance art, live music or DJ shows and exhibit openings—which are quite a scene, so be sure to call ahead to see what's on. "Limbo Fine Art Gallery rocks!" enthuses local party and event planner Mia Saling.

"Dizzy's is for the jazz aficionado who loves music as much as breathing," says local culture vulture Rebecca Gaffney. While the club's original warehouse location on 7th Avenue undergoes a complete renovation, Dizzy's jazz artists hold court five blocks away at it's interim venue, the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center, located on the ground floor of the Harbor Club Towers (the hard-to-find entrance is on the back side of the building). Frankly, we like this set-up better, because now the audience can order from the culinary center's menu of fine wine and delicious small plates! Dizzy's shows are open to all ages, even children. For a fun experience, why not arrive by trolley? Take the orange line to the Convention Center station, which stops directly in front of the Culinary Center. Groovy!

"Garden in full, and artistic in feel, the Quail Botanical Gardens is our favorite spot for sculpture and nature—very different from anything else you'd experience in the area," say both Rebecca Gaffney and Mia Saling of Red Letter Days Events, a top local wedding and party planning firm. Located 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego, in Encinitas, California, the estate has a manifold mission of preserving rare plant species, acting as a wildlife preserve, and educating both children and adults on conservation, landscaping and gardening through its tours, nature walks, lectures and hands-on classes. On a sunny day, you can't beat Quail as a tranquil excursion. Spend a day exploring its 35 acres of exhibits, including rare bamboo groves, desert gardens, a tropical rainforest, California native plants, Mediterranean climate landscapes, the Undersea Succulent Garden, a Mexican garden featuring horticulture form south-of-the-border, and a subtropical fruit garden. It also has the West Coast's first interactive garden just for children. Naturally, the gardens are a lovely spot for an afternoon wedding, so if you're a bride planning a celebration there, be sure to ask Rebecca and Mia to help you out!

This is a real local insider tip for an underground artsy experience! "The 4x4 Performance Series at the Bluefoot Bar & Lounge in North Park/South Park is unbelievably cool," says Rebecca Gaffney. "It was founded by my friend, Jeremy Gaucher, and gives performance artists of all genres ten minutes to explode on a 4 foot by 4 foot stage. Inspiring and a good time every time!" The monthly event is curated by BOUND, a cutting-edge dance and performing arts group, and takes place in the back lounge of Bluefoot Bar, a local watering hole that supports the artistic community. Held the second Tuesday of every month at 8 p.m., the show attracts a standing-room crowd every time, so arrive early if you want a seat. Think you got some dance moves to show off in just ten minutes? Potential performing artists can contact BOUND's choreography director, Jillian Chu, at  info@BOUNDdance.com to inquire about getting in on the action. And on any given night, Bluefoot Bar is a relaxed place to drop in and check out what's going on in their "Attic," an upstairs gallery space that features something new every month, from painting to installation, and sculpture. Bluefoot hosts opening parties for its exhibits the last Thursday of every month from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Many locals don't even know about this hidden gem, which has only been open for eight years. "The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad is an absolute jewel," says Rebecca Gaffney. "It's fun and interesting for all ages." Funded by the foundation of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), the institutes's mission is to celebrate the rich history of American music making, and to engage and inspire future musicians with five galleries displaying over 500 vintage instruments, and an interactive area where visitors can make their own music. Kids and music lovers can spend hours listening to audio and video clips at the touch of a button and playing out their maestro fantasies by wearing headphones and playing a variety of hands-on instruments. In addition to the permanent collection, the museum hosts temporary special exhibits, focusing on certain instruments, musicians or genres of music.

A region with so many beaches, universities and top medical research institutes certainly needs great booksellers for all that beach reading and more. "Adams Avenue Bookstore is awesome if you're a bibliophile," says Rebecca Gaffney of Red Letter Days Events. "Old and out-of-print books—you can't go wrong." Open since 1965, the shop has shelves filled with general used books as well as rare and hard to find editions. With an inventory of 90,000 books in over 100 subject categories—many of them esoteric—there's a good chance they'll have whatever your seeking, although it might be hard for them to find it since their collection isn't fully catalogued and computerized. According to Lilly Ghahremani, the chic co-founder of San Diego's Full Circle Literary Agency, another top spot for bookworms is Warwick's in La Jolla, a century's-old family business that sells new books and hosts literary events, plus it stocks stationery, gifts, and art and office supplies. Lilly also recommends The Grove in South Park for its well-edited selection of fiction and non-fiction, children's stories, poetry, cookbooks and architecture and interior design titles. They sometimes host open mic nights for prose writers, and because the shop also features yarn and sewing supplies, they offer knitting and crochet classes too! Lilly appreciates the helpful service at both shops: "Who doesn't love a bookstore where you can wander and get personalized recommendations?"

If you visit San Diego between January and mid-May, an absolute must is attending a performance at the world-renowned San Diego Opera. Founded in 1950, the prestigious company performs at the downtown Civic Center, and presents five major productions each season, accompanied by the San Diego Symphony. The sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the opera attracts top international singers, directors, set designers and conductors. In addition to presenting such classics as Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Verdi's Rigoletto and Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, the company also makes a point to feature contemporary works by American composers, and they also produce works for children. Not to be missed!