North County Arts & Culture in June

May 30, 2012 - PRLog -- (SAN DIEGO) May 30, 2012 – If you are looking for something fun to do this June, then take a drive up the coast and experience arts and culture in North County. Six North County San Diego institutions are presenting the second annual North County Arts & Culture in June, a month-long opportunity for the public to enjoy half-off admission at the following six participating museums: California Surf Museum, Lux Art Institute, Museum of Making Music, Oceanside Museum of Art, San Diego Botanic Garden and San Diego Children's Discovery Museum.

Recognizing the mutual need to bring awareness to the growing cultural bounty that North County offers, the six participating organizations joined forces to create the North County Arts & Culture Coalition (NCAC). The group subsequently conceived the idea of a month-long, promotional event that would offer visitors half-off admission.  
How the program works: Visitors will present a special North County Arts & Culture in June Passport at each museum they wish to visit in order to take advantage of the discount. The free passport will be available at Westfield Plaza Camino Real Mall in Carlsbad, Westfield North County in Escondido and is available for download at http://www.northcountyartsandculture.org. For directions to the Westfield shopping center nearest to you, visit Westfield.com.  The passport will also be available for pick-up at the participating institutions, and guests will have the additional option of presenting the passport by displaying it on their smartphones to admissions desk staff. One passport will be good for up to four (4) people in a group and will be valid for one visit to each museum during June 2012.

Who is involved?
•   California Surf Museum (CSM):
Location & Hours:
312 Pier View Way, Oceanside, Calif.  
(760) 721-6876
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with extended hours on Thursdays to 8 p.m.
$5 for adults, $3 for seniors, students and military. Admission is free for kids under 12, CSM members and every Tuesday.  
Please visit the web site at surfmuseum.org.

Founded in 1986, CSM actively collects documents and preserves surfing-related artifacts and memorabilia. Through rotating historical exhibits and a variety of cultural events, CSM presents the many facets of surfing to the public.

•   LUX ART INSTITUTE:
Location & Hours:
1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas, Calif.
(760) 436-6611
Open Thursday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m.; and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$5 ticket good for two visits. Free for Lux Members & guests under 21 years of age.
Please visit www.luxartinstitute.org for more information.

San Diego’s first LEED certified, interactive, contemporary art destination, Lux invites visitors to not only “see art,” but also to “see art happen.” Through June 30th, guests can observe and engage with Russian-born painter Alex Kanevsky as he works in the Lux Studio, and, until July 28, view his loosely representational figures, landscapes and still-lifes, which originate in reality, but layer by layer blur into abstraction, reflecting the artist's changing perception of the world.

•   Museum of Making Music:  
Location & Hours:
5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad, Calif.
(760) 438-5996
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is $8; $5 for students, seniors & military. Children age 5 and under receive free admission.
Please visit www.museumofmakingmusic.org for more information.

Founded in 1998 by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), the Museum of Making Music was developed to showcase and celebrate the music products industry. Soon thereafter, in March 2000, the museum was opened to the public. For over ten years, the museum has provided opportunities for cultural enrichment while preserving our musical heritage through special exhibitions, innovative concerts and educational programs aimed toward a wide range of audiences. On permanent display are hundreds of vintage instruments, audio and video clips and a vibrant interactive area. Organized chronologically, each gallery features the historic milestones, popular music and instruments of those eras. A snapshot of music business practices and nostalgic re-creations of music stores provide a glimpse into the music products industry. Special exhibitions are presented twice a year with concurrent music presentations and workshops highlighting renowned international and national musicians as well as local talent. The museum believes in broad-based educational programming and providing accessible instructional experience to students of all ages and backgrounds.

•   Oceanside Museum of Art:
Location & Hours:
704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, Calif.
(760) 435-3720
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission is $8, $5 for seniors and free for students and military.
Please visit www.oma-online.org for more information.

Opened in 1995, Oceanside Museum of Art educates and inspires through a unique range of diverse engaging exhibitions and programs that connect people with regional, national and global artists and art forms. The museum is located within walking distance from the Oceanside transit center with Amtrak, Coaster, Sprinter and Metrolink stops.  

•   San Diego Botanic Garden:  
Location & Hours:
230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, Calif.
(760) 436-3036
Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Please visit www.sdbgarden.org for more information.

Explore four miles of garden trails; enjoy restful vistas, flowering trees, majestic palms, and the nation’s largest bamboo collection. Thanks to our mild climate, plants from all over the world thrive here. Our diverse topography provides a variety of microclimates giving the visitor a sensation of going from a desert environment to a tropical rainforest, all within 37 acres.
•   San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum (SDCDM):
Location & Hours:
320 N. Broadway, Escondido, Calif.
(760) 233-7755
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with extended hours until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Admission is $6 for children and adults, children under 12 months are free. SDCDM offers a Military Family Discount of $3 per person with valid military I.D. and a group rate of $5 per person.
For more information on exhibits and daily programs, please visit sdcdm.org.

San Diego Children's Discovery Museum’s mission is to inspire children to learn about our world through exploration, imagination and experimentation. Serving children ages 10 and under, SDCDM focuses on these critical years of child development while also encouraging families to learn together. Through professionally designed exhibit spaces and programs, children engage a wide range of concepts about science and world cultures. Whether children are playing musical instruments, putting on costumes to perform, discovering history in an archeological dig box, learning about the amazing world of plants and insects or building structures out of recycled materials, children are able to combine learning with creativity for an educational experience all their own.