The Return Of MoPA

After being shuttered for a yearlong expansion, the Museum of Photographic Arts will make an impressive re-debut next month

After a yearlong remodeling and expansion project, visitors can take a look at the new Museum of Photographic Arts when it returns to Balboa Park on March 4. The 17-year-old museum closed last February for a $5.8 million renovation and expansion project to quadruple its space from 7,500 square feet to 31,225 square feet. An extra $1.5 million allotted for the remodeling will go into MoPA's endowment fund.     Designed by architect David Raphael singer, the expanded museum boasts broad exhibition galleries, a state-of-the-art theater and a learning center with a comprehensive library. The five galleries have more than doubled the exhibition space to 4,800 square feet, allowing the museum to present multiple exhibitions in addition to the permanent collection.     Skylights illuminate the David C. Copley Atrium, which welcomes guests to the new museum. The 2,400-square-foot special event area will be used for receptions, openings and member events with a capacity of 180 seated and 300 to 600 standing.     The 2,100-square-foot, 238-seat Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre will allow the museum to screen everything from silent films to modern movies, video and slide projection to computer-generated images. Major film series and presentations from visiting directors, actors and cinematographers are in the works.     A classroom, print viewing room, library and auditorium comprise MoPA's new Mandell Weiss Learning Center. Scholars, artists and educators can conduct research at the 2,400-square-foot Dr. Edmund L. and Nancy K. Dubois Library, which houses a 20,000-volume library gift from Los Angeles arts patron Nancy Dubois and has a 27,000-volume capacity.     Other new or expanded features to the museum are a catering kitchen, a 40-seat boardroom, two small meeting rooms, the 1,200-square-foot museum store, two climate-controlled vaults totaling 350 square feet and a 5,000-square-foot workshop. The museum has 27 full-time and eight part-time employees and a $2 million annual budget.     To celebrate the reopening, those employees have planned inaugural events and film and photography programs highlighting the work of notable artists. An inaugural gala on Feb. 26 and a grand reopening on Feb. 27 are two events slated for capital campaign donors and members. Everyone is invited to open houses with free admission set for March 4 and 5 from noon to 5 p.m.     On view until May 29, the new MoPA's first exhibit is "Expanded Vision: Highlights from the Permanent Collection." The largest permanent collection photography exhibition of the museum's history, "Expanded Vision" features more than 220 images by 70 photographers spanning the history of the art form. Three film series will christen the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theater: "In Glorious Technicolor," "A Century of Cinema: Movies on Movies" and "MoPA Rocks." For admission, schedules and further information, call (619) 238-7559. ***     Ellen Efsic is the new deputy director of institutional advancement at the San Diego Museum of Art. She is in charge of SDMA's membership, development, marketing and public relations departments in her newly created position. Since 1997, Efsic served as the director of development and community relations at the Madison Art Center in Madison. And at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, new executive director Allan Palmer takes office this month. Palmer has been curator of the museum since 1996, prior to which he served five years as executive director of the Hawaii Army Museum Society. He succeeds Edwin D. McKellar Jr., who is retiring after 20 years with the Aerospace Museum. ***     To celebrate the importance of African-American culture during February, several Balboa Park organizations present exhibitions and music honoring Black History Month. Quilts or photographic documentation of quilting made by local African-Americans are displayed on a weekly rotating basis when the San Diego Historical Society & Research Archives presents "A Communion of the Spirits: African American Quilters, Preservers and Their Stories" through June 4. Also included in the exhibition are 200 photographs, 40 customized quilted mattes for framed images, and information on well-known quilt makers such as Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou and Alice Walker. Meanwhile, in an expansion of its display dedicated to black inventors, the San Diego Automotive Museum provides little-known facts on important achievements, both historic and modern, of African-Americans in race-car driving. Finally, civic organist Robert Plimpton teams up with the 20-member San Diego State University African Ensemble on Feb. 27 to present a concert of traditional dances and drumming using authentic dress and instruments. The performance, which takes place at 2 p.m. in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, spotlights the various ethnic groups of West Africa and African/Afro-American organ music. ***     Professionals and garden enthusiasts alike are invited to take part in a Japanese garden study seminar, "Study in Stone," Feb. 19 through 21 at the newly renovated Japanese Friendship Garden. The seminar features lectures, hands-on workshops and presenters such as Marc Keane and Tokushirou Tamane from Kyoto, Japan; Professor Lennox Tierney and Professor Takeo Uesugi. Dennis Makishima, Glenn Koyama and Kinya Hira teach workshops. At $395, the three-day professional seminar focuses on building a dry waterfall and dry stream beds in addition to advanced pine tree pruning. Participants in the two-day garden enthusiasts' seminar learn about stone pathways and water basins, pond making and beginning pine tree pruning for $225. Call (619) 232-2721 or visit niwa.org for more.

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