San Luis Obispo Museum of Art

The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art may be small and cozy, but it’s definitely worth a visit. The exhibits make great use of the space, showcasing interesting and thoughtful works of art. We especially appreciated that there was even a fun section for kids to enjoy themselves, which made the experience more family-friendly. It doesn’t take long—about 10–15 minutes to see everything—but it’s a must-see stop in downtown SLO if you’re exploring the area.

Wow!! Small but mighty!! I’ve lived on the central coast for almost 30 years and have been visiting the museum throughout that time. In the past 5 years SLOMA has really upped its game! They went from a regional art center gallery(which was nice, but the county already has several of those), to a relevant contemporary art museum. They’re making incredible art from all over the world accessible to our central coast communities. I’m beyond grateful for this space. They also offer free art activities once a month for kids and families, and free exhibition related programming like workshops and panel discussions. If you visit between 5-8pm on the first Friday of the month there’s a free party with wine and DJ’s. It’s impressive how much this small institution positively impacts our slice of California. If I could give it a gazillion stars, I would!

A "gem" in Downtown San Luis Obispo! SLOMA should always be on your list to visit, whether you're local or just passing though. It's a small but very, very mighty museum with rotating exhibitions featuring work by an impressive range of artists - local, Californian, and even international. To be able to see art like this is a treat, to be able to see it for free is absolutely indulgent.

Their current building is musty, so I'm glad they are moving to the building where Ebony Cafe is currently located. That's a great space with a magical back patio on the creek. I hope SLO will have an excellent art museum soon, just like they have an excellent concert hall.

You are making a monumental mistake by kicking Ebony out of the Network and not inviting them to be the cafe in your new space. They are beautiful people who have made that space more beautiful than it's ever been. You forcing them to leave makes you look really bad.

Looked forward to go to this museum. The commercials showed beautiful art. I didn't realize it was only 2 rooms and the exhibits were minimal. I did appreciate that there was no charge to visit. We had wanted to go to children's museum but they wouldn't let us in without a child.

The Museum of Art has reopened. I was there on their reopening day. It was free, masks required and the front and back doors were open for ventilation. And it is very small so it’s easy to see everything in 10 minutes. The theme was the ocean and it was interesting especially the water feature. The wooden pieces on the other side with posh undergarments were odd. Good to support the arts and hopefully people will make a donation.

What a cool little modern museum! It's free and only two rooms but I loved the brightly colored everything that was on display when we went. Super cool.

This is a tiny museum, just a couple of rooms. The art was interesting, mostly one exhibit of Siji Krishnan who did some interesting prints, though it was a bit underwhelming since they were very similar. Another small exhibit of another artist who worked in fabric craft. It was pleasant, just not a lot to see. I could see this being a fun place for events. Also not sure how often they switch up the exhibits - might be more interesting if the artist was a favorite.

SLO Museum of Art is a small museum in downtown San Luis Obispo on the west end of Mission Plaza. Although there are only a few exhibitions at a given time, they do exhibit well-known and worldly artists' conventional works as well as of the contemporary art movements of abstract art, minimalist art, pop art, and surrealist art. SLOMA organizes community events, has docent lead tours, and free art-making events for kids & families. Visit SLOMA on the first Friday of each month from 5-8 pm for exhibition openings, music, and wines provided by regional winery partners. Admission is free, yet a small donation is always appreciated. SLOMA is open to the public every day except Tuesday and Wednesday. If you're visiting San Luis Obispo, it's worth the time to stop in and see what the museum has on exhibition.

I loved this space! I was encouraged to visit this museum by my friend, and I'm so glad I did. The entrance fee was $0 and I loved the heritage murals on the wall. Great local and historical art. Vibrant colors. The staff was sweet and the air conditioning was excellent. Highly recommend.

Has changed since the last time I came. There isn't much to it or anything that caught my interest, sadly. What I posted is what is there as of September 2024

So underwhelming. So underwhelmed. The entire museum only had like 34 painting or less! They put this place right near what I like to call a "homeless hangout". The art is good.

I am a big fan of the first Friday's and second Saturdays! Fun for all ages and completely free!

I strolled into the SLO Museum of Art to see what was new and was rewarded with a new ecologic show in the foyer. My eye was caught first by the large scale cyanotypes. Cyanotype is a process similar to photography that creates blue prints using a coated material and light. They are usually small scale prints, so these large paintings were intriguing. More so because they used the typical subject for a cyanotype, plants, and added the human figure to produce life-sized works of art. The works in the corner of the foyer by the same artist were also intriguing because they combined sound, nature and painted images to create a new environment. Vanessa Wallace-Gonzales uses natural elements to make interactive works that soothe and heal. In the main gallery is the work of Marela Zacarias who creates large sculptures in soft pastel colors that embody myths. Coatlicue's Return refers to the Aztec goddess who represents the powerful cycles of growth and destruction in nature. This small museum is expanding its boundaries to show work that explores some of the most avant-garde ideas in Contemporary Global art. Admission is free and the only challenge is finding nearby parking in the ever-evolving parking situation in downtown SLO.

San Luis Obispo has many small art museums across the city and this is one of the many in the downtown area. This is a free museum that is next to the history museum. It's not super big but there were a couple rooms of different kinds of exhibits. It's a nice place to stop by for a couple minutes if you're in the SLO area.

Street parking is pretty easy but you do have to pay through ParkMobile. My friend and I were visiting a few other local shops and stopped by here since we knew it was free entry. When you enter, you go to the left and talk to the (1) front desk staff and they explain in-depth about the exhibits displayed in the museum. It felt really welcoming. It's a pretty small museum so we spent around 15-20 minutes walking around looking at the exhibits. You can check out their website for their current or upcoming exhibitions! Definitely a hidden gem in SLO.

A free place to view local artist's work. Professional presentation, Nice attendant and tiny gift stand inside.

It doesn't surprise me that SLO has a thriving art scene. There's a cool creative vibe that circulates in this town, and we especially felt it at the Friday evening Farmers Market where all sorts of art was being sold amid the food stalls. That's why Jamie W. and I decided to stop by this free, compact contemporary art museum on the western end of Mission Plaza. We were strolling along San Luis Obispo Creek when we came upon the appropriately dubbed SLOMA. It consisted of three small gallery spaces populated by unique pieces like lacey brassieres suspended on undulating wood sculptures (photo). Yes, this museum serves the hip SLO community quite well. RELATED - Exploring California's Central Coast? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3zSyudU

Can't believe this downtown jewel is FREE. I love taking my grandkids. At a recent hands-on exhibit the 4 and 6 year old got to be "part of the art" with their own colors and observations. They LOVED it. And I love that on my own I can just drop in to take in the latest big gallery show. Always inspiring, often provocative and consistently surprising. What a gift.

Not bad for a free art museum - open 11AM to 5PM daily, street parking isn't too hard to find in the area, front desk staff were friendly. They seem to have three exhibits at any given time, along with an artist in residence studio upstairs that can sometimes be visited. SLO has a cool, creative vibe and that is also reflected in the featured exhibits. When we went around Labor Day, the first exhibit riffed on bioluminescence in nature for an interactive display for visitors to check out with blacklight flashlights. Other exhibits had models made out of paper and miniature houses with working lights. We were only here for about half an hour, so that should give you an idea of the size, but the work featured here was cool to see. Check their website for featured events and lectures, etc to schedule your visit around. Otherwise just pop in when in the area.

So we were told by another artist we definitely had to go to the museum. We hadn't been there in years so we ate nearby and walked around till it was open at 11. Sorry to say we were both disappointment, not much to look at. Go across the street and look in the two art galleries they're nicer.

Another amazing part of downtown SLO! The galleries are rotated out every three or four months we were told. Even though it is a tiny museum it is awesome to have such amazing art right here in SLO Cal.

Very cute museum. The current resident artist, David Limrite has this cool open concept of allowing visitors to visit his work studio upstairs where you can see him work and observe his creative process. When my husband, step daughter and I visited over the weekend David spent a great deal of time with us walking us through his concept and his process and showed us all the panels of art that he was working on. In addition to the stages of each piece and how he got to that stage and where he was thinking of going from there. Having a creative background myself, I thoroughly enjoyed this. David will be at this museum until Dec 1,2018 so if you are in the area please drop by to visit him! Cheers!

Free museum in downtown with a really cool fluorescent paint exhibit. The docent / operator was friendly and took time to find us higher power UV lights. Wild go again, even though it's a small series of exhibits. A gem in SLO

Our visit to this small and free museum of art coincided with a pair exhibitions, "Brushstrokes" and "The 3rd Dimension". Brushstrokes is a semi annual exhibit featuring a number of California artists while the latter included a number of unusual sculptures. Each exhibit proved to interesting and well worth our time.

San Luis Obispo Museum of Art could really be called San Luis Obispo Gallery of Local Artists. That's what it is. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! However, I wouldn't recommend going here with the expectation of seeing a typical 'Museum' of art, like LACMA in Los Angeles or MOMA in New York. It really is a gallery of local artists. Most work is for sale. SLOMA does provide classes for locals and children, and a great noontime lunch series called Art at High Noon, an hour lecture on art from 12 pm - 1 pm the first Thursday of every month. There is also some local artisan jewelry for sale. Stop in if you are in the area, but again, just know it is a small space with small, local art.

It's free and has 3-4 small separate exhibits (walked through all of it in 20 minutes). It's a great post-meal activity - perfect for scoring some casual culture points while nursing your food coma ;) When we went, it seemed like they had a focus on Californian artists, and had a wide variety of mediums. They also had an exhibit on some super impressive young artists. Definitely worth checking out SLOMA if you're in the area!

Art of the Figure: Michael Hannon & David Limrite exhibit was the best I've seen!!! I don't think it's there anymore, which is a pity! I spent 2 hours just looking at everything. Definitely one of the best art exhibits I've been to, and I've been to many all over the world! This place is FREE too!

I was here for an event, it is tiny but nice little museum.

Absolutely loved this place. It's free, the collections of work were cohesive and engaging, the staff member up front was enthusiastic and welcoming. It's so perfect for the area; it's an excellent change of pace from shopping and eating. Only takes maybe twenty minutes if you read all the descriptions and look at each piece. I'd say it's a great way to introduce kids to art museums, because you don't have to spend hours there, and the artwork was colorful and interesting. I was very pleased with my experience.

We enjoyed our visit to the SLOMA this weekend. Though small in size compared to other community museums, we found the exhibits, by local artists, to be very nice. They also have some artwork and jewelry for sale; I found a pretty necklace to add to my outfit for the day. Currently the museum is free to visit, but I encourage visitors to donate to keep this community gem going.

Small, but still worth a chance to check it. It's growing for sure. The exhibits there included paintings, some ceramics and jewelry. Decent but definitely has opportunity to grow.

This is a very small museum. I'm not entirely sure it should even be called a museum. With prices on some works, it has characteristics of an art gallery. There is also a flyer in the gift shop that talks about making submissions for display in the museum. The exhibits also don't educate about the artist or period like most museums. For those unfamiliar with SLO like me, the museum is near the old Mission and the cute mini-riverwalk. Also, bring coins because all the parking in the area is metered.

The SLO Museum of Art is a wonderful representation of the city itself - cozy, interesting and low-key. It was a welcome surprise to find such interesting work in such a small space. Don't let the somewhat gaudy statue outside fool you; There will be plenty of well-made and inspired art to find inside. I particularly appreciated the geometric installations on the first floor and the prints in the room upstairs. It's well worth the free entry price, so check it out next time you're in downtown SLO.

Lol this "museum"was a joke. Idk if it was an off day or what but I finished the exhibit in 5 mins and wasted my 30 min parking meter fee.

My wife and I went to this "museum" today. To me, as well as others, this is a rotating art gallery. It is small so you will be able to view all in less than an hour. My wife found a small etching that she purchased for her birthday. If you are at or near The Mission the museum is very close. Free admission!

Three small galleries, one being upstairs. Free admission. Most pieces appeared to be for sale. Perhaps this is how they finance the museum. Nothing to complain about here. Snappy visit possible. Worth a quick pop-in.

A nice spot to wander around and see some local art and art projects. I picked up some really great cards! It only took about half an hour or so and the staff were really lovely.

Wow, had a wonderful afternoon here, some spectacular art to look at , some are local artists , and some of the art is for sale, I bought a beauty from a local artist signed Craig Griswald, they are expanding soon !

Yes San Luis Obispo is a small town. The Art center is a small art center. The Art center is a wonderful place where many artists get to display their work. Specializing in Living Artists makes all openings extra fun as you get to meet and chat with the artist. Watch the calendar on their website and come on up for some good times.

I like the SLO art museum. Sometimes they have some great exhibits, and every time I go it's new art. They have free admission, but donations are appreciated. I think it's a hidden little gem in SLO. It's kinda small, but I like it that way. It's nothing to go wild about, but I'm glad it's here.

Simple and small but free. Right next to the mission it is an easy stop to see a different type of art. This time they had contest and winners exhibition.

If you are downtown, the Art Museum is a nice place to duck in to for 20-30 minutes of calm, quiet and culture. Over the years, I've seen some truly inspired works here. Like SLO, very small but always a pleasure to visit. A great place for kids/teens as well.

At the SLO Museum of Art, they almost care more about the art viewers than the art, almost.. I happened upon the gallery while meandering through San Luis Obispo's gorgeous creek area, the "free admission today" sign immediately caught my attention. As I began to peruse the art, a curator noticed me. She let me know that a tour would be beginning soon that I might be interested in. The tour was focused on visual thinking strategies, and took a different approach to art tours than I have ever experienced. Rather than learning only the history of each relatively famous piece, the guide took us to a group of the most thought-provoking pieces in the museum and asked our opinions. Practically unheard of, but thoroughly enjoyed. I will be waiting patiently for new exhibits.

What a wonderful community based jewel! My daughters have taken classes through the art center for years now. They always receive a hassle free partial scholarship so that they may participate in the amazing children's art classes. The projects that they bring home inspire real creativity as well as practice newly taught skills. These are real art projects that make them feel like real artists. Thank you to this wonderful place and the fantastic people who run it! You add quality to our community.juu