Stuart Collection

Sculpture museum · San Diego

Stuart Collection

Sculpture museum · San Diego

1

9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093

Photos

Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null
Stuart Collection by null

Highlights

Discover 17 unique sculptures, from teddy bears to talking trees  

Placeholder
Placeholder

9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093 Get directions

stuartcollection.ucsd.edu
@stuartcollectionucsd

$

Information

Static Map

9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093 Get directions

+1 858 534 2117
stuartcollection.ucsd.edu
@stuartcollectionucsd

$

Features

restroom
crowd family friendly
crowd lgbtq friendly
crowd trans safespace
wheelchair accessible parking lot
wheelchair accessible entrance
wheelchair accessible restroom
assistive hearing loop

Last updated

Aug 30, 2025

Powered By

You might also like

Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Cookie Policy
 © 2025 Postcard Technologies, Inc.
@postcardnews

A free, campus-wide public art collection with site-specific works by major artists, from the Sun God to Fallen Star. Recommended by local guides and arts writers for an inspiring self-guided walk.

https://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/map/
Free Attractions in San Diego (2025)
View Postcard for Stuart Collection

Noelle Hallman

Google
I founded a nonprofit to support the oppressed, widows, and girls who have been sex-trafficked in Nigeria. All the museums we reached out to were incredibly generous, each donating two tickets. However, when I called one museum to request two donated tickets, the woman on the line hung up on me—certainly an... interesting approach to supporting nonprofits!

Gyan Penrose-Kafka

Google
The Stewart collection is part of the UCSD campus and thanks for an enjoyable hike. Take a few hours to walk around the campus and enjoy all of the creative artwork. Whether it's the rock teddy bear or the house on the top of the engineering building, I find something interesting each time I go. Some of my favorite pieces include the talking trees, the snake path, and Stonehenge.

Ivan Ho

Google
Very cute and pretty amazing engineering to put it together.

Jason Howard

Google
One of the coolest things to see. The viewing from over by the library is spectacular and then going inside is just as spectacular. It is a must to see.

Kate Deruiter

Google
Reason for only 3 reviews. No one can find the sculptures. Visitor center permanently closed. No maps. Phone map could not be made large enough to be useful.

nikki villegas

Google
Sculptures are actually scattered all over the campus like the giant teddy bear at Warren.

ashoke nigam

Google
Fun way to explore the San Diego campus. So pretty cool art along the way

Tall Man

Google
Interesting collection of public art. Fun to find all of them I'd you have the time to search.
google avatar

Jake T.

Yelp
This is a review fo the Fallen Star in UC San Diego's Stuart Collection. The Fallen Star is for sure a must-do for students at UC San Diego. It is a great experience being in the house and it is super fun. It is available for everyone to go and book a tour. Beware! The spots get taken up really quickly so be sure to book far in advance. You book 30 minute slots on Wednesdays or 15 minute on Thursdays depending on whether or not you are booking with a group or not(Wed for group, Thursday for Individual). We did not book with a group as the group signups are extremely full (Backed up for 2 months) so we just booked multiple individual tours on the same day. You are supposed to arrive around 5-10 minutes before your time starts so you can spend the whole time within the house. Although our group for the tour was luckily pretty small(Only 4), sometimes they can be a bit larger. Parking can be a bit difficult as its around a 5 minute walk away from the event but I think its worth it. Its also free! Overall, I would recommend it.
google avatar

Noelle H.

Yelp
I founded a nonprofit to support the oppressed, widows, and girls who have been sex-trafficked in Nigeria. All the museums we reached out to were incredibly generous, each donating two tickets. However, when I called one museum to request a donation, she was so abrupt and hung up on me. What a way to support nonprofits!
google avatar

Soo H.

Yelp
UCSD has a series of artworks called the Stuart Collection. Various artists were commissioned to create artwork for UCSD. I had a closeup look at the construction of Fallen Star. It was a unique experience coming to work each day and watching a construction crew building what appeared to be a Craftsman style house. I saw lots of them when I lived in North Park. When they finished construction a crane lifted the house into place near the top of the building. At the opening reception the artist Do Ho Suh appeared to talk about his latest creation. I saw him afterwards and had my picture taken with him. Fallen Star is one of my favorite works in the Stuart Collection. Looks very cool from the ground. Inside it's very disorienting as the floor isn't level and the angles are not what you are used to. This is one of the most unique and interesting artworks I've ever seen. Cool documentary about Fallen Star on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbVAv2AENfI I never saw Do Ho Suh again but he is still doing great work and his last exhibition was in New York in 2022. https://newyorkarttours.com/blog/art,artist,contemporary,critic,exhibition,gallery,newyork,photography,sculpture,tour,visualart/inverted-monument/
google avatar

Annabelle R.

Yelp
I wasn't able to visit this entire series of artworks at UCSD, but I did get to see a good amount, some that especially stood out to me, including Bear by Tim Hawkinson, a giant bear made out of stones situated near the Warren lecture hall (cuz how could I not love this, that's my spirit animal!), Alexis Smith's Snake Path, a giant snake built and painted on the ground with color and tiles, winding through a small garden next to the library, Anne Hamilton's Kahnop: To Tell A Story, one of the most recent Stuart Collection artworks on campus, a walkway filled with words and poetry covering different themes including social justice and environmentalism, and or course, Fallen Star what looks like a lifesize house falling off the edge of a building (the engineering building to be exact), exploring the concept and meaning of "home". They have a virtual tour and map available online, but be ready to walk because these sculptures and art pieces are spaced out pretty well. It's totally worth checking out since these artworks are pretty unique and integrated beautifully on campus. By the way, parking is almost impossible, unless you are a UCSD student and/or have a permit.
google avatar

Dani S.

Yelp
This is definitely a fun activity to spend an hour or so in the afternoon doing. We decided to check out the Stuart collection of artworks at the UCSD campus. The most famous item in the collection is of course the fallen star. Currently it's not open to the public, when I called them, they said that they might open in a couple of months. it was still cool to see the little house hanging from the side of the engineering building. It was kinda like a scavenger hunt, trying to find all of the artworks in the collection, so that was really fun. We had to stop and ask for directions from the students a few times, which was hilarious. Overall I definitely recommend.
google avatar

Stephen M.

Yelp
Our DIL took us on a tour of USCD where she works and we were lucky to tour the Fallen Star house. So interesting and a bit dizzy! We were able to check out a few others of the collection. Wonderful. It did help that school was off.
google avatar

Matt R.

Yelp
Yeah, UCSD has a funny-looking campus but it lends itself real well to public art. My favorites in the Stuart Collection include "Trees" (who doesn't like trees?) and "Vices and Virtues" (you have to visit campus in the evening). But you also want to be sure to see "Snake Path", which is next to Geisel Library (the spaceship). It's lovely and has that Paradise Lost connection, but I think I adore it because it reminds me of the Serpent Mound, which is a pre-Columbian relic in rural Ohio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_Mound It also is worth mentioning that UCSD has a little art gallery that hosts traveling exhibits, and they get some TREMENDOUS stuff through there sometimes. Dale Chihuly and Edward Burtynsky are among those I've seen here: http://universityartgallery.ucsd.edu/ Oh, yeah, and it's *all free*. Unless you break one of Chihuly's sculptures. Then you go to jail.
google avatar

Chrissie O.

Yelp
I had my nephews last week and my oldest nephew is going to be a senior in high school! omg. im getting so old. Their trip to visit auntie chrissie was also meant to visit a few colleges. I thought to myself PERFECT. Gives me a chance to drag them to this art collection and to see UCSD at the same time. UCSD is huge so we stopped at the visitor center. The guy gave us a map and circled where fallen star was and where to park to get to it. I knew we wouldn't be able to see everything but the main thing I wanted to see was Fallen Star. It's the house on top of the engineering building. It's random but I was really excited to see it. It is open on Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00am-2:00pm. BTW the wait can be long. They only let 6 people in the house at a time. There weren't that many people waiting when we got there but when we were about to leave the line was to the elevator. It was amazing. It was cool to see it and walk inside. If you do get dizzy then the lady does offer you to take a seat if that happens. It was built at a slant and raised on top of the building. I felt really dizzy right when I stepped inside the house. She explained a little about the house and it was really cool to hear about it. The garden is really cute too. I saw the vices and virtues building also across from the engineering building. Better to see it at night when the neon lettering is on. I wanted to show my nephews the library since that's where all the college kids study. The snake path was on the way so we walked up it to get to the library. It was really cool. Makes the path not boring. One of the art work TREES is in front of the library. It's really beautiful. I kept staring at all the words on the tree. It's a nice compliment to the library. Stuart art collection is definitely worth checking out if you do have time and love to explore.
google avatar

Danielle R.

Yelp
Once I heard about the house hanging off of a building, I knew I needed to see it. I was not aware it was part of an entire collection but once I looked into the house some more I figured out it was part of the collection and I knew I needed to see more of the collection. Once we got to the campus to find the house, it was easy to find the rest of the collection. We saw the house, the snake, the words outside of the library, the bear, and plenty more. I loved seeing them and wish there was something like this at my campus when I was in school. I loved that it was just a different type of art. I am not a huge fan of art because I just don't understand why people go nuts over a red line on a blank canvas but this is different. It is something easy to see and easy to enjoy and you don't have to necessarily understand why in order to enjoy the art. I suggest coming to see this collection. If anything, it is a great walk on the campus.
google avatar

Diane W.

Yelp
Pros - It's free. It can be done at any time of the day (if you are up early and other attractions are not open, you can check this out). Includes exercise (walk around campus). Some of the art is very interesting! Cons - The art can be tough to find. The map is not very useful. I was excited about walking around campus (exercise and the outdoors!) and checking out the pieces that are part of the collection but the experience was disappointing due to the difficulty in finding the art. First the map that I printed from the web site was not very useful. It was difficult to find the pieces and we missed a number of them. The web site also said we could get a map at the Information Center on campus but they had nothing specific related to the collection. Fortunately before giving up we ran into a former professor who knew where everything was, and he was able to give us a little guidance that helped us find some of the remaining pieces. Some of the pieces we did see were very interesting especially the Snake Path and the Fallen Star. If you are on campus when the Fallen Star is open for viewing, definitely check it out (only Tuesday and Thursday the week we were there, 11-2 ).
google avatar

Lucky S.

Yelp
According to their website, The Stuart Collection at the UC San Diego seeks to enrich the cultural, intellectual, and scholarly life of the UCSD campus and of the San Diego community by building and maintaining a unique collection of site-specific works by leading artists of our time". It's very cool that you can get some art culture on a school campus and it's fun trying to find all of the various installments. You can print a map/download a map from their website to help you. I definitely like the fallen house and snake the best, but if walking backwards underneath the sun God really does work and you get all A's (as the myth goes), that's not such a bad one either. :)
google avatar

Cindy L.

Yelp
You might have to pay parking, since it's on UCSD campus. So I highly recommend carpooling, but this is definitely worth a trip to the Engineering building. The house is like a scene out of the movie "Up". However, a step inside the house will test your equilibrium limit. If you don't mind stepping outside of your comfort, the Fallen Star will get your brain working
google avatar

Wilmar D.

Yelp
Very.... random. The Stuart Collection is spread all over UCSD like Paul Bunyan's baby cluttering knick-knacks in a eucalyptus backyard. The beautiful Sarah M. and I drove and walked around the main campus and hit every single point and took JPEG receipt of it all. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/j9BDbgUwtSdud8YVI_fGIQ My favorites besides the iconic Sun Chicken include the drinking fountain (actually entitled "Untitled") at the Myers Drive turnaround, and the giraffe catchers, formally known as "Two Flying 'V' Forms." Walking only would take over 2 hours. It took us two hours in a mixed drive/walk tour. Make sure you have enough sunlight, and plan to see "Vices and Virtues" at night. And yes. Go on a weekend for free parking.
google avatar

Benoit J.

Yelp
Interesting point of interest but really limited access. Only twice a week and only a few hours. It's really hard to park in the university except if you like to walk. Wouldn't recommend to waste your time to go there, the pictures you can see online speak for them self.
google avatar

Esther Y.

Yelp
UCSD has a bunch of random art, but I like it. =) I think my favorite one is a new one that was erected 4 years after I graduated...the Fallen Star. I've uploaded a couple pictures from my recent visit back to UCSD! Here's the artist information: http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artists/suh.shtml
google avatar

Selina H.

Yelp
Enjoy the sun AND get some culture? What! Just do it. Go to the visitor center and they would hand you a map to walk around the campus. Gilman parking structure is free on the weekends. The loop took us about 1.5 hours, but we didn't find all the trees, go up to the Fallen Star house, and skipped one or two of the collection. You can also get an iTunes app that has videos that discuss the art pieces. Warning it takes forever to download because it is really just a bunch of videos.
google avatar

Alissa G.

Yelp
My young son and I rode our bikes up to UCSD a few weeks ago for a graduation and I was reminded how beautiful a campus it is. Despite all the changes since I was a student many decades ago, it still felt like home. One of the public art pieces we took our time admiring was "Snake Path" at the Geisel Library. We rode our bikes from head to tail and he thought it was pretty darn cool!

Ricardo X.

Yelp
Lookong for them in ucsd is fun. They are hard to find some of them but is fun exploing campus and looking at random art
google avatar

Jory H.

Yelp
Looking for something to do on one of the many perfect weather days in SD? Go to the visitor center and pick up a map and stroll around the campus. Don't go hungry because the food in the student center ..is..student center food. It's nice to pick up a bubble tea to quench your thirst though. Depending on the day , campus can be quite quiet so enjoy this attraction that isn't swarming with tourists or wedding photo sessions.
google avatar

Kimberly B.

Yelp
This is an enjoyable walking tour and I am glad we went. It was a bit tough finding parking, but we planned to walk a lot and were ready. It took us about 2 hours to see about half of the sculptures that were nearest to the blue house on top of the engineering building and we could have seen more but we were satisfied. It was a great way to see the UCSD campus and it was fun finding the pieces like a treasure hunt. We went to the blue house last and it was totally worth it. Do not skip going up there. The new hours they have the house open are Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30-2:00pm. That is where we also found a nice brochure with a clear map that would have been good to start out, with but we wanted to finish there so oh well. The online maps were difficult to use but we managed. Plan to walk a lot, use a pay station for visitors parking in one of the many lots, visit bathrooms and get food in the campus food court area (Price Center) and spend 2-3 hours there for a good days visit.

Lisa N.

Yelp
One of the coolest things to see. The viewing from over by the library is spectacular and then going inside is just as spectacular. It is a must to see.