On a gorgeous Sunday morning, Steve and I headed to Oceanside for yet another diverse, fun-filled day.

After partaking of coffee, our true first stop was at our favorite shoreside hotel- Seabird, home to OMA West's Neon Afterlife (December 30 - March 22).

"In the digital age, the screen has become our temple wall, and emojis have become the new hieroglyphs, a universal language of symbols, emotion, and identity of the new generation. They compress entire worlds into simple icons: a flame can carry desire, rebellion, or irony; a broken heart can hold grief or humor. Like ancient signs carved in stone, these icons record how we connect."

"This trio exhibition features the works of Magz Yang, Jon Savage and Evyn Hewett, all Southern California artists whose practices engage with the visual language of our time. The exhibition brings together works that remix pop culture, gaming, memes, neon aesthetics, and embodied language to explore how Gen Z is writing its own future archives."

While I'm not 100% sure of what the messages are hidden within these works, this one with the smiley faces made me happy.

Continuing on our art path, we briefly explored the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Upon entering, we were greeted with the works from the 6th Artist Alliance Biennial juried exhibition, a display of the amazing and abundant talent of OMA's artist members.

Steve and I appreciated the Palm Springs connection depicted in Daniel Warhole's The Rumors Were True. How timely after our recent discussion about Poolside Gossip.

"The OMA Artist Alliance Biennial is a powerful reflection of our vibrant creative community—an opportunity to showcase the depth, diversity, and vision of the artists who make this region such an inspiring place for contemporary art”, shares exhibition juror and Director of Exhibitions and Collections at OMA Katie Dolgov. "The 2025–26 Artist Alliance Biennial provides a special platform for both up-and-coming and established regional artists to share their work with a wide and engaged audience." We were certainly engaged! Wow.

Matrix Multiplied: Hybrid Approaches to Printmaking (February 21–August 2, 2026) had just opened so we were pretty excited to be some of the first museumgoers to enjoy these unique pieces.

"This exhibition features 18 artists who reimagine conventional notions of printmaking through hybrid approaches. Many works in the exhibition combine two or more printmaking techniques, blending traditional methods with digital technologies, or incorporate other media such as collage and drawing to create multi-dimensional artworks."

"This exhibition invites viewers to consider not only the complex process behind each piece, but also the material surfaces and the relevant narratives explored by the artists such as family history, migration, the environment, and social justice."

Because we were pressed for time, we didn't get to really study Modern Simplicity: Irving J. Gill in Oceanside (November 6, 2025–April 26, 2026). 

This small exhibit celebrates the historical legacy of master architect Irving J. Gill, a visionary who played a pivotal role in shaping early modern architecture in Southern California. Known for his pioneering use of reinforced concrete, clean geometric forms, and a philosophy rooted in simplicity, Gill’s work continues to influence contemporary architectural design. I have mentioned Mr. Gill several times on this blog. He is a true architectural Rock Star in these parts.

Our reason for being in Oceanside, on this day in particular, was a visit to the very awesome Star Theatre (1956). Its history can be found here.

"In the madcap comedy tradition of Lend Me a Tenor, the hilarious Moon Over Buffalo centers on George and Charlotte Hay, fading stars of the 1950s. At the moment, they’re playing Private Lives and Cyrano De Bergerac in rep in Buffalo, New York with five actors. On the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by George’s dalliance with a young ingénue, they receive word that they might just have one last shot at stardom: Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee, and if he likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie remake of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Unfortunately for George and Charlotte, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, abetted by a visit from their daughter’s clueless fiancé and hilarious uncertainty about which play they’re actually performing, caused by Charlotte’s deaf, old stage-manager mother who hates every bone in George’s body."

I purposedly did not read the description of this afternoon's production before going. I wanted to be surprised. It wasn't until the director stated that, "They had put the F in Farce" that we figured out what we were in for. With Farce not being our favorite genre, we were pleasantly surprised when the talent of the actors and the enthusiasm of the crowd won us over. We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon of live theater.