Museums to Visit in California This Year

Happy Monday.

The New York Times published a special section on museums over the weekend, with more than two dozen articles about how institutions across the country are striving to offer their visitors more to see, do and feel.

I highly recommend browsing the full series. One of the articles covers the ways that museums are making better use of their outdoor spaces; another highlights a museum dedicated to the history and science of nuclear weapons; and there is a profile of a joint show mounted by two museums, one on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

There’s also a long list of American museums to visit this year, including several on the West Coast, as well as a guide to new and exciting museum programs for children.

And, of course, there is a lot going on in the art world in California. Here are some of the highlights:

• The Broad in Los Angeles will open a sweeping exhibition on May 25 covering 20 years of work by Mickalene Thomas, an artist who was exploring the Black female figure well before it became so popular.

  “It’s difficult to understand, from where we are now, how radical her work was when I first showed it,” Susanne Vielmetter, a Los Angeles gallerist who gave Thomas one of her first solo shows in 2007, told my colleague Robin Pogrebin. “I cannot think of a single artist who at that time was making portraiture of female Black figures from a perspective of female desire.”

And before you go, some good news

Ivy Nguyen, 15, was recently honored for saving a teenage boy from drowning. She was presented with a letter of recognition from the city of Santa Ana.

Last summer, she performed CPR on a friend who had passed out in a pool. She relied on first aid training that she had received as a girl scout, she said.

“That kind of showed me, like, another side of me,” Ivy told KABC-TV. “I can actually do what’s right and stand up and do the right things, even when I’m under pressure.”

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumya

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.

Bernard Mokam and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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