The Museum of Us

This place was called the Museum of Man when I brought my kid here for their Day of the Dead celebration.  It was the first time I had Day of the Dead bread.  Very cool museum with awesome archetechture.

This latest visit I came to see the 25 years of The Hapa Project exhibit.  I remember the artist Kip Fulbeck when I was taking photography class at UCSD.  He showed his project about driving across America.  I was very impressed by his work then and wanted to see his latest work hapa.me.  hapa.me started in 2001 when he photographed 1,200 people who were multiracial and asked them “What are you?”  25 years later he photographed 130 of the participants and asked for new personal statements.

Then as now Kip’s photographs have a stark beauty to them.  There is some Ansel Adams like perfection to each image as Phel Steinmetz had studied under Ansel Adams and Kip Fulbeck studied under Phel Steinmetz.  Kip’s work is very thought provoking as I find it fascinating how each person has changed in the 25 years since the first encounter.

Amazing.

Near the entrance there was a Mayan exhibit.

Another amazing show I saw was the PostSecret project where Frank Warren showed secrets people sent to him.

The Museum of Us has some amazing shows with friendly and helpful staff.  You can also pay for a tour of the California Tower which has a great view of Balboa Park.