This fall, Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) will present the 2026 San Diego Art Prize exhibition, Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance, marking the first time the annual exhibition will be hosted at OMA. Opening September 5, 2026, the exhibition brings together the work of this year’s recipients – Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernández, and Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio – in a timely and thought-provoking exploration of identity, environment, and systems of power.
Curated by Lara Bullock, Ph.D., Soft Power examines the subtle yet influential forces that shape how people view identity, place, and value. Through photography, installation, and mixed-media works, the exhibition invites viewers to reconsider familiar narratives and pay closer attention to what often goes unseen.
Danielle Dean’s White explores the dairy farming industry and the ways pastoral imagery and ideas of health have been used to construct “whiteness” as an ideal. Ingrid Hernández’s Sedimentations series presents minimalist photographic studies of Tijuana’s asentamientos, or squatter settlements, built primarily from repurposed materials tied to transborder economies. Her work documents both resilience and the interconnected relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio’s contemplative mixed-media installations examine ableist systems and challenge assumptions surrounding productivity, labor, and human value.
Together, the three artists explore themes of visibility, resistance, and the quiet systems that influence daily life.
Rather than presenting fixed conclusions, Soft Power allows space for reflection, encouraging viewers to engage with complex social realities through deeply personal and visually compelling work.
In conjunction with the exhibition, OMA will host a public event inviting audiences to engage with the artists and ideas explored in Soft Power. On Sunday, September 27, Soft Power in Practice: A Conversation with the 2026 San Diego Art Prize Recipients will bring together Danielle Dean, Ingrid Hernández, and Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio for a conversation moderated by curator Lara Bullock, Ph.D. The program will offer an inside look at the artists’ creative processes and interconnected themes, followed by a Q&A with the audience. Tickets range from $20 to $50, with discounts available for seniors, students, OMA Members, OMA Artist Alliance Members, and active military.
The San Diego Art Prize was established in 2006 by the San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) to celebrate excellence in visual art across the San Diego and Baja California region while fostering greater visibility and dialogue around the area’s artistic community. Over the past two decades, the Prize has recognized more than 75 artists whose work has made significant contributions to the cultural landscape of the region. This year’s exhibition continues that legacy while introducing the Art Prize to OMA for the first time.
Founded in 2003 by Patricia Frischer, along with like-minded art professionals, SDVAN is the only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to supporting and advancing the visual arts in the San Diego region. Through its expansive online resource network, annual programs, and the San Diego Art Prize, SDVAN continues to strengthen connections between artists, institutions, educators, and the public while advocating for the importance of visual arts in the cultural ecosystem of the community.
Soft Power: On Color, Time, and Resistance will be on view at Oceanside Museum of Art from September 5, 2026, through February 7, 2027 and will be celebrated alongside OMA’s Fall exhibitions at the public Exhibition Celebration taking place on September 19, 2026.
About Oceanside Museum of Art
Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) is a non-profit organization that began providing exhibitions and public programs in 1995 as part of their mission to bring people together to explore the art and stories of Southern California artists. OMA’s exhibition program is dynamic and robust, surprising visitors with a fresh and exciting visual experience nearly every visit. In addition to these boundary-pushing contemporary art exhibitions, OMA’s programming includes youth education programs, adult art classes, concerts, films, and creative community parties and events that appeal to locals and tourists alike. The OMA experience stimulates imagination, presents new ideas, and challenges the familiar in a welcoming environment for those new to art, longtime museum-goers, artists, art students, or simply the curious. For more information on Oceanside Museum of Art, visit www.oma-online.org
About San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN)
The San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) strives to improve the clarity, accuracy, and sophistication of discourse about San Diego’s artistic and cultural life. SDVAN is the only organization dedicated exclusively to the visual arts in the San Diego region, serving artists, institutions, educators, collectors, and the public. Through its resource-rich website listing more than 2,600 visual arts resources, SDVAN facilitates opportunities for inspiration, collaboration, and visibility across the region. Operated as a 100% volunteer, nonprofit organization, SDVAN is dedicated to reinforcing the idea that visual arts are a necessary and vital part of the cultural health of our city. www.sdvisualarts.net
