Bowers Museum

MISSION:
The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, promotes education and understanding by bringing the world’s great cultural art to people of all ages.

DESCRIPTION:
One of Southern California's finest museums and Orange County's largest, the Bowers Museum is one of the only museums in the United States devoted to promoting human understanding through art. Its state of the art special exhibition and collection storage facilities enable the Bowers to present world class exhibitions and preserve collections of cultural art for future generations. International partnerships have been developed with the Palace Museum, Beijing, the British Museum, and many others. Its location, close to four major freeways and four miles south of Disneyland, makes the Bowers an ideal destination for visitors to Southern California

HISTORY:
The Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum first opened its doors in 1936 as a city-run museum devoted primarily to the history of Orange County. In the mid-1980's, the City of Santa Ana closed the museum with the understanding that after careful study and a great deal of input from the community, the museum would be reopened as a totally transformed museum, ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In October of 1992, The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art (some six times larger than the original Bowers Museum) opened its doors to a crowd of over 17,000 people. Since this highly successful reopening, the museum has presented over 45 special exhibitions from all over the world, opened six permanent galleries, and watched its membership grow to over 5,000 members. It has been accredited by the American Association of Museums, and been widely acclaimed in many national magazines including U.S. News & World Report.