Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Perched on a bluff with the Pacific as its backdrop, this museum is less about hushed reverence and more about daylight and air. Galleries open into one another like rooms in a house designed by someone who loved sunlight, not fluorescent control. You will remember the large canvases that swallow a wall, and a quieter work, Sandy Rodriguez's Joshua Tree on amate paper, that rewards getting close. There is sound here too: an installation of glass bowls and cups that turns everyday objects into a small, uncanny orchestra. The Kitchen cafe spills out into Gartner Court, eighty seats under eucalyptus and Irving J. Gill architecture, so you can eat and still eavesdrop on waves. Admission rules bend for students and young adults; on select Sundays and Thursdays the museum loosens the gate entirely. Sit in the courtyard, order whatever the cafe is serving, and watch the light move across a sculpture.