Art | Mingei International Museum

Please note our admission prices are discounted from 4/13-5/1 to reflect a partial gallery closure while we install new exhibitions. See our Visit page for further details. 

Featuring 30,000 objects from nearly 150 countries, the Museum's rapidly growing collection is now available online.

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Staff Pick

Discover global traditions

Child's Coat, Europe, Czech Republic or Russia

Unidentified Maker, 20th Century, Fiber. Gift of Ethel Porter Johnson, 1995-03-001.

Featured Collections

Winter Objects 2025

For a special winter treat, our Director of Registration and Manager of Exhibitions, Caitlin Podas, took us behind the scenes to pull her top picks of the coziest objects from our permanent collection. These objects may span continents and centuries, but they all share one thing: that universal winter feeling of comfort, care, and joy

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Beads Bracelet (detail), Pier Voulkos, 1995, polymer clay

Beads

Beads date to the origins of humankind. They have served as currency, conveyed social and political messages, and expressed human creativity.

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Africa Rocks This wooden mask's face is boldly simplified with a high protruding forehead, close-set eyes under hooded eyelids, and is completely covered by a dense network of painted parallel grooves.

Africa Rocks

This selection of African art is inspired by the San Diego Zoo’s new Africa Rocks exhibit! Continue your journey through Africa by exploring their new habitats, which spotlight the amazing biodiversity found on the African continent.

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Mid-Century Marvels This orange, cheerful chair is made from polyeurethane foam and fiberglass–just like the surfboards Ekstrom produces.

Mid-Century Marvels

Mid-century design is characterized by clean lines and a spirit of experimentation.

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Form Follows Function? Steven and William Ladd, Detail of Beaded Bag from <em>Water Tower</em>, USA, 2003, archival board, fiber, beads, metal.

Form Follows Function?

Some objects reveal their intended functions immediately; other functions are more difficult to decipher.

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Feast This elaborately conceived piece won 2nd prize in a Day of the Dead festival in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, a region famous for its ceramic handicrafts.

Feast

The word feast evokes enticing aromas and tastes, enjoyed as part of a communal, ceremonial event or perhaps a private, domestic one.

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Japan

Japan

Japanese art forms the core of the Museum’s mingei holdings, with more than 3,000 items.

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Textiles Cigar Silk Dress, 1880s, Unidentified maker, U.S.A, Silk, cotton. Collection Mingei International Museum, Gift of Annie Metzger and Susan Shershow, 2016-266-004A-B. Photo by Katie Gardner.

Textiles

Hand-sewn and machine-made rugs, coverings, flags, and garments exhibit a stunning variety of embroidery, dyeing, and weaving techniques.

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Jewelry This necklace is made of small rectangular jelly jade stones set in silver.

Jewelry

The Museum’s 3,000-piece jewelry collection features examples of embossing, chasing, repoussé, and engraving.

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American Quilts Log Cabin Quilt, Civil War Barn Raising, c. 1865, U.S.A., pieced and quilted wool. Collection Mingei International Museum, Gift of Pat L. Nickols; digitization made possible through the Quilter's Guild of Dallas, Quilt Accessibility Project: Photo by Tim Siegert.

American Quilts

Nearly 400 pieced and appliqued quilts exhibit colorful patterns, geometric designs, and regional variations.

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Play!

Play!

Whether literal playthings or whimsical feats of the imagination, toys manifest humanity’s innate creativity and sense of humor.

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Staff Pick

Staff Pick

Mingei staff loves the Museum's collection just as much as our visitors and fans. This is a collection of just a few of our favorites.

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Artful Animals

Artful Animals

Whether realistic or stylized, beastly or human-like, animal forms have appeared in art since prehistoric times, and continue to be a popular source of inspiration for artistic endeavors worldwide. Sometimes they are shown in their natural habitat, other times they are anthropomorphized, but whether realistic or stylized, artful animals remind us of our connection to our earthly companions.

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