bowers museum of cultural art

Very interesting exhibits that change frequently; check before you visit. Bowers is small enough you can do justice to most exhibits in a half day. It has an excellent restaurant to relax and extend you visit through the lunch hour. Parking is convenient across the street with a modest charge. Highly recommend.

This museum is nice have a great collection of Mexico ancient cultures and Chinas as part of the permanent collections. The temp collections are great. It is free if you visit the museum the first Sunday of each month.

The grounds of the Bowers Museum and the buildings themselves are lovely, illustrating beautiful Colonial Spanish architecture. There is a great gift shop that offers a wide array of unusual items, including unique jewelry....great place to look for a special gift, off the beaten path. Exhibits change , of course, but I most enjoy the mineral displays, and relics of Indians of the Americas (North,Central and South). A great place for a curious mind to spend some time. There's also a cafe on the grounds, which is pleasant and offers good food at reasonable prices.

This was our first time at Bowers Museum. Very good first-class place. Very outstanding exhibits.We were here with friends to see a special exhibit, China's Lost Civilization, which we were not aware of, and wanted to see. The other exhibits were also good, but we all enjoyed the Ancient Arts of China the most, as there was the most exhibits (undoubtedly due to the contributions).It is well worth coming here for other exhibits.NOTE: Free admission on the first Sunday of the month to the first 1500 entries, compliments of Target Stores. Parking is $6.Some things you need to be aware:It is not a large museum, as there's only 5 or 6 exhibits.Gift shop seems a bit expensive, in comparison to other museums. Was disappointed in that there weren't a lot of postcards for sale on special exhibit.No flash photography. Exhibits are dark, which makes for ordinary photography more difficult. Exhibit signs (explanations) reflect the glare of lights, which makes photography more difficult.I can see if there were exhibits that could be damaged by flash, or specific areas for no flashes, but ... does make it more difficult for me to enjoy, as I really like taking photographs for momentos of where we've been.

The Bower Museum is thought to be the best museum in Orange County and I would agree. I particularly wish to highlight the outstanding exhibit LOST CIVILIZATION THE MYSTERY OF SANXINGDUI, a Chinese civilization which was completely unheard of until its archaeological discovery in 1986. The culture with it fantastic bronzes existed 1200 BCE. 24 of the 120 extremely rare objects are considered national treasures by China. We were absolutely spellbound with jaws dragging on the floor. See it before it ends on March 15th. The museum also houses a decent display of California art, South Pacific Art, Mayan, and Chinese Art.

We went there in December and we visited the China's Lost Civilization exhibit. It was a fantastic museum and I learned more about my own culture. It's so interesting to learn about the Lost Civilization and it wasn't discovered till recently. We took our 2 toddlers 4 and 2 year old and I don't know how much they retained, but my son would see the museum poster on the street and would say " we've been there already." We ate at their restaurant and it was good and prices were decent. I would go back for future exhibits.

A regional museum with national exhibits. Not large but lots to see. If you are in the area, do not miss it.

This museum gets truly fascinating exhibits to enhance the permanent collection. Small and intimate, east to navigate in a couple of hours, or more if you have the time. I was particularly impressed with the art of New Guinea on display.

I like this place very much. It is accessible and you can get up close to an ever changing series of events ... It has some established exhibits but has lots of changing exhibits coming in and out. It's great!

While traveling in Southern Calif this museum with it's current China Lost Civilization exhibition popped-up in an internet search. Never heard of the museum before but was interested in seeing these fantastical ancient bronzes and took a chance on driving down from LA to see the exhibition. This special exhibition thru 15-Mar-15 was worth the visit; but even more impressive is the quality of the material and presentation of the permanent collection -- I especially enjoyed the Papua New Guinea/South Pacific collection in addition to their room on Chinese artifacts. While its a smaller museum the quality of artifacts and presentation is at the highest level and the layout and feel of the place make this a very enjoyable destination. It's one that I'm putting on my "watch" list for other visits in Southern Calif.

The temporary Chinese exhibit was quite well done and very interesting. It was very slow on Thursday afternoon so we did not have to fight any crowds. The exhibit about early California history was very educational. The senior price of $15 was a little high but it did include the audio tour. The total experience was enjoyable.

Terrific pemanant exhibits, interesting traveling exhibits, beautiful venue, great restaurant in the museum. We came fir the first time,loved it so much, we joined for the year, and will be back for every forthcoming exhibit. Thus museum is quite selective in what they exhibit, and the exhibits are mounted with imagination and taste. An afternoon here can't but be rewarding, if you have any interest in museums. A must do in Santa Ana

We stopped to see an exhibit of Chinese bronzes. Our first visit to this small but well endowed museum. The fact they were one of only two museums showing the Sanxingdui works was impressive. Well mounted as were their African works and those of the far east, we plan to go back when we are in S. Caif again Even the museum's restaurant was well above average. Not far off the #I-5 interstate, be sure to check out what is on....and go.

We just went to the Bowers Museum, and saw their exhibit, LOST CIVILIZATION. THE MYSTERY OF SANXINGDUI. It was our first trip there, but it won't be our last, and this exhibit is just phenomenal. Be sure and get the electronic guide as it is free and gives you a wonderful presentation by archaeologists. It is a small museum but has a treasure trove of exhibits and everyone there is so friendly and helpful. We live in Palm Springs, but the trip over, and the traffic was worth it. Don't miss this exhibit if you can help it

Bowers is a progressive museum with traditional exhibits. I don't live in Santa Ana but maintain a membership and will travel there for very interesting exhibits.