Arts Partners

An Overview of Coronado's Creative Community

Coronado is blessed to have a vibrant, lively, and engaging arts community and the Cultural Arts Commission is proud to provide a public face for Coronado's body of creative industries.

Grounded in a rich cultural heritage stretching back over a century, our enchanted island enjoys and shares two resident theater groups: both the Coronado Playhouse Community Theater and the Lamb's Players Theatre (San Diego County's third-largest professional theater group) offer performances year-round. The Coronado School of the Arts, a nationally acclaimed, award-winning school is located on the campus of Coronado High School. We have several fine art galleries, including Arts and Frames by Wood Gallery, the Emerald C Gallery, the C3 Gallery in the Coronado Community Center and the Spreckels Gallery in the John D Spreckels Center. Music is well represented by the Coronado Community Band and the Coronado Jazz Band as well as Musica Vitale (an ensemble of professional classical singers), and two organizations provide a wide variety of free music concerts: Coronado Promenade Concerts in the Park (Summer Sunday evenings in Spreckels Park) and the Ferry Landing Concert Series (Saturday and Sunday afternoons spring to late fall).

The Coronado Recreation Department and Coronado's Unified School District Adult Education offer a host of classes for young to old year-round. The Coronado Historical Association represents both history and art with its museum exhibitions and historic archives and is the sponsor of the widely popular Historic Home tours on Mother's Day. One of our crown jewels is the Coronado Public Library, which offers ongoing exhibitions, children's storytelling, lectures, films, and discussion groups, along with the very popular series of events during their Summer Festival. Our City boasts a collection of over 70 pieces of art in public places around town stretching from Tidelands Park to the south end of the Strand. 

Adding to our visual bounty, any drive down Orange Street from the Ferry landing to the Hotel Del Coronado offers myriad opportunities to view and enjoy Mainstreet Ltd.'s sixteen unique and special median gardens or to tune into the buzz of downtown activity or view MotorCars on MainStreet (April) or MainStreet Goes Ghostly (October). And last but certainly not least, the Coronado Island Film Festival organization is working on plans for the seventh annual Coronado Film Festival slated for November 2023. CIFF host films in our historic and exquisitely restored Village Theater and CoSA's Performing Arts Theater along with other venues during the festival and throughout the year in their Classic Film Series.

Beyond the obvious organizations, Coronado is also home to a number of nationally recognized award-winning authors and poets, playwrights, TV, Film, and stage directors/producers, as well as actors, musicians, composers, and filmmakers. We offer a wide and richly textured variety of visual fine artists and craftsmen rounding out what Coronado presents to its residents and shares with the world. Coronado Arts Association presents a variety of visual artists at their Art in the Park (1st and 3rd Sundays in Spreckels Park). 

The arts in Coronado are alive, vibrant, and growing. We invite you to come to take a closer look and let us share and engage you in our passion for creativity.