Museum: Cultural Collections: Art

Collage of paintings and drawings in the Point Reyes National Seashore Museum art collection. From top left clockwise: reproduction of ink drawing of the Golden Hind, R. Aker; portrait of Julia Shafter, oil, artist unknown; watercolor of Golden Hind, R. Aker; and "An April Morning," oil, J. Wisby.

NPS / Point Reyes National Seashore Museum

The Art Collection at the Point Reyes National Seashore Museum is the youngest and smallest of our collections with 56 pieces of artwork. The museum staff maintains the art collection for exhibition, education, research, and interpretive exhibits at the park’s visitor centers. Using pre-photography media, the collection focuses on cultural themes that help tell the stories of the Point Reyes peninsula and its diverse peoples. The types of media in the collection including etchings, graphite and ink drawings, and oil and watercolor paintings.

Subjects represented in the collection:

• Coast Miwok peoples as interpreted by 16th through 19th century European artists;
• early European exploration;
• the Spanish Mission era;
• the Mexican Land Grant era;
• early California ranching and dairy farming;
• and maritime themes.

Please visit the Museum and Archival Research Services section of the park website if you are interested in learning more about this collection.