With over 250,000 visitors each year, the Timken is a place where extraordinary art is experienced freely by all who walk through our doors. Your unrestricted donation to the Annual Fund is what makes that possible —supporting our mission to present, conserve, and interpret the Putnam collection while funding special exhibitions, art programs, lectures, and school programs that bring art to life for our community.
Those who make a one-time gift of $1,000 or more, or whose recurring gifts total more than $1,000 during any fiscal year, will be recognized on the donor board in the Museum's foyer.
Ways to Support our Mission
In Person
Donate onsite at the Front Desk. Staff are available to answer questions.
By Mail
Mail a check to:
The Timken Museum of Art
2550 Fifth Avenue, Suite 500
San Diego, CA 92103
Impacts of Your Generosity
Free Admission
The Putnam and Timken families set the precedent that fine arts should be accessible to all. The Timken has guaranteed free admission since its doors opened in 1965 providing access to many disadvantaged groups and families who would not otherwise be able to view and experience fine arts.
Accessibility
The Timken is committed to initiatives that foster an accessible and equitable experience for all visitors. It is our vision that visitors to the Museum will feel this sense of inclusion and will benefit from access to- and enjoyment of our collection in ways that inspire and stir engagement and learning. We currently offer a variety of resources and services in support of these initiatives.
Care of the Collection
The collection, spanning seven centuries of art, from the early Renaissance to the late 19th century, is composed of a select and well-edited group of European masters, Russian icons, and 18th- and 19th century American masters. Caring for the collection is at the heart of the Timken mission and achieved through conservation, an interdisciplinary profession that combines art, history, and science to preserve art for generations to come.
Community Art Programs
The Timken mission extends far beyond the walls of the Museum. Art programs provide a bridge to connect participants to art and their creative abilities helping them channel emotions, develop important cognitive processes, spark their curiosity, and expand critical thinking. These programs include Creative Choices, providing relief for juvenile hall students, and Creative Engagement to support U.S. veterans.
Free Docent-Led Tours
We are pleased to provide all visitors context for learning and understanding art through free docent-led tours. Tours are held Wednesdays through Sundays and focus on works in the Museum’s collection, and special exhibitions. These tours are given in English, Spanish, Russian, and American Sign Language. With free and easy access to fine arts and a supportive environment in which to encounter them, the Timken tour experience provides a fascinating way to pique curiosity and allow visitors to experience our collection on a whole new level.
Exhibitions
The Timken presents exhibitions that contextualize its permanent collection, offering pathways for the widest conceivable spectrum of visitors to enjoy the Museum. On an annual basis these projects may include a scholarly "focus" exhibition that illuminates a particular work, the ongoing "reconsidering" series which explores how creations by the Old Masters continue to inspire later artists, and the popular "artist in residence series," which began in 2018 by inviting contemporary artists to intervene in our permanent collection spaces every summer.
Lectures and Workshops
Lectures and Gallery Talks, designed for first time visitors to art scholars, are focused to assist and enrich our audiences’ experiences by providing interpretation to art in an educational, cultural, and recreational way.
School Programs
The Timken has fostered the art of innovation while continuing with our foundational programs of arts education and outreach. ARTS4Schools (formerly ARTS on Tour), brings the Museum’s art collection to San Diego Title 1 schools in the form of professional development opportunities for teachers, Museum tours and in-school art classes. Since its inception in 2017, ARTS4Schools has served over 17,500 students and over 700 educators in San Diego County.
Planned Giving
Follow in the footsteps of the Timken’s founder by becoming a member of the Walter Ames Society. Providing for the Timken in your estate plan helps preserve and strengthen the Museum. With your support, the Timken will continue to be a source of beauty and inspiration for visitors from around the world.
We welcome you to carry on Walter Ames’ legacy by joining the generous individuals who support the Timken through planned gifts. Gifts of all sizes are welcome and greatly appreciated. Walter Ames Society members are invited to attend special events, gallery talks, and other museum events.
For more information, please reach out to info@timkenmuseum.org
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