Letter from the President of Patrons of the Prado
CARRIE O’BRIEN

It is truly an honor to serve as the 2025-2026 President of Patrons of the Prado. Our organization was founded in 1997 by 4 amazing women including my mother, Barbara McColl, who had a vision for supporting a group of non-profit organizations that were located on the Prado in Balboa Park.

This park is one of the largest urban cultural parks in the United States and is a crown jewel of the City of San Diego. It is home of our 9 wonderful beneficiaries: Museum of US, Mingei International Museum, San Diego History Center, Fleet Science Center, San Diego Museum of Art, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego Natural History Museum, The Old Globe, and San Diego Junior Theatre.  Patrons has been committed to raising funds to benefit these arts, science and cultural centers and to assist them by providing funds to support their operating activities (unrestricted funds for greatest needs) as well as their educational activities. Our Bucks4Buses program provides educational funds for K-12 students in San Diego as well as to the many visitors to Balboa Park who come from around the world. 

Today Patrons is still an all-volunteer organization with 80 members donating their time and resources to raise funds for our treasured beneficiaries. Our signature event is our MASTERPIECE Gala which will be held this year on Saturday, August 1, 2026. This event has been held in Balboa Park for the past 28 years (virtually in 2020). It has been our pleasure to bring this beautiful evening event to Balboa Park to celebrate together.  We thank our amazing sponsors, underwriters, table purchasers and attendees who are all a part of supporting our efforts to raise funds. We hope you will join us this year on August 1, 2025 for another fabulous evening in Balboa Park!!

Sincerely,

Carrie OBrien
President, Patrons of the Prado