Today we're accustomed to corporate offices with motivational posters or generic prints on the walls. But back in 1967, A.G. Edwards (now Wachovia Securities) wanted to give employees a better view. so the company started an art collection.

"It was an investment for them in the company and their employees," explained Olivia Luther, curator of "20th Century Photography: Selections from the Wachovia Securities Art Collection," now on exhibit at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, Museum. "You hear of major works of art being bought at auctions, and then they're gone from the public view. This way, Wachovia employees benefited from the art."

By 1992, the collection had grown to 4,200 works by noted American and European artists.

"The company decided that they wanted to share these works with other people and came up with the idea of a traveling show," she said. "The local branches of Wachovia can approach the community and ask if they would like to host the show. We were approached by the North County branch."

The Escondido art center's museum decided to host the company's photography collection, which encompasses everything from the still lifes and landscapes of Edward Weston to the humorous and enlightening images of New York streets by Weegee (pseudonym of photographer Arthur Fellig). Other famous photographers featured in the exhibit include Dorothea Lange, Ervin Marton, Inge Morath, William Clift, Mario Algaze and Jack Spencer.

"Name a major photographer from the 20th century, and more than likely, their work is in this collection," she said. "We wanted this show because photography is very accessible. Our mission is to create a dialogue with art, and photographs can do that. We've had similar experiences to those we see in these photographs. Abstract art sometimes speaks over us, but photography can speak to us by triggering a memory or an emotion."

Luther is particularly excited about the large portion of street photography from the '40s and '50s.

"This is when photographers left their studios and went out to the streets to document everyday moments," she said. "They captured life as it is rather than staging photographs."

Along those same lines, the museum has introduced an interactive element where visitors can return for free to add a photograph of their own to the exhibit.

"It's about creating that dialogue," she said. "We're also asking them what they collect and they can bring back a photograph of their own collection."

One of the most dramatic parts of the show is seeing the changes in technology, lifestyles and photography over the 20th century.

"In the early 20th century, images are small, and by the end of the century, they're more large-scale," she said. "It's an amazing thing to put photographs on the wall and see how they've changed over the years."

"20th Century Photography: Selections from the Wachovia Securities Art Collection"

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; 1-5 p.m. Sundays; through June 21

Where: California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido

Tickets: $5, general; $4, seniors/military; $3, students with ID; free, children 12 and under, center members

Info: (760) 839-4120

Web: www.artcenter.org