This amazing bronze sculpture can be found in front of the National City Fire Department Headquarters Station 34, at the corner of D Avenue and 16th Street. It was commissioned in 2007 and created by local artist Richard Becker. It’s called Ring of Fire.
Fire stations around San Diego County often feature great public art. This might be one of my favorites!
I love the dog to one side!
Here’s a Facebook page that shows photographs of the sculpture being created.
I see, from this online history of the National City Fire Department, that in 2003 an old fire station located here was demolished and rebuilt, creating a station that was larger and more modern, and that in 2007 (same year as the sculpture) they launched their Paramedic Program.
Richard Becker has created amazing sculptures throughout our region. Enjoy photographs of four examples by clicking here and here and here and here.
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The Comic-Con Museum will be opening an exhibit celebrating Mexican lucha libre wrestling on May 22, 2025. The exhibition is titled Sangre, Sudor y Mito and will feature masks and costumes worn by legendary luchadores, collectibles, original art, video and much more.
To kick things off, Lucha Fest is being held in San Diego at the Soap Factory this afternoon.
The free, family-friendly event features food, music, art, lowriders and live lucha libre wrestling! Lucha Fest is supported by the Comic-Con Museum, Museo de Lucha Libre Tijuana Mexicana, and the Office of the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego.
I arrived as it opened, which turned out to be much too early. The wrestling, I learned wouldn’t begin for a couple hours, so I walked around checking things out for a short while.
A highlight of Lucha Fest is the official unveiling of a huge mural across the street, which features legendary luchadores, including Chula Vista’s own Rey Mysterio. It was created by prolific local artist Dentlok. I had photographed the mural in early April, not knowing anything about it. See those photographs here.
The Soap Factory is a mostly outdoor venue east of downtown San Diego. It has many cool murals. I’ve focused my few photos today on the fun event as it barely got started. (Yes, I neglected to photograph the ring–there was nothing going on at the time.)
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The bright yellow building at 510 North Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas is hard to miss. It was the original train station in Encinitas, as its appearance suggests. Today it’s home of Pannikin Coffee & Tea, a popular community gathering place.
I found few other indications of the building’s interesting railroad history: a marker near the front door (seen above) and an old Encinitas station sign.
I walked inside Pannikin Coffee & Tea and was disappointed there was so little on display specifically concerning the railroad station’s history. I asked two employees about it, who told me about the salvaged Encinitas station sign up near the ceiling.
According to this article, the original Encinitas train station was built in 1887. The building moved from trackside to its present location in the early 1970s and in 1980 became a coffeehouse.
It’s a uniquely attractive building, with its bright color and old Victorian charm.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
It’s springtime in San Diego, and the Sri Chinmoy Peace Garden in North Park is in full bloom!
Sri Chinmoy was a spiritual leader from India who taught meditation in the United States. What better place to meditate but in a place of tranquil beauty.
The Sri Chimnoy Peace Garden was established in 2013 and includes a statue of the spiritual leader and benches for quiet sitting.
The small garden, located off Adams Avenue just east of Arizona Street, has been maintained by the San Diego Sri Chimnoy Centre, which according to Google is permanently closed. As a sign explains, the natural setting is intended to enhance the beauty of the area and offer the community a place for reflection.
Spring is a time for renewal–perhaps for the soul as well.
Sri Chinmoy – STUDENT OF PEACE – CHAMPION OF THE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT OF MANKIND
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
There’s a tasty, mouth-watering exhibition ready to be devoured at the La Jolla Riford Library. Step into the Community Room and bring your appetite for art!
The Culinary Arts offers a buffet of paintings by 15 local artists that celebrates food!
As the library’s exhibition website states, you’ll find captivating oil paintings of everything from Cheeseburgers to Triple Decker Ice Cream Cones to delectable Beignets!
The visual feast comes to an end on May 18, 2025.
Fortunately, if you’re still hungry, all of these delectable pieces are for sale. By purchasing a painting or two, these treats can become takeout and brought home for your future enjoyment!
Yummy samples…
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Perhaps you’d like to join Balboa Park’s volunteer Rose Garden Corps. You’ll help beautify the world-class Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden!
I saw a small army of volunteers today in the rose garden, pruning, weeding, raking and fertilizing, while enjoying the San Diego sunshine. Rose Garden Corps members work Tuesdays or Thursday in the morning, and there is a monthly meeting.
If you think you’d like to join the Rose Garden Corps, check out this webpage to learn all about it!
Incidentally, the rose garden is in peak bloom right now. It’s spectacular!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park has plans to substantially expand. The proposed renovation of the West Wing celebrates the centennial of the museum in 2026.
A physical model of an early design concept for this new West Wing extension can be viewed today inside the museum. The design was conceived by the prestigious international architectural firm Foster + Partners, and the model is part of an exhibition that shows their other work around the world.
I got a look at the model yesterday and took some photos so you might visualize how Balboa Park might appear in the future. Obviously, this is important to everyone in San Diego.
Like other Foster + Partners projects, the design will create an experience that is spacious and full of natural light. The proposed expansion will add 37,000 square feet of gallery space, including an immersive digital space. There will also be a community engagement pavilion that will provide interactive space for artists and visitors alike.
As you can see, this large expansion will replace today’s sculpture court and garden.
Personally, I’m not really sure what to think of it.
I like the general idea, but how will this new structure fit in with the surrounding, entirely different Spanish Colonial Revival architecture? It will stand across Plaza de Panama from the much smaller Timken Museum, which also has a more sleek, modern appearance, perhaps creating a visual counter-balance.
The very first thing that struck me is how small the historic San Diego Museum of Art appears beside their wide, taller expansion. No other buildings are shown in the model such as the nearby House of Charm, but I imagine it, too, will appear small in comparison.
My main concern is how this fairly tall new structure might obscure or partially obscure views of Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower, which is arguably the most beloved sight in all of San Diego. The expansion will almost certainly hide the California Tower from people who are in the north part of the Plaza de Panama.
It also appears the design work at the sculpture court and garden by renowned modernist Malcolm Leland will disappear. You can see photographs of that in one of my past blog posts by clicking here.
Well, what do you think?
If you visit the model in the museum, there’s a nearby video that helps you better visualize how this expansion will appear, and an opportunity to leave your own comment.
Here’s a photo I took a few years ago from a short distance up El Prado. You can see the present-day sculpture court with its columns and banners to the right of the California Building’s dome.
The proposed expansion, to my eye, appears to be about three times the height of the sculpture court. So imagine that. The California Tower should remain visible down El Prado, fortunately.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Meet two super cool San Diego artists! That’s Susie Zol on the left and Denise Cerro on the right. Both were having a blast today creating art, laughing, enjoying life and talking to visitors in Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center!
Susie Zol is an abstract artist whose website is here. Denise Cerro likes to make mixed media art and her website is here.
They were having so much fun when I walked into the gallery and radiating such energy that I couldn’t help smiling myself! And then it got even better as they demonstrated what they were up to!
Here’s Susie at work…
That’s Denise in the next photo…
She showed me how to make art using a gelli plate (gel printing plate). It’s sort of works like a slightly squishy printing press.
Okay, I hope I understood this all correctly.
Ink is applied to the gelli plate…
Now she’s putting an inked leafy branch onto the inked gelli plate…
Pressing down on heavy stock paper to make a gelli print…
There it is!
And by using thin material and making a second impression on the residual ink, a ghost print is created!
The ghost prints can be layered, creating a composite image with complexity and depth. In Denise’s mixed media pieces, she’ll often glue on works of ceramic or collage material. The entire effect is amazing.
All I can say is, head over to Gallery 21 by May 18th and see loads of incredible art for yourself.
I almost forgot! The artists are doing daily demonstrations at 1 pm, too!
May 12=Art Journals; May 13=Accordion Books; May 14=Small Series Paintings; May 15=Abstract Faces; May 16=Non-Dominate Hand Art; and May 17=Painting on Loose Paper.
Look at some of their work!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
I met an artist in Balboa Park today who creates beautiful crocheted hats and heartfelt poetry. Her name is Espi Love.
Espi had many different colored hats that she has crocheted, and with her typewriter she was composing poems for passersby. She wrote a poem for me about her hat.
It’s about whimsy, silliness and being unafraid. It concludes: we should all be brave as a playful child
I can definitely identify with silliness!
I hope you might see her next time you’re in Balboa Park. Look for her smile, and expect words of wisdom tapped out from her fingers. You might like one of her whimsical hats, too!
And yes! She has a website with lots of cool stuff! You can order one of her fun “Minky” hats online! Go to her website by clicking here!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
This afternoon, Danza Azteca Calpulli performed at the Annual San Diego Balboa Park Powwow, which is typically held on Mother’s Day weekend.
The colorful Aztec Dancers might delight the eyes, but those watching were reminded that their dance is spiritual–it’s a prayer.
The smoke of white sage blesses participants, purifying minds and hearts.
In a circle the dancers step to rhythmic drums and at intervals spin. The dance feels like a collective heartbeat, and the turning seems like the circle of life.
Perhaps I don’t know any better, but that’s the feeling I get. I like to quietly watch and listen.
You need to experience it yourself to develop your own feeling.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 