Mosaic scenes of Hispanic life, culture and history decorate benches and seats at a San Diego Trolley station.
In Logan Heights, the 25th and Commercial Street station of the San Diego Trolley’s Orange Line features public art at both it’s east and west platforms. A week or so ago, I enjoyed looking at colorful mosaics made of tiles on the base of various concrete seats and curving benches. The small mosaics depict Hispanic life, culture and history. There are abstract scenes of immigrants working in fields or in construction, of family at home, and of organized activism.
I took these photos at the eastbound platform. The mosaics are part of a project titled Achievement / Progress / Community: In the Spirit of Cesar E. Chavez that was completed in 2006. The mosaics were created by artist John Hiemstra. The trolley stop is dedicated to civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.
Photo along length of 25th and Commercial Street trolley station of the Orange Line. This is the eastbound platform.A small tile mosaic scene features a red trolley in front of downtown’s Santa Fe Depot.A family at home around a table laden with food.Migrant workers planting seeds in a field.Mosaic shows what appears to be a ranch in a Southern California landscape.Farm worker is harvesting tomatoes or strawberries.Saguaro cacti in a Southwestern scene.Beautiful abstract mosaic. Tiles of different colors, sizes and shapes.Hispanic workers build a wall.A laborer hard at work.Two figures stand near automobiles on a highway.A diverse group appears to hold up signs in a protest.A priest and an activist.Hispanic youth together, perhaps students. Another scene of life, learning, hope, struggle.
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Many panels of street art can be seen on a construction site fence in East Village. They address diverse issues, promote civil rights, condemn social wrongs. They all speak to the human heart. They all concern love. Real love.
I don’t know who painted these panels. All are simple, but extremely powerful.
Most of the artwork opposes domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse.
Domestic violence is horrific. It’s a hidden crime that damages too many lives.
San Diego has a terrible sex trafficking problem. It’s an issue some of our city leaders are trying to address.
Here are a few photos.
There’s nothing super about domestic violence.Stop human trafficking.Not all monsters are in the dark.Sometimes people wipe away their tears so you can’t see them.
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Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village features a special environmental exhibit called Sustainability Studio!
I discovered a fascinating environmental exhibit in Balboa Park this weekend. The Sustainability Studio is located in Gallery 21 near the center of the Spanish Village Art Center.
This small but information-packed exhibit discusses how various museums and buildings in Balboa Park are engaging in conservation efforts, by using solar panels, low-flow water fixtures, LED lighting, and the intelligent use of resources. The exhibit also encourages kids to think about the environment and pledge to protect it. Fun activities include making leaves for the Tree of Change and a Balboa Park scavenger hunt!
To read the signs, click the images and they will enlarge.
The Sustainability Studio will remain open to the public through December. Bring the kids! They can learn something new, create some fun art, and engage in the easy scavenger hunt and win a cool prize!
Rubi welcomes visitors into the Sustainability Studio, where one can learn about the conservation efforts of various organizations in Balboa Park.Signs and posters in the special exhibit raise awareness about various important environmental issues. Kids are provided with fun activities that promote activism and conservation.Sustainability refers to the conservation and efficient use of essential resources. Balboa Park’s efforts include solar panels, low-flow water fixtures and LED lighting.Kids visiting the exhibit are encouraged to make a leaf with a hand tracing, then inscribe it with an environmental pledge.Leaves on the Tree of Change. Kids pledge to ride bikes, turn off lights, recycle, use less water . . .A scavenger hunt is described on this flyer. Upload 5 selfies to Facebook that include a Balboa Park sustainability feature and claim a great prize!Various museums and buildings in Balboa Park are working to become more environmentally friendly.The San Diego Natural History Museum became the first Balboa Park LEED Certified building in 2009.The San Diego Air and Space Museum has increased energy efficiency and achieved significant water savings.Fun works of art produced by creative kids hang from the ceiling. I like the ocean!I love turtles!
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You can help save Balboa Park’s beloved Starlight Bowl!
I’m no expert on this matter. Take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I’m just an ordinary guy who has lived in San Diego for a good chunk of my life.
I would like to raise my voice in support of saving the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park. I’m not affiliated with Save Starlight. They have no clue who I am. But I’m attached to their cause. A chain of fond memories is my bond.
Years ago I enjoyed watching a variety of theatrical productions with my family in this beloved outdoor amphitheater. Some of those productions I experienced as a child and young adult, and they made a lasting impression. They helped me to develop my particular love for the written (and spoken) word, and for the great outdoors. My small world expanded as I sat beneath a universe of twinkling stars and absorbed great plays–those undying expressions of human longing, emotion and imagination. And it was simply exciting–like going to an outdoor concert!
I’m sure thousands–if not millions–of people have similar memories of the Starlight Bowl: memories of fine drama and pleasure under those twinkling stars, of laughs, tears and smiles, out in the fresh San Diego air, a short walk from the many other wonderful institutions in Balboa Park.
The Starlight Bowl has languished far too long. What a shame. When I walk past it during my strolls around Balboa Park, I can’t help but envision it once again filled with humanity, playing a unique role in our ever-growing city. Save Starlight is working to bring the large, functional amphitheater back to life. According to an email I received, they are now working with the city, and they intend to fill the Starlight Bowl with concerts, musicals, dance recitals, circus acts, magic shows, multicultural festivals, graduations, and much more. A few more ideas have also popped into my head: corporate events, lectures, a meeting place for large community organizations . . .
Many of my blog’s followers either live in or have a personal attachment to San Diego. Would you like to help with this effort? You know, social media sites like Facebook can have a surprisingly big impact if people post and share information and opinions. So why not make your support known? Or perhaps just tell your friends about what’s going on.
Save Starlight is making a presentation to the City of San Diego within a week, and a handwritten letter of support would be extremely powerful. Ideas for a letter might include your personal connection with Starlight, practical reasons why you would like to see the Starlight Bowl reopened, or even how you would like to become involved. Perhaps you’d like to volunteer, donate, use the venue for staging an event, have your product carried in the concessions, etc. If you plan to write, do it soon!
Letters should be sent to:
Stephen Stopper, President
Save Starlight, Inc.
9590 Chesapeake Drive
San Diego, CA 92123
After languishing for many years, the Starlight Bowl might once again be filled with humanity and life. You can help make it happen. Your voice is important.
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The Coronado Bay Bridge has seen far too many tragic suicides.
Would you please consider signing a very important online petition? The Coronado San Diego Bridge Collaborative For Suicide Prevention has begun a petition to help prevent Coronado Bay Bridge suicides.
Tragically, in the past 47 years, about 370 souls have jumped from the bridge. Most of these people felt driven to end their own lives because of deep depression. All could have been helped. The petition, addressed to the California Department of Transportation, asks that a suicide barrier be installed on the San Diego–Coronado Bridge. It would be similar to a intelligently-designed device now being installed on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which is a unique type of a net that is configured to safely catch jumpers and arrest them until help arrives.
Volunteers remove litter from beautiful Ocean Beach during Coastal Cleanup Day.
Today is Coastal Cleanup Day! This huge environmental undertaking, involving thousands of energetic volunteers, is I Love A Clean San Diego’s biggest event of the year!
Over 7,600 people participated in San Diego County last year. Over a hundred tons of nasty garbage was removed from our beaches, bays and inland waterways!
This year, in Ocean Beach, a small army of volunteers fanned out along the shore looking for litter and other debris. The items they collected were carefully recorded. I saw many families, organizations and community-minded businesses participating. Everyone was having a great time.
San Diegans, who feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful corner of the world, are very keen on maintaining a clean environment. What’s good for Mother Earth is good for us, as well!
Many local organizations helped during I Love a Clean San Diego’s Coastal Cleanup Day, including the Surfrider Foundation.Speaker of the California State Assembly Toni Atkins had a team helping to clean up the beach!Many Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers assembled for a photograph, with the Pacific Ocean and long Ocean Beach Municipal Pier in the background.This guy came in after surfing some fine waves this morning, just as the cleanup was getting started.Someone found a piece of trash under lifeguard tower number one!The friendly lifeguards were cruising along the sand making sure everyone enjoying the warm water was safe.A lone guitarist performs a duet with the mighty ocean.This cool kid showed me a bit of plastic he picked up with his nifty grappler.People were combing the beach for trash of every kind, including styrofoam, plastic wrappers and cigarette butts.Someone was nice enough to let me photograph their trash! This is what they’d found so far.Lots of smiles were seen all over Ocean Beach during the trash removal event.Someone found a piece of garbage by some kelp near the foot of Ocean Beach’s popular pier. I definitely love a clean San Diego!
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A smile, a Votes For Women sash, American flags, and a California Equal Suffrage Association banner.
Early this evening a rally and parade celebrating the ratification of the 19th Amendment were held in Balboa Park. As the sun descended toward the horizon, a small crowd gathered in Sefton Plaza to hear a variety of interesting, often stirring speeches. The speakers portrayed notable women in American history who have worked to further the cause of women’s equal civil rights. Wearing period costumes, the historical personalities included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul and Eleanor Roosevelt, plus important local San Diegans Dr. Charlotte Baker, our city’s first female practicing physician, and prominent philanthropist and journalist Ellen Browning Scripps. The event was sponsored by the Women’s Museum of California in Point Loma.
Here are a few photos!
Two women head for Sefton Plaza in Balboa Park, where a suffrage rally would celebrate the anniversary of the 19th Amendment.The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920. It guarantees all American women the right to vote.Historical sign proclaims a woman living here has registered to vote thereby assuming the responsibility of citizenship.In period attire, the person being interviewed played the role of San Diego philanthropist and trailblazer Ellen Browning Scripps during the rally.The woman with the microphone portrayed American suffragist and social activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who wrote many of Susan B. Anthony’s speeches.Many wore historical sashes, hats and costumes to commemorate suffragettes and leaders who have fought for equal women’s rights.One participant reenacted Eleanor Roosevelt, speaking about her life and accomplishments. The statue is of Kate Sessions, one of the founders of Balboa Park.The suffrage parade begins. Participants march toward the heart of Balboa Park, down El Prado and over the Cabrillo Bridge.
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San Diego Book Project promotes literacy both locally and worldwide. They were present at TwainFest in Old Town.
The San Diego Book Project promotes literacy both locally and worldwide. It’s an effort I strongly support. So when I happened to see these folks with a table full of books at TwainFest this weekend, I instantly decided to provide a hand with my blog.
The San Diego Book Project has given away nearly a million donated books! They’re sent to teachers, schools, classrooms and students who might not have the resources to buy their own material. Beyond San Diego’s more disadvantaged neighborhoods, schools in South Africa, India, Peru and the Philippines have also received free books. Life-changing books are also sent to hospitals and prisons, and any not-for-profit organization that actively encourages literacy.
Do you need some free books? Would you like to donate or volunteer? Check out their website.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a work of classic literature sure to interest new readers.Good books open minds, promote education. An exciting journey with the written word makes life richer and more meaningful.
The Ocean Beach Public Library needs your activism and help!
I wasn’t expecting to write this blog. But I have to.
During this morning’s Ocean Beach Street Fair, I took a few photos of a smiling lady in a Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat hat. My senses were so dazzled by all the cool sights and activity round about me that I didn’t really notice the important purpose of her booth.
As I left the festival, I popped into the local library to use the restroom. And there, standing behind the front counter, was the Cat in the Hat hat lady! She greeted me–she was a librarian! She had noticed me taking photos.
They’re for a blog, I said. Help us raise a million dollars, she said. I laughed, promised I’d try!
It wasn’t until this afternoon, as I looked closely at my photographs, that I realized she wasn’t kidding! The Ocean Beach branch of the San Diego Public Library really does need to raise money! Check out the poster which I enlarged!
So now I have to keep a promise.
Please help the Ocean Beach public library raise funds for much needed improvements!
Is this a cause you’d like to support? You might like to help them out! The OB Library is overdue for expansion. Spread the word! Let’s get it done!
Why expand the library? The children’s area is crowded and too small! No space for teen and adult activities. The computer area is crowded, unpleasant and outdated!The library is the creative heart of Ocean Beach!
Walking past a plaque which is engraved with one of many important quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.
I frequently walk along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade in downtown San Diego. Whenever I do, I like to randomly read some of the historic MLK quotes that are engraved in plaques along the long pathway. I’ve never counted the number of quotes. There are easily dozens. Every quote on every plaque is important and powerful, and reflects the intelligence, energy, optimism and wisdom of America’s great civil rights leader.
Here are photos taken at different times of a few of Dr. King’s quotes…
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.The deep rumbling of discontent that we hear today is the thunder of disinherited masses, rising from dungeons of oppression to the bright hills of freedom in one majestic chorus.Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the Earth like brothers.Two people walk side-by-side down the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade in downtown San Diego.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.The democratic ideal of freedom and equality will be fulfilled for all–or all human beings will share in the resulting social and spiritual doom…The greatest victory of the civil rights period was something internal…We armed ourselves with dignity and self-respect…We straightened our backs up…The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.Any law that uplifts human personality is just, any law that degrades human personality is unjust.Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.Breaking the Chains sculpture, by Melvin Edwards, reminds people on MLK Promenade of the positive legacy of a great civil rights leader.
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