My friend Mitchell Walker, who plays the didgeridoo in San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park, has an amazing new instrument!
A didgeridoo named Draco!
Draco means dragon–and this musical dragon can be made to stick its tongue out at passersby! Kids love it!
The dragon perched atop Mitchell’s new didgeridoo is made of molded resin. It was created by award-winning Southern California artist Kitty Cantrell. See her website here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
San Diego’s newest museum opened yesterday in Balboa Park. Today I walked through the door and enjoyed my very first visit to the amazing Comic-Con Museum!
The Comic-Con Museum is going to be another major attraction in San Diego. Even during this “soft opening” there are remarkable exhibits that include original, one-of-kind artifacts–artwork, costumes, props, rare documents and more–from the history of popular culture.
I walked about the three-level museum and and tried to take it all in. A variety of extraordinary exhibits are featured during this Grand Opening weekend, which coincides with Comic-Con Special Edition at the downtown San Diego Convention Center.
Please enjoy my photos and read the captions to learn a little more about the museum and its current exhibits.
And make sure to check out the Comic-Con Museum website here! Become a member like me and gain all sorts of exclusive benefits!
Almost 10 am when the doors open! The Comic-Con Museum occupies the historic Federal Building in Balboa Park, which years ago was home to the Hall of Champions. The building was created for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.This is just the beginning! The Comic-Con Museum will continue to develop their space in the coming few years. The new museum promises to become ever more incredible.Many generous donors and benefactors have helped to make the Comic-Con Museum a reality, including the David C. Copley Foundation and the Conrad Prebys Foundation.The first exhibit I saw on the ground floor is called Art of the Comic-Con Masquerade. It celebrates the Comic-Con tradition of cosplay. These elaborate superhero costumes were made by fans!My favorite exhibit is titled Gene Roddenberry: Sci-Fi Visionary. Original costumes, art and props are displayed from Star Trek. The life and creative genius of Roddenberry is remembered with his personal letters and more. This exhibit is so fantastic I’ll be blogging about it separately coming up!Another substantial exhibit, Eight Decades of Archie, celebrates the cultural heritage of Archie Comics. I had no idea that Sabrina the Teenage Witch, before television, was a comic book series published by Archie ComicsCardboard Superheroes were created by two local youth. Their cool creations debuted in the nascent Comic-Con Museum a couple years ago during Balboa Park’s December Nights.Looking up at the second floor galleries. When the Federal Building was home of the Hall of Champions, the Breitbard Hall of Fame plaques decorated those upper walls.Admiring original works of famed artist Charles Samuel Addams, who is probably best known for creating the Addams Family characters.Looking down from the second level toward the museum entrance.An inspirational exhibit is titled Out of the Darkness: Comic Art in the Times of COVID. Youth art created during the COVID-19 lockdown is featured. It is presented by A Reason To Survive (ARTS), an organization in National City that works to uplift young people.Some really great art from San Diego’s South Bay community.In one of the Comic-Con Museum’s classrooms is a creative work area. During the opening weekend, an exhibit here demonstrates the Cosplay Creator’s Lab.If you’d like to support San Diego dreamers, fans and artists, here’s one way!Sewing machine and dress.Check out this incredible, wearable Grommash Hellscream costume! It was created by Mike Biasi.In the lower level of the museum, near the auditorium, you’ll find another Art of the Comic-Con Masquerade display. These costumes were all part of past Comic-Con Masquerades.And check this out! In one corner of the Comic-Con Museum, where the old Hall of Champions café used to be, there’s the PAC-MAN Arcade, complete with playable games and historical exhibits!Designs, drawings and documents from back when Pac-Man was created, in 1980. A cultural icon (and Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame inductee) was born!Is this cool, or what?
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Possibly my favorite part of today’s Grand Avenue Festival in Escondido was the robotics demonstration.
Students from several local high schools were showing their sophisticated robots, which can operate both autonomously and by manual control. These amazing robots are built every year to compete in the international FIRST Robotics Competition!
I saw one particular robot shooting balls into the air. One crazy looking robot with pipes sticking out of it was built to launch t-shirts!
All of the students I met were friendly and clearly smarter than me. Several provided technical explanations, which promptly went over my head.
I saw teams from Rancho Bernardo High School (Team E-Motion), Poway High School (Team Spyder), San Pasqual High School (Team SuperNURDS), and Escondido Charter High School (Team Daedalus).
Over the years, these local teams have had great success competing in the prestigious FIRST Robotics Competition. The acronym FIRST means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
The games that challenge the competing robots are changed each year, so students must utilize creativity, logic, engineering skills and sheer ingenuity. Robotics is one fun way to implement STEM education in schools!
Check it out!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A couple weeks ago I noticed a large mural was being installed on a wall of the courtyard at the newly transformed Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park.
Today I saw the work has been completed!
For many years, Variations on a Gold Theme, created by artists Ellamarie and Jackson Woolley in 1966, could be viewed in Escondido outside the museum’s satellite branch on Maple Street.
Originally this fantastic 12-by-36-foot enamel-on-copper mural made its home in downtown San Diego, at the First National Bank Building.
Now, as you can see in my photographs, the radiant, quite beautiful Variations on a Gold Theme inspires those who sit outside in the sunshine at the Mingei Museum’s new Lucille and Ron Neeley Courtyard!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
For too many years, the exterior of Balboa Park’s historic Federal Building had languished neglected in a state of decay.
Not any more!
This is what I saw yesterday as I walked through the Palisades area of Balboa Park.
The Federal Building, built for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, has suddenly returned to life. What visitors to Balboa Park will now see is something more like the building’s original appearance.
This uniquely beautiful building will be the home of the Comic-Con Museum, which is scheduled to open this coming Thanksgiving weekend.
The repair and painting of the Federal Building’s exterior was made possible in large part by the Balboa Park Committee of 100.
You can see photos of the historic restoration getting underway a few weeks ago and learn a little more by clicking here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Monumental public art is now being created for the Palisades area of Balboa Park!
Once completed, a pair of life-size grizzly bear sculptures will be placed on the roof of the 1935 California State Building, home of the San Diego Automotive Museum. In addition, a large 12′ x 20′ cold cast bronze panel is destined to greet visitors approaching the front entrance of the 1935 Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries, which today serves as the Municipal Gymnasium.
The two buildings were constructed for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park.
In 2021, almost a century later, both building exteriors, with the help of local architect Robert Thiele, are undergoing a historic restoration.
Today I was privileged to have an amazing preview!
Take a look at these photographs of a model grizzly bear standing in an indoor work area at Bellagio Precast. The bear, symbol of California, was created by San Diego sculptor Michael Matson and his son Kevin.
As you can see, the huge golden grizzly is ready to be completely cast.
A rendering shows how completed bear sculptures will be positioned atop the two front corners of the San Diego Automotive Museum, overlooking Pan American Plaza, with its proposed Singing Color Fountains.
The large bronze panel to be placed above the front entrance of the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries building will soon be created out in the yard of Bellagio Precast. Some blocks of ornamentation meant to surround the panel are already finished.
The panel’s design is based on the original 1935 bas-relief designed by Arturo Eneim that was carved out of layers of fragile wallboard.
Imagery in the panel includes an electrical power plant and the gears of industrial machinery. During the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, crowds marveled at the latest technological inventions. Inside the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries was the House of Magic, which showcased a “talking kitchen” and television!
The following images show how the building and its panel will appear when all is completed.
A wood framework for working on the very large cold cast bronze panel is ready outside.
I took a photograph of finished blocks of ornamentation that will be installed beneath the panel, along the edge of the building’s marquee.
It will be interesting to follow the progress of these projects, which are made possible by the Balboa Park Committee of 100. It will be really exciting to see the final result!
Is it possible for beautiful Balboa Park to become even more amazing?
Yes!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Whenever I walk through Balboa Park, I almost always spend some time at the Japanese Friendship Garden, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
Today I noticed there’s new artwork on display in the Exhibit Hall. It concerns breaking ocean waves, and includes many images of surfers on surfboards. The art is so vivid and unique, it’s hard to describe.
The exhibition is titled Hokusai Waves. It showcases the work of San Diego photographer Kotaro Moromura, whose images are inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e painter and printmaker Katsushika Hokusai.
Powerfully curling water and flying droplets, captured with a high camera shutter speed, seem to leap right out of the display cases. The images are not unlike the impressively crashing waves created by artist Katsushika Hokusai.
As you can see from a couple of my photos, the wave images that include surfers are dynamic and definitely very cool!
Anyone visiting San Diego for the next several days for the international World Surf League Championship event up at Trestles might enjoy a peek at these!
Perhaps you’ve seen it already. The huge, amazing, recently completed mural on a building by Interstate 5, just south of H Street in Chula Vista. When you’re driving south down the freeway it’s hard to miss!
I took these photos today during a super long walk (with occasional bus and trolley rides) around San Diego’s South Bay. It’s my week off from work, so I’ll be collecting many more images all around the city in the days ahead!
What a sensational work of art.
Life, represented by brilliant images of nature, emerges from two strong females.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Numerous amazing murals now fill an alley in downtown Escondido. The multi-phase project is called Esco Alley Art, and I had to check it out last weekend!
Artists have painted all sorts of colorful images, which are displayed in an alley just south of Grand Avenue and east of Maple Street. Some of the murals depict Escondido attractions, such as Cruisin’ Grand and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This expanding outdoor gallery is presented by the Escondido Art Association and the Escondido Downtown Business Association.
Phase II of the project was unveiled a little over a week ago. The vision is to keep adding more art, eventually expanding the outdoor gallery into other alleys!
Learn all about Esco Alley Art on its website here. You can see each mural and read about the artists, many of whom live in Escondido.
I walked along the alley admiring the diverse artwork while snapping these photos…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
I’ve recently updated three old blog posts with new photographs!
Today I headed back down to Imperial Beach. I had to check out the gigantic sandcastle that was completed by the pier for the 2021 Sun and Sea Festival. See lots of incredible new photos in an update here!
I also swung by City Heights, to check out the long, amazing mural that’s slowly coming to life in Teralta Park. Click here to see those new photos!
Finally, a few weeks ago I took a walk through Sherman Heights, and directed my feet toward Our Lady of Angels. I wanted better, closer photographs of the church’s fantastic doors. See those here!
I’ve got many more colorful blog posts coming in the near future!
Stay tuned for tons of art in Escondido, interesting activity in Old Town, and more cool sights in North Park, Chula Vista, City Heights and downtown! Not to mention potential surprises!
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