Tour guide Jeff explains that today’s Studio 36 Sculptors Guild was an outdoor theatre in the early years of Spanish Village. The front was a lobby and ticket booth. Writers, actors and set designers would act out plays on the inner patio.
Spanish Village Art Center, in beautiful Balboa Park, is where you’ll find the colorful studios of many fine San Diego artists. Last year I blogged about the history of this fascinating place. A small exhibit in Gallery 21 recounted how Spanish Village was created for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, and traced the village’s evolution over subsequent decades. Unfortunately, that exhibit no longer exists. But I did record much of it. To enjoy an overview of the history, you can revisit my old blog post by clicking here.
Last Saturday I was given a terrific tour of Spanish Village by a super friendly guy named Jeff. During the tour, Jeff showed me some unusual, unexpected features of Spanish Village and delved into its often surprising history.
(Fortunately, Jeff gave me some notes that I will reference in this blog. Should you enjoy a tour yourself, you can probably obtain your own copy!)
Please read the photo captions where I provide descriptions and very short explanations. As you’ll see, many interesting changes in Spanish Village have taken place over the years. And I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface!
If something I’ve written is inaccurate, or needs some elaboration, leave a comment! What memories do you have?
Click here to check out the Spanish Village Art Center blog! Support these great artists!
An old photograph of how Spanish Village appeared around the time of the California Pacific International Exposition of 1935.
In 1935, when Spanish Village opened, visitors strolled down simulated Old World streets, which featured restaurants and shops in picturesque, open-arched buildings. The architecture was inspired by the Andalusian region of southern Spain. In addition to wine shops, a cocktail lounge and a Chinese Bazaar, one could buy flowers and enjoy music, art . . . and even a high wire trapeze act!
You can see in the above old photograph a no-longer-existing building at the center of today’s large patio. It separated Spanish Village into two “streets” that visitors could enjoy.
Over the years, resident artists have built out the small open air shops to create practical but unique enclosed spaces. Some of the open arches have been filled in, or can now be seen inside certain studios.
A current map of Spanish Village shows how it appears today. You can find this wonderful part of Balboa Park between the Natural History Museum and the San Diego Zoo.Jeff shows me Studios 34 A and 34 B, which were originally one space featuring a puppet show.Studios 24 through 28 surround a small inner courtyard. This area in Spanish Village originally contained a wishing well and actual horse stalls!Studio 6 has a sliding barn door! Two other studios dating from the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition have similar doors.Studio 8, like many others in Spanish Village, was built out from the original open archway to provide more space for the artists. The words The SHANGHAI are from 1935. It evidently used to be a bar.Near Studio 8’s entrance are two amazing works of art. Here’s one. It was created by John Novy, a potter who was a member of Spanish Village from 1969 to 1977.Second installation of ceramic tiles on exterior of Studio 8 in Spanish Village. This art was created by professional potter John Novy.This used to be the east entrance into Spanish Village. Today you’ll find outdoor glassblowers creating amazing glass pieces while visitors gather around to watch.The old east entrance (under the tiles) is now blocked off. Much of the grassy area occupied by today’s Balboa Park Miniature Railroad used to be a parking lot.Studio 18 is now the office of Spanish Village Art Center. In the early years a caretaker lived here. That rooster weather vane can be seen in many old photographs.The south end of the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society building used to extend a bit into today’s large patio area. You can see an old wooden beam on the present-day exterior.This quaint little street, during the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, led into the Fun Zone! Now it leads to a small parking lot.Gazing back south from the parking lot at today’s Spanish Village artist co-op in Balboa Park.The extended west side of the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society building was built sometime after the 1935 Expo.Originally, the building terminated where you see the column.Walking along the west edge of Spanish Village. Many decorative columns and arches provide this artist’s co-op with unique character.Looking through the west archway toward a shrub elephant, which stands on a nearby, newly improved walkway that heads north to the San Diego Zoo.This large dance floor (and the area where I’m standing) at the center of the colorful Spanish Village patio was once occupied by a large building. It seems there is some debate as to what that building was, exactly.Studio 3 is occupied by artist Don Knapp. He arrived at Spanish Village as a child! His grandmother was a founding member in the 1930s.Loads of fun, creative stuff is going on in Spanish Village Art Center in 2016. Please click the image to enlarge it, and then mark your calendar!Jeff provides a really interesting tour. Look for his friendly smile if you happen to find yourself in wonderful, historic Spanish Village!
…
I live in downtown San Diego and walk like crazy! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Do you like to read short pieces of thought-provoking fiction? You might enjoy checking out Short Stories by Richard.
Is Balboa Park one of your favorite places? Follow my special new blog, which I call Beautiful Balboa Park!
Uniquely beautiful Fern Lumen by artist Patricia Grabski.
This weekend you have an opportunity to see something really unique. Patricia Grabski is displaying her amazing lumen and cyanotype photo art in Balboa Park. Her work is part of a five artist exhibition called Ain’t Nothing Like a Dame, which you can enjoy inside Gallery 21, in the always wonderful Spanish Village Art Center.
I learned that cyanotype printing was invented in England in 1842. Utilizing two chemicals, ammonium iron citrate and potassium ferricyanide, this process was used to create early blueprints. In 1843, the world’s first woman photographer, Anna Atkins, placed organic materials onto paper coated with cyanotype; when exposed to sunlight, ghostly, artistic photograms were created.
Lumens is a very similar process that uses old unexposed black and white photo paper. Exposure to sunlight creates all sorts of fantastic colors and effects.
My own poor photographs don’t do this fascinating artwork justice. You have to see the subtle detail in person. So head on over to Spanish Village tomorrow. Patricia Grabski’s work will be displayed through March 14. If you want to contact the artist, her info is visible in one photo.
Patricia Grabski is currently exhibiting her unique creations in Gallery 21, in Balboa Park’s wonderful Spanish Village Art Center. Her pieces are available for purchase.Patricia Grabski uses neither camera nor lens–she contact prints her images with alternative photographic processes–cyanotype, platinum, palladium, albumen, van dyke brown, salt and lumens. Her prints are made on photographic paper, art paper, glass, tin, cotton handkerchiefs and old linens.
Leaf Lumen. Fantastic art created by Patricia Grabski.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Do you love Balboa Park? Follow my special new blog which I call Beautiful Balboa Park!
Kids love the Dr. Seuss displays all around the Old Globe plaza area during December Nights in Balboa Park.
I’m not in the least embarrassed to say I love reading Dr. Seuss. Even as an adult, he remains one of my favorite authors. He created pure joy.
Today is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. He was born March 2, 1904. His actual name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, and he lived in beautiful La Jolla, just a short distance up the coast from where I now sit in downtown San Diego.
I’ve included some Dr. Seuss related photos on my blog over the years, so to remember the immortal children’s book author, I’ll share them once again!
Dr. Seuss seems to be a favorite author of the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department, marching in the Garden Party of the Century event in Balboa Park!Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat walks along a north window of the San Diego Central Library in East Village.The Cat in the Hat on the San Diego Central Library children’s room wall.Front of the Old Globe Theatre features a banner of the Dr. Seuss Grinch during December Nights.It’s Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham! This fun art was photographed outside the Legends Gallery in La Jolla, hometown of popular children’s book author Theodor Geisel.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can enjoy more 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 on a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to enjoy!
Members of the Helping Hand Club at Mt. Carmel High School are raising funds for Build a Miracle.
Students belonging to Mt. Carmel High School’s very cool Helping Hand Club would like you to help Build a Miracle!
Today I came across a bake sale in Balboa Park. Two very generous MCHS students had a table full of brownies and other treats; they were raising donations for Build a Miracle, a charity that constructs and furnishes homes for needy families in Mexico. Between 1999 and 2014, Build a Miracle has built 185 homes and 3 community centers. They have touched literally thousands of lives, offering hope and a pathway to a brighter future.
Should you wander through Balboa Park and see smiling members of the Helping Hand Club, perhaps you could offer your own hand! Or check out the Build a Miracle website and see if you’d like to help!
Two awesome students are working to make our world a better place.Donations welcome. Help us reach our goal to build and furnish a house in Mexico.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can enjoy more Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Smiles, hearts and yummy pastries await on Valentine’s Day in the House of Sweden.
I often meander about Balboa Park on Sunday. Today being Valentine’s Day, I naturally had to take photographs depicting love, and love of life in Balboa Park. Here they are!
I spotted these heart-shaped treats inside the House of France at Balboa Park’s International Cottages.The San Diego Bonsai Club was listening to a lecture about their beloved hobby inside a meeting room in the Casa del Prado.Some bonsai plants and other related items were on display during the club meeting, as well.A couple walks hand-in-hand down El Prado and into the Plaza de Panama on Valentine’s Day.Young people were watching a lady artist paint a lovely scene in Balboa Park.A BE MINE heart banner welcomes people at the door of the Balboa Park Visitors Center.An International Dance Festival was underway in the Balboa Park Club. These folks were dancing happily to a fiddle.Hearts were placed on the sculpture at the center of the Balboa Park Club’s indoor fountain.A couple peruses colorful paintings for sale by local artists.Close-up photo of tender Mother and Daughter Seated, by Francisco Zuniga, 1971. Part of the San Diego Museum of Art’s new outdoor exhibition Art of the Open Air.A mysterious hand reaches for some Viva Pops!A romantic banner advertises In Your Arms, a production last year of the Old Globe Theatre.Someone wrote Will You Marry Me in chalk near where people walk down El Prado. I wonder what the answer was?A loving pair holds hands as they enter Balboa Park on Valentine’s Day.
…
If you enjoy my blog, you can follow Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook and Twitter!
Do you love Balboa Park? Follow my brand new blog which I call Beautiful Balboa Park!
Mitchell, an incredible musician, plays one of his didgeridoos in Balboa Park on a beautiful San Diego day.
Please meet Mitchell, the self-named Didgeridude! For many years I’ve seen him playing his collection of cool didgeridoos in public around San Diego. I’ve often walked past him performing in Balboa Park or Seaport Village, and have paused to listen to his incredible, resonating music. But I’d never spoken to him at length until last weekend.
Mitchell is not only a really great musician, but he’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever be pleased to meet. His spirit is a big as the universe; perhaps that’s why his music sounds like emanations and echoes from a place deep in the heart of the cosmos.
It brought a smile to my face when I heard he first took an interest in the didgeridoo after watching the movie Crocodile Dundee. This ancient musical instrument of the Australian Aborigines requires a special circular breathing technique, and it’s plain to see that playing the didgeridoo continuously is a labor of love that requires dedication and great effort. Mitchell told me he loses about a pound on those days he comes out to perform in public.
Check out his cool website, which is called Didjetellus. “Did I tell you” that his website has cool samples of didgeridoo music and MP3 files you can download? Mitchell does school presentations and can be booked for private concerts.
Mitchell has given me so much pleasure over the years, I feel privileged to have finally met him. If you want to hear something really cool and unusual, click the many MP3 samples on his website!
The Didgeridude is one very cool dude!This didgeridoo features a snake! Mitchell told me it would be fun if he could somehow devise a way to make a mechanical tongue come out of the snake.
…
If you enjoy my blog, you can follow Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook and Twitter!
Do you love Balboa Park? Follow my brand new blog which I call Beautiful Balboa Park!
Gazing east through dark trees into Balboa Park. The California Tower is a small spike inside a golden sunrise.
Early yesterday morning, the weather was so pleasant that I decided to walk to work. It’s about a four and a half mile journey. I started from downtown San Diego up Sixth Avenue along the west edge of Balboa Park, walked from Bankers Hill into Hillcrest, then finally descended Bachman Place into Mission Valley.
These photos capture the golden glow of a cloudless sunrise. Moving through the warm morning light was a modest adventure in a magical world.
Buildings along Sixth Avenue on Bankers Hill reflect breaking day one early January morning.A warm glow and reflection on the Redwood Bridge Club sign at the west edge of Balboa Park.A stately house at Sixth Avenue and Upas Street seems magical.Happy orange flowers poke through some bars along the sidewalk.The Tap House has a glowing light bulb on their business in Hillcrest.The sky is gradually brightening above a shadowy Hillcrest alley.A reddish splash in blue water. Morning photo of the fountain in front of Scripps Mercy Hospital.Eucalyptus trees in warm winter morning light. Photo taken while walking down Bachman Place into Mission Valley.Reflection in windows of the once-proud San Diego Union Tribune building in Mission Valley. The newspaper offices are moving to a smaller location downtown.
…
You can follow Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook and Twitter!
Many outdoor sculptures are being introduced into Balboa Park. The exhibit is titled Art of the Open Air. It’s a unique project of the San Diego Museum of Art.
During the past week, a number of sculptures in the San Diego Museum of Art’s collection have been carefully moved into the Plaza de Panama, a large outdoor gathering place in Balboa Park. For the next two years, anyone in San Diego will be able to freely enjoy the sculptures, and see them in changing light, beneath different skies. Moving such large pieces has taken a lot of work, but I noticed today that the installation, titled Art of the Open Air, is approaching completion.
Included in the unique outdoor exhibition are works by world-famous artists Joan Miró, Auguste Rodin and Tony Rosenthal. I wasn’t able to approach the artwork too closely–right now, while the sculptures are being readied, they’re still roped off. The same goes for a new piece in the museum’s May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden, which I also photographed from a bit of a distance. I put some identifying information in the photo captions.
Art of the Open Air is set to run from February 11, 2016 through February 13, 2018. I can already see that Balboa Park is going to be more lively and interesting than ever!
Alexander Calder. Spinal Column, 1968. Steel. A sculpture being installed in the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden.Lynn Russell Chadwick. The Watchers, 1960. Bronze. Now stands in Balboa Park’s beautiful Plaza de Panama, part of the Art of the Open Air exhibition.Auguste Rodin. The Prodigal Son, 1905. Bronze. Installed in the northwest corner of the Plaza de Panama, where the sculpture Youth Taming the Wild (Horse Trainer) used to stand.I can’t find anything about this piece, but it seems strangely familiar. If you know what it is, leave a comment! UPDATE: I learned the bronze sculpture is called Mother and Daughter Seated, by Francisco Zuniga, 1971Two very fine sculptures that will soon will be approachable in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama.Joan Miró. Solar Bird, 1966. Bronze. Standing guard near the entrance to the San Diego Museum of Art.Tony Rosenthal. Odyssey III, 1967. Aluminum.Photo across front of the San Diego Museum of Art, the north end of Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama. Outdoor art is being installed.Luis Jiménez. Border Crossing/Cruzando el Rio Bravo, 1989. Fiberglass with acrylic urethane finish. Stands outside the May S. Marcy Sculpture Court and Panama 66.Monumental totem-like sculpture depicts artist’s immigrant grandfather carrying wife and son, crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico.A large sculpture seems to stride into the life-filled Plaza de Panama in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park.
I’ve started a new photo blog! It’s called Beautiful Balboa Park! My first post concerns a beautiful but scraggly cactus garden that very few visitors see.
As you might know, I live in downtown San Diego very close to Balboa Park, so this new blog should be fairly active. I hope you enjoy it!
Here are a few of the photos:
Please follow my new blog by clicking the link below to see much, much more!
A special House of China lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages celebrates the Chinese Lunar New Year with food, music and dance.
Today I headed to Balboa Park hoping to catch part of the House of China’s lawn program at the International Cottages. The cultural event celebrates the Chinese Lunar New Year, which occurs on February 8. It’s the Year of the Monkey!
I wasn’t the only one who thought of attending! An unusually big crowd turned out for the colorful festivities.
Here come a few cool pics!
Several fascinating displays were at the Chinese New Year event in Balboa Park. This gentleman wrote people’s names using Mandarin characters.Lots of authentic Chinese food was being gobbled up, including these Green Onion Pancakes!Many Balboa Park visitors were heading into the House of China cottage today.Fine exhibits inside the House of China include this interesting carp made of animal horn.Kids look into a display case containing many porcelain dolls.A colorful collection of beautiful porcelain dolls inside the House of China in San Diego’s always wonderful Balboa Park!
Cool San Diego Sights! 