Jonah Molina, a Senior at Mission Bay High School, wowed an audience in Balboa Park this afternoon during the AGO-Spreckels Honors Concert. Jonah was the Honors Performer, as selected by the San Diego Chapter of the American Guild of Organists!
Jonah played two difficult pieces on the world-famous outdoor Spreckels Organ: Batalla de Torres (which he arranged) and Toccata, from Suite Gothique Opus 25. This wasn’t his first public performance. He has participated in different competitions and events around Southern California.
As one might expect, Jonah was exceptional!
After he completed the two pieces, Jonah received a trophy. He has been awarded the Advanced Division Scholarship by the Spreckels Organ Society!
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It’s Memorial Day weekend in San Diego. As one might expect, the crowds in Balboa Park are large. Today the late spring weather was perfect for a sunny Sunday walk through our beautiful park.
As I wandered about, I discovered several signs that Memorial Day has arrived.
In the early afternoon I noticed a huge thirteen star Betsy Ross version of the Flag of the United States was being hung from one of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion’s colonnades. The flag was furnished by the San Diego Chapter SAR (Sons of the American Revolution.)
Unfortunately, wind gusts were creating an insurmountable problem and the flag was taken down before the two o’clock organ concert began. I’ve been informed another attempt to use the flag will be made during the upcoming Independence Day organ concert on Sunday, July 6, 2025.
Dale Sorenson, curator of the Spreckels Organ, was wearing a patriotic red, white and blue tie as he introduced the Sunday afternoon concert. Music selected was appropriate for Memorial Day weekend. There were–count them–five John Philip Sousa marches!
During the United States Armed Forces Medley, San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez asked audience members to stand who were Veterans. Those who stood received grateful applause.
Another perfect San Diego day…
Lawn bowlers were active out on Balboa Park’s West Mesa…
The Southern California Plumeria Society had a Cutting Sale inside the Casa del Prado…
Lots of tickets were being sold for the Balboa Park Miniature Railroad!
The San Diego History Center has a pop-up exhibit concerning Memorial Day in San Diego. There are interesting historical photographs to look at, such as:
A couple of cool guys were breakdancing near the Timken Museum of Art!
A Senior Arts Exhibition can be freely enjoyed in Gallery 21 of the Spanish Village Arts Center through June 2, 2025.
Musicians were performing on the grass at one end of the International Cottages…
Memorial Day is the final day of the San Diego International Fringe Festival. One of the festival venues is Balboa Park’s Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater.
A video playing inside the House of USA cottage is about Memorial Day. It honors those in the United States military who made the ultimate sacrifice.
As a writer, I’m very thankful for Liberty, and I have a deep appreciation for those who’ve defended it.
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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.
Young and old, lucha libre fans and those who are merely curious–all will enjoy seeing actual masks and costumes worn by wrestling stars, not to mention artwork, posters, comic books, championship belts, collectibles and more.
Fans of Chula Vista’s own legendary Rey Mysterio, popular favorite and many-time international champion who continues to work for WWE, will love seeing how he is generously represented in the exhibit, too!
I was fortunate to get a sneak preview this morning. The exhibition is substantial, taking up the entire second level of the Comic-Con Museum. It has been assembled with the help of Museo de Lucha Libre Tijuana Mexicana.
Topics explored in the exhibition include lucha libre’s origin in Mexico; its impact on the popular culture through many generations; its mythic qualities; the varieties of male luchador and female luchadora characters; luchadora pioneers and their ongoing struggle for recognition and equality; how lucha libre has become increasingly influencial around the world . . .
Yes, anything and everything concerning lucha libre is celebrated!
In essence, lucha libre performers are living, breathing superheroes (or villains). Certain legendary luchadores are revered by millions of fans throughout Mexico. How formidable are these masked wrestlers? Movie posters have them battling gangsters and even vampires!
Lots of fun! Bring the kids!
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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.
Seniors in San Diego have a great opportunity to get out, make new friends and have fun dancing!
The City of San Diego’s AgeWell Services offers themed dances twice each month in Balboa Park. The dances (including lessons) are held in the Balboa Park Club building’s huge ballroom.
I happened to stumble upon today’s dance while walking around the park. Inside the ballroom a big, happy gathering of seniors was enjoying the day’s Western theme. Refreshments, prizes, decorations in the ballroom and a sprinkling of cowboy hats added to the festive atmosphere!
To see which dances are coming up, check out the information above. Better yet, read the very informative online newsletter published by AgeWell Services! You can do that from their webpage by clicking here.
If doing stuff on the internet isn’t your thing, you can also call Skyler at 619-525-8247. He’s a great guy and will be pleased to help you out!
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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 morning the Alcazar Garden in Balboa Park was filled with activity. The City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department and volunteers belonging to the Balboa Park Garden Stewards were planting hundreds of flowers!
The new flowers will fill the garden’s large beds in time for summer and Memorial Day weekend!
Thank you to everyone with sore backs and dirty knees for making San Diego’s crown jewel even more beautiful!
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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! 