Hundreds of Girl Scouts from around San Diego gathered in Balboa Park this morning to take part in the Incredible Race!
Many stations were set up around the park: along El Prado, in front of museums, even in the parking area behind the San Diego Automotive Museum. Girls were being challenged to explore STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
During the Incredible Race, teams would solve riddles and proceed station to station where fun, educational hands-on activities awaited.
As I walked through the park, I saw a lot of excited young people running energetically about, enjoying San Diego’s beautiful crown jewel and learning lots of cool stuff, too!
The San Diego Model Railroad Museum demonstrates how to plan and build a model railroad.Emily Warren Roebling was an engineer who oversaw the construction and completion of the Brooklyn Bridge.A table with activities near the Fleet Science Center.Learning about constellations and Women in Astronomy.In front of the Museum of Us, Girl Scouts could learn about Women in Math.At the Casa del Prado, one could make binary bracelets and learn about Women in Computer Science.By the San Diego Natural History Museum, there was a fun dinosaur fossil digging activity and information about Women in Paleontology.On the platform under the Moreton Bay Fig, curious Girl Scouts learned about electrical circuits and Women in Engineering.Above beautiful Palm Canyon, a station recognized historically important Women in Photography.Behind the San Diego Automotive Museum, participants could change a tire on a cool race car!At the San Diego Air and Space Museum, Women in Flight were recognized, including Anne Lindbergh, the first woman in the United States to earn a glider’s pilot license. She made her first flight in San Diego, at Mount Soledad in 1930.Girl Scouts could make their own gliders!
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A couple of incredible projects are now underway that will improve and beautify the Palisades area of Balboa Park.
One project I wrote about yesterday. Two life-size grizzly bear sculptures and two flagpoles will be added to the roof of the San Diego Automotive Museum. You can read that blog post here.
The second project concerns the historical building directly across Pan American Plaza: today’s Municipal Gymnasium. This building was originally built for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park and was called the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries.
Back in 1935, a large themed mural greeted visitors above the entrance to the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries. It was a bas-relief designed by Arturo Eneim, carved out of layers of wallboard. It’s long gone.
But that mural is coming back! And it will be made of cold cast bronze!
In late 2021 I visited the San Diego studio of Bellagio Precast where the 12′ x 20′ cold cast bronze fiber glass reinforced concrete mural is being created. You can see interesting photos from that visit, plus renderings and more description, by clicking here. And here.
I visited the same studio again a couple days ago and observed how the enormous mural is coming together, piece by piece!
Architectural plans for the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries mural are spread near a small model at Bellagio Precast in San Diego.A small model of the cast bronze mural, which includes industrial imagery, an electrical generator, and three human figures.Here’s the mold used for the small model’s creation. You can see how the images are reversed.The design for the electrical generator element that will be included in the large, finished mural.And here is the generator! Just one element of many that will be pieced together to create a mold for the massive cast bronze mural.More elements to be incorporated into the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries mural include huge gears!
Pysanky are traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs. They are made for the celebration of Easter.
Today pysanky were being crafted in Balboa Park courtesy of the House of Ukraine!
Visitors to the Hall of Nations at the International Cottages could see how beautiful an intricate pysanka egg can be. The colorful designs are created through the use of carefully applied beeswax and the wax-resist process.
Kids could color some designs on paper, too.
There were other traditional Ukrainian crafts on display at several tables, including often armless Motanka dolls. Motanka dolls are like talismans, said to grant wishes, such as guarding the family or a happy, prosperous marriage.
At one table, I learned how an organization called Healing Scalpel is helping to provide medical supplies and services to people devastated by the war in Ukraine.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
Two huge golden grizzly bears have come to life in San Diego, and are ready to stand on a Balboa Park rooftop!
Yesterday the two amazing sculptures were previewed. I took photographs!
The life-size bronze bears–weighing about 400 pounds–will soon be placed atop the roof of the 1935 California State Building, which today is home of the San Diego Automotive Museum. The sculptures will stand on the front corners of the building, as bears once did almost a century ago, back when the building debuted for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition.
Artists Mike and Kevin Matson of Bellagio Precast have been busy working on these new bear sculptures at their San Diego studio. Perhaps you remember my blog post from late 2021 with photos of one partially cold cast bronze bear.
The two huge bears are now one hundred percent finished and ready for transportation to Balboa Park! Once the roof of the San Diego Automotive Museum is structurally prepared for the heavy sculptures, they will be lifted by crane up to their respective corners. All of this should occur in April. Watch for it!
As I mentioned, the original 1935 bears were only temporary (likely made of plaster-like material) and disappeared long ago. A few old photographs show them atop the California State Building. Here’s one:
In the above enlarged photograph, you might also glimpse a flagpole over the building’s front entrance. Two flagpoles are also returning to the historic California State Building! Brackets for them have already been created:
The new bears and flagpoles are part of an ongoing effort by the Balboa Park Committee of 100 to restore the Palisades area of Balboa Park to something more like its original 1935 appearance. The organization has been working to preserve Balboa Park’s historic architecture, gardens and public spaces since 1967.
The Committee of 100’s initial undertaking in the Palisades was the reproduction of historical murals above the entrance to this same building. Perhaps you’ve seen those beautiful tile murals. If you haven’t, click here.
The California State Building’s new life-size bears have been years in the making. At yesterday’s event we were shown small working models that preceded the finished sculptures. Kevin Matson held them up for examination:
So how exactly were life-size cold cast bronze bears made?
Each of the finished bear sculptures has a Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete skin that is about 3/8″ to 1/2” thick. Two sculpture halves are joined together with a stainless steel frame inside. Each bear’s volume is then filled with a high density urethane foam.
How awesome are these golden grizzlies? Take a look!
The Balboa Park Committee of 100 is engaged in another fantastic project! They are recreating a large historical mural that will be placed above the entrance of the Municipal Gymnasium building. It, too, will be breathtaking!
I’ll be blogging about that shortly!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
You know St. Patrick’s Day is coming up in San Diego, because the House of Ireland had their big lawn program this afternoon in Balboa Park!
What did I see?
Smiles throughout the big crowd! Lots of green! Irish coffee! Irish stew! Traditional baked goods! A rousing opening parade involving all of the event participants! The Cameron Highlanders with bagpipes and drums! Sprightly tunes! Energetic step dancing! Reels and jigs! The audience clapping along to the music!
If you missed it, I suggest you catch the House of Ireland lawn program next year!
I learned that San Diego Comhaltas is looking for new members. This group loves to perform Irish music and dance! Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of traditional Irish culture!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
San Diego’s largest Rummage Sale is taking place all this weekend in Balboa Park! You’ll find it in the Activity Center at 2145 Park Boulevard, to be exact.
It’s the annual Thursday Club Rummage Sale!
The Thursday Club is a local volunteer-driven non-profit that’s over a century old. They raise money for a variety of San Diego charities, including deserving organizations in Balboa Park. Here’s their website, where you can learn more about the Thursday Club and this year’s Rummage Sale!
I swung by the sale early this morning and encountered a huge line to get inside. When I returned at noon–no line at all!
Should you head over to the sale tomorrow–Sunday–everything is half off! So instead of the two DVDs/Blue-rays for one dollar that filled my bag, you can get four for a dollar! Are you kidding me? Awesome!
Paintings by over twenty NCSFA member artists fill Gallery 21 in the Spanish Village Art Center. The exhibition, titled North County Creates, continues through March 14, 2023.
Anyone in San Diego who loves art should swing on by the gallery to enjoy the many fine pieces. And there are friendly artists with whom you can chat, too!
Today I was fascinated by a variety of painting styles as I visited the gallery. I noted that nearly all of the pieces are for sale, just in case you’re looking for something beautiful.
I also noticed small works of colorful art available for a suggested donation of twenty dollars. Donations support the organization’s high school scholarship fund.
Very cool!
Pathway, by artist Doris Bertch.Mirror, Mirror, by artist Minnie Valero.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
Wow! The House of India in Balboa Park put on one of the most colorful, dynamic events today that you’ll likely to ever experience!
Their cultural lawn program at the International Cottages was jam-packed with dance groups leaping and twirling to upbeat music, much of it inspired by Bollywood.
A large crowd watched the entertainment while sitting on the grass and eating traditional Indian food, like tandoori and, my favorite, samosas.
When each dance number concluded, there was enthusiastic cheering!
I took a couple of photos at the House of India cottage, checked out an art creation station and a game of carrom, then sat down on a bench by the International Cottages stage just before two-o’clock to capture some of the fun!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
This weekend the San Diego Wabi Chapter of the Ohara School of Ikebana presented their Annual Flower Show in Balboa Park. I strolled through Room 101 in the Casa del Prado and was amazed at the beauty assembled before my eyes!
Ikebana is traditional Japanese flower arrangement, and a sign at the entrance to the show this year promised Tranquility with Flowers.
Each work of ikebana appeared like a perfect work of art. Color, balance, form, human creativity, adherence to formal rules, and nature’s inherent beauty are combined with skilled hands and eyes into what you see here.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
Spring is less than three weeks away. And signs of the coming season are “springing” up in San Diego’s amazing Balboa Park!
I walked through the park today and took a variety of photographs…
Lawn bowlers were out on a sunny day.San Diego sunshine on the iconic California Tower and California Building’s dome.A tour group takes advantage of a spring-like day in Balboa Park.Under a Baseball Sky at the Old Globe? Yes! Spring Training has begun!Some flowers are already blooming in the Alcazar Garden.The Cherry Blossom Festival is coming to the Japanese Friendship Garden in a couple weeks.Cherry trees are beginning to bloom in the Japanese Friendship Garden’s lush Lower Garden.This 1932 Morgan Super Sports would be the perfect ride on a warm Spring day. Meanwhile, it’s on display at the San Diego Automotive Museum.Blossoms have appeared at the San Diego Potters’ Guild in Spanish Village Art Center!Blossoms have also appeared in Spanish Village’s Studio 26, flowing from the paintbrush of friendly artist Edward Juarez!And fresh flowers have appeared in some hand blown glass in Spanish Village!Last, but certainly not least, I learned huge news will be coming this Spring from the San Diego Natural History Museum. But I’ve been sworn to secrecy! Stay tuned!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 