This happy mural was painted in 2017 at the Golden Hill Recreation Center. It depicts children together with nature.
Members of the community and volunteers with I Love a Clean San Diego came together on Coastal Cleanup Day to paint the colorful art. It decorates a retaining wall behind the center near the playground. You can see a photograph of the event and people working on the mural here.
Despite a little vandalism, the mural remains bright and beautiful almost ten years later. Flowers, butterflies, a hummingbird, coyote and rabbit populate a world where children jump and play.
A few photos for you to enjoy…
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A cool opportunity for youth in San Diego to meet others, share, learn and create is coming up on June 3, 2026!
Youth Summit 2026 will be taking place in Balboa Park. The free event is hosted by the City of San Diego Office of Child and Youth Success, in partnership with the San Diego Public Library, Youth Will, Reality Changers, The LGBTQ+ Community Center, and Our Time to Act.
There will be speakers (including San Diego Poet Laureate), art presenters, breakout sessions, workshops, fun games, and hands-on activities. Youth will learn how to access useful resources, too.
I saw the above announcement in Balboa Park today and thought I’d share it. Do you know any young people who might like to participate?
A free family screening of the sports comedy movie GOAT will take place this Friday, May 29, 5:30 -7:30 pm, at the Encinitas Community & Senior Center!
The event is hosted by the Encinitas Youth Commission and will include a good time watching the funny animated movie plus activities for youth and teens. There will also be raffle prizes featuring movie merch!
How cool is this?
The movie screening is being done in partnership with the Kevin Love Fund and Sony Pictures Animation. This event is in recognition of Mental Health Awareness month.
You can register for the fun event by clicking here!
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On a fence at the Golden Hill Recreation Center there’s a student art exhibit. Kids attending Golden Hill Elementary School created neighborhood treasure maps!
I took these photos when I visited the Goldenpalooza festival on Saturday.
According to the posted “My Neighborhood Treasure Map” sign: Students were asked to draw a map of their favorite spots in their neighborhood using any art supplies. They had the option to make it realistic, whimsical or pure fantasy. Students from TK up to 7th grade participated.
Questions to guide their personal journey were: Where do you feel happiest? Where do you love to explore? What place do you want to go back to again and again?
So, what is important in a young person’s life? Take a look at these maps to discover treasure!
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Art and creativity were busting out everywhere at today’s big, very colorful Goldenpalooza festival at the Golden Hill Recreation Center! Check it out!
The festival offered families creative opportunities at every turn. There were multiple art-making stations and workshops for every age. You could learn how to make a cyanotype, a monster and a zine!
Friendly artists were painting, printmaking, demonstrating their technique and showcasing fantastic creations. There was even a cool, highly original video game created by San Diego locals that kids (or adults) could play!
All this while listening to live music from the stage!
Literacy also had a big presence at the festival. Kids were encouraged to read. Reading is fun and expands your mind!
Okay, can you tell I really loved Goldenpalooza? It was my first ever visit to the festival, and will likely not be my last.
Words Alive San Diego encourages children to read. It’s done with art and adult participation.A lot of activities for Makers!Sun Art! Golden Hill is the perfect place for this!The Joey, Jeremy & Camille Trio wave from the Goldenpalooza stage.INSIDE:ART (@insideart_sd) supports the fostering of identity for adults with developmental disabilities through dignified access to the creative arts community of San Diego.The Wall of Questions & Colors by Compagnia Creativa (@compagniacreativa) asks festival goers “What makes you smile?”Made me smile!Testing out the cool, locally developed Behemoth video game (find it on STEAM). A bit like the classic arcade game Joust.
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Everyone was smiling at Goldenpalooza in Golden Hill today, especially those at tables stocked with free healthy food, courtesy of Feeding San Diego!
The cost of living seems higher than ever in San Diego, so keeping food on the table is a struggle for too many residents. Feeding San Diego is there to fill in the gaps (and hungry stomachs).
At the Goldenpalooza community festival, people could fill a bag with potatoes, melons, tuna, low fat milk, and other nutritious essentials.
On behalf of so many in San Diego, thank you!
If you’d like to help Feeding San Diego fulfill their mission, or receive help putting food on your own table, visit their website here.
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Another fun Dogs of Downtown event was held today in San Diego! Canines were the furry superstars on the outdoor WeWork Terrace at 600 B Street!
Downtown residents and four-footed best friends enjoyed free live music, a pup fashion show, dog-centered art, crafts and goods, and the opportunity for dog adoption. There were even VIP tickets available if you wanted your pet to be drawn by a caricature artist, have its tag engraved and more!
It was a great way for people and dogs who live at the center of San Diego to make new friends. And take a pic or two!
The tail-wagging annual event is courtesy of various supporters and the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
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This morning I noticed somebody freshening one of the hanging planters in downtown San Diego’s Cortez Hill neighborhood. On a ladder above the sidewalk, he was adding geraniums and other flowering plants!
It was a friendly worker from Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Clean & Safe program!
At either end of the 3800 block of Grim Avenue in North Park you might see a street sign. Honorary Lucky Lane.
A couple days ago I photographed the sign while walking down University Avenue. And I wondered: What makes this lane so lucky?
Well, this article provides an explanation. The block was renamed Lucky Lane last year after “Lucky” Wong, who opened Lucky’s Golden Phenix Restaurant on the corner of North Park Way and Grim Avenue in 1975.
Lucky was known and beloved by many in the community. He ran his restaurant for an incredible fifty years, kindly greeting and serving everyone, never changing his prices. Lucky died in December at 90 years old, in the restaurant where he lived.
A petition to change the block’s name to Lucky Lane quickly gathered signatures. Within weeks, more than 4,200 people signed.
North Park residents who traveled down this lane for half a century were indeed lucky. They were fortunate to have Lucky call the place home.
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The construction of Pride Promenade in Hillcrest is making great progress. I spoke to a worker and he indicated the pedestrian promenade and its new bikeways should be completed this summer.
Yesterday I took several photographs over a construction fence, north of University Avenue. The finished promenade will stretch from this location, near the base of the Pride flag, up to Washington Street.
According to this webpage of the Hillcrest Business Association: The northern anchor of the Promenade will be a restored streetcar. In recognition of the streetcars that once traveled on Normal Street, this facility will serve as a concession stand, gathering point, and information booth. There will also be a playground north of the streetcar. Check out the above webpage to see a map and learn more.
You can also purchase a custom paver to be installed in the Pride Promenade. Funds will help create the Friends of the Promenade nonprofit. Learn more about this program here.
If you’re curious about the new Eastern Hillcrest Bikeways that are being created in and around the Pride Promenade, check out this descriptive SANDAG webpage.
In the above photo you can glimpse a colorful mural that faces the promenade. I’ll be blogging about that next!
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