Tag: diversity

Stepping Beyond at the Southeastern Live Well Center!

The Southeastern Live Well Center opened last year in Valencia Park, an urban community in Southeast San Diego. The impressive facility, which provides a wide range of health and social services, features diverse works of art, both inside and outside.

Take a look at the inspiring bronze sculpture that stands at the front entrance of the Southeastern Live Well Center. Stepping Beyond is dated 2023.

The artist Manuelita Brown’s statement is on a plaque at the base of the sculpture. Her words include: This sculpture signifies a human being pressing beyond current circumstances, leaving one space toward another while moving an obstacle out of the way… Eight medallions representing the flora of cultural identities in the community adorn the banner to represent our diversity and commonality.

You can see more very fine sculptures by local artist Manuelita Brown by clicking here and here and here and here!

(I walked around the perimeter of this large San Diego County facility last weekend and discovered a Wellness Garden filled with very colorful artwork. I’ll blog about that shortly!)

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Photos of annual MLK Parade in San Diego!

Kindness. Smiles. Laughter. Compassion.

This morning I saw this and more as participants prepared for the 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade along San Diego’s beautiful Embarcadero.

Every year the MLK Day parade along the waterfront is a big deal. Thousands come out to watch community groups celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. and his enduring message of human dignity, equality and love.

Dancers, marching bands, students, veterans, beauty queens, activists, club members, law enforcement, politicians, businesses, car lovers, charitable organizations . . . all would move proudly down Harbor Drive.

I took photographs of everyone coming together before the start of the parade.

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Make holiday crafts at San Diego History Center!

The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park is offering a fun family activity during the holiday season!

Let There Be Light invites both young and old to create holiday crafts. The crafts represent different “Festivals of Light” from cultures around the world. Easy instructions and supplies are laid out on tables, in easy reach of small hands.

Make your own Christmas ornament, paper menorah, paper diya, mkeka mat, paper Donzhi Festival lantern, or write a message on a bodhi leaf . . . and more!

Those who participate can also learn about Diwali, Hanukkah, Bodhi Day, Yaldā Night, Dongzhi Festival, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Día de Los Reyes.

Once we pass the winter solstice on December 22, the days will be growing longer. The light returns!

Let There Be Light will be available to the public through the end of the year. Bring all the kids. Admission to the San Diego History Center and this holiday activity is free!

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Fun times at San Diego’s Fall Back Festival!

The 23st Annual Fall Back Festival was enjoyed this afternoon by many families in San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter!

The Fall Back Festival always coincides with the end of Daylight Saving Time. Hence the name! The festival is produced by the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation and is held in front of the Gaslamp Museum at the Davis-Horton House.

This annual “children’s historical street faire” celebrates our city’s early history by providing diverse entertainment and lots of fun.

There’s food galore, Old West photo opportunities, a real blacksmith demonstration (courtesy of Old Town’s Blacksmith Shop), and folks representing the San Diego Model A Ford Club, Sunshine Quilters of San Diego, the Villa Montezuma Museum, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum, the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, Puppetry Arts Guild of San Diego, and more!

The entertainment began with the San Diego Lucky Lion Dancers. They were followed by colorful young dancers from Ballet Folklorico – GIFT of DANCE. Then came fun contests open to one and all, including a bubblegum blowing competition!

Did you miss the festival this year? Take a virtual tour by clicking 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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Mexican Independence Day celebrated in Little Italy!

This evening, Mexican Independence Day is being celebrated in Little Italy. Cultural performances, including lots of colorful folklorico dancing, can be enjoyed in front of San Diego’s Mexican Consulate. A good crowd had gathered for the event shortly after it began, as you can see in my photographs!

If you read this in time, the Mexican Independence Day celebration will continue on the 1500 block of India Street until 9 pm tonight!

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Pillars exhibit at the Chicano Park Museum!

Have you ever visited the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center in Barrio Logan? During my recent visit I was surprised to find a fantastic exhibit inside, titled PILLARS: Stories of Resilience and Self-Determination.

Two large rooms are filled with colorfully painted pillars that resemble the towering supports of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge just outside the museum.

While the outdoor pillars are home to the many famous murals of Chicano Park, these miniature indoor pillars pay homage to diverse groups that have worked to preserve the legacy and integrity of the local community, and the park itself. The exhibit also features related works of art, and historical photos of community members and artists (particularly Visionary Elder Artist, Salvador Roberto Torres) and their grassroots fight against the powers-that-be to create Chicano Park.

The Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center contains other great exhibits, too, and its corridors are brimming with work by many different artists. I was interested to observe a community event room, a workspace containing printing equipment for the production of fine art, and a large gift shop that’s also filled wall-to-wall with artwork that you can purchase!

If you never been, make sure to check the museum out! Go soon, however, because PILLARS: Stories of Resilience and Self-Determination will be on display through September 9, 2023.

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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!

America connects in amazing Escondido tile mosaic!

Earlier this year, stunning public art debuted in Escondido. You can find this tile mosaic mural near Maple Street Plaza, on an outdoor wall west of the John Paul the Great Catholic University building.

The amazing “America Connects West Region Mural Mosaic” unites small works of tile art painted by over 1500 participants, ages 7 to 97, representing America’s Western States.

According to the official website, Mural Mosaic’s Global Roots is a unique initiative that aims to bring people from around the world together through the power of art. Each collaborative Mural Mosaic production invites people from communities everywhere to connect and celebrate their unity through their diverse expressions of art. With each tile placed in a mural, Global Roots is reconnecting the world through the joy of art – one tile, one mural mosaic, one country at a time.

Not only is this a very cool concept, but the finished Global Roots murals, which often depict beautiful trees and landscapes, are spectacular!

This particular West Region project was finished in collaboration with Esco Alley Art in Escondido. You can see other Esco Alley Art murals here and here.

I took these photographs yesterday…

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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!

Positive mural painted at Waterfront Park!

Several weeks ago a colorful new mural was painted in Waterfront Park in San Diego. You can find it on the east side of the restrooms, which are located a few steps south of the County Administration Building.

Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is an act! A positive message of human kindness is conveyed by the happy artwork.

The creators of this mural are REVISION (@revision_sandiego) and Hanna Gundrum (@littlehouseink).

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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 photo memories from July 2018.

Another page of the calendar has turned. It’s July–time to relive fun memories from five years ago!

Back in July 2018 the big event, of course, was San Diego Comic-Con. As usual I posted many blogs with lots of photos. Today I’ll link to a few of my more memorable blog posts from Comic-Con 2018.

Five years ago I also took photos of Coronado’s big Fourth of July Parade, visited the Marine aviation museum at Miramar (that has since closed), saw superhero sand sculptures down by the Imperial Beach Pier, and took a look inside the Centro Cultural de la Raza and the WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park.

If you’re a Padres fan, you’ll like reliving happy memories at Petco Park the day Trevor Hoffman entered baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Check out the upcoming links!

Click the following links for lots of photos…

Colors of patriotism at big Fourth of July parade!

A visit to the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum.

Photos of tour inside LAIKA LIVE San Diego!

Superhero sand sculptures in Imperial Beach!

Star Trek: Discovery Mirror Universe exhibit at Comic-Con!

The Syfy fan awards, cosplay, and craziness!

Lovely cultists, Sharkzilla feedings at Comic-Con!

Powerful mural inside Centro Cultural de la Raza.

Afrofuture Art Exhibit at Worldbeat Cultural Center.

Trevor Time returns to Petco Park!

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I’ll be covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

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!

A visit to the San Diego Police Museum.

There’s a fascinating museum in San Diego that seemingly few know about. Occupying a modest, easily missed building near the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and College Avenue, the San Diego Police Museum is packed wall-to-wall with displays that lovers of history shouldn’t miss!

I visited the museum for my very first time a while ago and was amazed at the quality and variety of exhibits.

Photographs, documents, equipment and artifacts trace the earliest days of the San Diego Police Department right up to the present.

There’s a mid-20th century police Communication Center. There’s a simulated jail cell, and a real police motorcycle. There are different uniforms from the past.

There are old newspapers with headlines about crime in San Diego. There are memories of past police chiefs. There is standard law enforcement gear dating back to the 1800s, and even a Tommy Gun, like those that were once used by gangsters.

There are displays concerning horse mounted officers, bike teams that were established in the early 1920s, and four-legged K-9 officers. There’s recognition of how diversity has played a more and more important role in the San Diego Police Department through the years.

There are old police badges and hundreds of patches. There are even artifacts from charity football COP’er Bowls and sports trophies won by officer athletes and bodybuilders.

And there are medals won by police heroes. They ran toward danger in the service of others.

And covering one wall: a memorial to fallen officers.

For more details about the museum, including its hours of operation, check out the SDPD Museum website.

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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!