Where can you listen to exquisitely played classical music, then laugh at absurdly silly slapstick humor . . . all in one sitting?
At Silent Movie Night!
This evening, acclaimed concert organist Clara Gerdes played classical compositions by Dvořák, Duruflé and Liszt on the incomparable Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park. Then immediately after, the audience was laughing uproariously to the gag-filled antics of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton! (Accompanied by organ, of course!)
From the sublime to the absurd. That was the magic of Silent Movie Night at the 34th San Diego International Organ Festival!
You didn’t go? Why not?
Silent Movie Night is one of the most fun events every summer in Balboa Park. A couple thousand happy people fill the benches at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. And it’s free!
So watch for it next year!
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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!
The COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for all of us. Tragically, many would not live through it.
We all remember the long days of uncertainty, fear, loneliness, forced isolation.
If you head to Balboa Park today, you need to stop by the San Diego Museum of Art to experience Paintings from the Confinement. Today is the final day of this emotionally moving exhibition.
I viewed the small egg tempera paintings, created by San Diego artist Marianela de la Hoz, at the urging of my museum docent friend Catherine.
The images are symbolic, spare, often grim. There is darkness. There are claustrophobic spaces. There is flat human life on small cold screens. But there are a few rays of hope beyond the confining walls. Thank goodness those walls have now mostly come down.
The artist found it hard to honestly paint her many feelings. In particular, it was very hard to portray death.
In her statement, Marianela de la Hoz explains the only treasures I have are my loved ones, family, friends, and art; everything else remained as non-essential.
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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!
The Clearing, André Derain, circa 1906. Oil on canvas.
The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park has been invaded by wild beasts!
Les Fauves is French for Wild Beasts, and paintings by early 20th century artists known as the Fauves are running rampant in one amazing gallery!
These particular paintings are part of a wider exhibition titled Monet to Matisse: Impressionist Masterpieces from the Bemberg Foundation. I visited the San Diego Museum of Art back in May and blogged about the exhibition here.
During my visit yesterday, my docent friend Catherine took me through several of the museum galleries and explained how Impressionism evolved into Post-Impressionism and other avant-garde movements.
Fauvism was a modern movement that shocked art lovers in France between 1905 and 1908. It was led by Henri Matisse, André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck.
Looking at these canvases, museum visitors can see how the Fauves loved strong contrasts, saturated colors and bold brush strokes producing abstract, often weirdly unexpected forms.
Trees can appear as gangly streaks of pure color. Thick smudges and dabs of paint create startling still life images and brilliant landscapes.
In a strange way the dreamlike effect is similar to the gauzy, delicate work of the Impressionists. The viewer feels the momentary impression of a place or object. But these particular dreams are quite vivid!
The more I looked at these unique works, the more I appreciated the artistry and visionary genius of the Wild Beasts.
Head down to the San Diego Museum of Art and experience this famous artwork with your own eyes!
Monet to Matisse: Impressionist Masterpieces from the Bemberg Foundation was to end in August, but it has been extended through October 10, 2022.
The Gulf, Henri Manguin, circa 1920. Oil on canvas.Still Life with Fish, Maurice de Vlaminck. Oil on canvas.View of Chatou, Maurice de Vlaminck, circa 1907. Oil on canvas.
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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 free, family-friendly event was held today at Chula Vista’s Memorial Park.
The annual Arts in the Park festival brought the community together to enjoy music, artists, dance, food and all sorts of cultural fun! The event was presented by Chula Vista’s own Onstage Playhouse and CARPA San Diego.
So many smiles! So much creativity!
Take a look!
A smiling stilt walker from Circus Joy!Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Old Man puppets take to the stage!Write Out Loud provided Kamishibai story box theatre performances. They also read poetry. (I enjoyed Robert Frost’s Mending Wall.)Chula Vista Learning Community Charter Elementary School smiled while creating art!The many colors of life.The Rad Hatter was helping people create crazy cool hats with paper bags!Artists and art organizations could be found under canopies all around the festival.Many young performers took to the stage in Chula Vista’s Memorial Park and received great applause!
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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!
The Gingerbread Man emerged from a hot oven and arrived in Chula Vista today, thinking he could easily outrun families and kids attending Arts in the Park. But, alas, the famous little cookie met his fate.
The story of The Gingerbread Man was acted out, to the delight of the audience, in a very small wooden theater.
It was a fun demonstration of Kamishibai, a form of outdoor story telling that was popular in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.
The Kamishibai version of The Gingerbread Man was presented by Write Out Loud, who brought their live reading performances to the annual Arts in the Park event, held at Memorial Park in Chula Vista.
Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me. I’m the Gingerbread Man!
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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!
I was walking through Balboa Park near the San Diego Automotive Museum when I spied a bunch of Pantera sports cars. And the proud owners were taking a group photograph.
What was going on?
Today, August 27th, is Drive Your Pantera Day!
From what I could gather, these were all members of the San Diego Panteras club.
Considering the fact that only about 7,000 Panteras were manufactured, it was awesome to see about a dozen of these cool cars collected in one spot!
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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!
Famous author Mark Twain and several literary friends visited San Diego today. They arrived at Heritage County Park for a very special event.
TwainFest 2022 welcomed some of the world’s most celebrated writers, delighting everyone who attended the outdoor festival. The free, family-friendly event is put on every year by Write Out Loud.
Mark Twain himself greeted visitors who wandered about…
When I asked him, Mark Twain wouldn’t clearly acknowledge that he was inspired by Squibob. Historians say he probably was.
But we can all agree Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a classic of American Literature. The esteemed author must’ve been pleased when TwainFest visitors cheerfully whitewashed a fence, much to the consternation of Aunt Polly.
Soon Twain was joined by three other notable writers. Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Emily Dickinson.
Yes, a fine summer day filled with imagination–another chapter in our own never-ending stories…
Out of the blue, a friendly Charles Dickens came strolling along through Heritage Park. The author confessed that one of his favorite works was A Christmas Carol.
In another area of the park, the Red Queen of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was playing croquet. I didn’t see Lewis Carroll, but he must’ve been nearby.
In the sunny Author’s Salon, Edgar Allan Poe was talking about his life–what he remembered of it.
Then Poe began his emotional recital of The Raven.
A few steps away, what were these smiling TwainFest visitors observing?
Tinker Bell and Peter Pan!
And that scoundrel, Captain Hook!
And what was going on over here?
Alice, the White Rabbit, the (Mad) Hatter and smiling guests had assembled for a quite unique tea party!
The Dormouse made a surprise appearance at the Mad Tea-Party as well!
And who is this fine fellow over here reading a story about gallant knights and noble acts of chivalry?
Don Quixote! (And his squire Sancho Panza.)
For his first big adventure, Don Quixote encountered a terrifying number of large fearsome giants who looked strangely like windmills…
Thank you, Mr. Twain, for the twinkle in your eye and your timeless humor.
And for bringing so many literary friends to San Diego!
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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!
I’d never heard of the expression “spiritual dolls” until I visited Balboa Park last weekend.
KOKORO NO KATACHI | Image of the Heart is an exhibition of spiritual dolls at the Japanese Friendship Garden. It features the work of Kimiko Koyanagi and Michiko Stone, artists who combine traditional Japanese doll-making with contemporary art.
The two sisters are third-generation ningyo doll-makers, descendants of the Japanese Doll-Making Muraoka Family of Tokyo. Their work has been exhibited internationally.
The dolls on display are beautiful in their simplicity. The sculptural figures appear serene, pure of spirit, almost angelic.
According to the JFG website’s description, these dolls are meant to be poetic. They convey deep emotion and philosophical meaning.
Many of the spiritual dolls are thin and elongated. To me their soft forms seem to have emerged from inside growing wood, or bone, or from living beams of light.
One fascinating display shows the many steps taken to make these unique dolls. If you’re a crafty person, you certainly want to see this!
Image of the Heart can be experienced in person inside the Exhibit Hall at the Japanese Friendship Garden through October 30, 2022.
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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!
Summertime? A sunny Sunday? San Diego’s always amazing Balboa Park?
Combine these three to discover lots of fun, festive stuff!
Come with me. Let’s walk around Balboa Park this afternoon, taking in various cool sights…
Performers on and off stage in Balboa Park at the 35th Philippine Cultural Arts Festival.A big outdoor audience enjoys Filipino culture in Balboa Park.Kids dance on outdoor stage at the SAMAHAN Filipino American Performing Arts and Education Center’s annual festival in Balboa Park.Filipino food was plentiful at the 35th Philippine Cultural Arts Festival, in San Diego’s Balboa Park.Walking around Balboa Park at the Plaza de Panama.Super cool guys promote the San Diego Loyal soccer team. They’ve got a home game coming up on August 24th versus Oakland. The team is currently in second place!An amazing film about Balboa Park plays in the auditorium at the San Diego History Center.A beautiful summer day near the Japanese Tea Pavilion.Visitors walk toward the Exhibit Hall at the Japanese Friendship Garden. There’s a new exhibition concerning Japanese dolls that I will blog about soon.People sit in the shade of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion colonnade during the Sunday two o’clock concert.Colorful rented umbrellas provide more shade for the pavilion benches.Organist Amanda Mole plays a musical piece on the Spreckels Organ. It’s a preview of her Monday night performance for the 34th San Diego International Organ Festival.A variety of lowriders were parked between the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the Plaza de Panama.Taking photos near flowers at one end of the Balboa Park Lily Pond.A Spanish speaking church group sings joyfully along El Prado, hoping to attract passersby.Dancers in folk costume perform for the House of Panama lawn program at the International Cottages.Cultural lawn programs can be enjoyed almost every weekend in Balboa Park during summer months!
If you’d like to see more colorful photographs from today’s House of Panama lawn program, click here!
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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!
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A big celebration brought many smiles and a joyful whirl of color to Balboa Park today! The House of Panama hosted a lawn program at the International Cottages!
A good crowd turned out to enjoy cultural entertainment, and to share excitement over the recent opening of the House of Panama’s new cottage.
Dance groups came down to San Diego all the way from Los Angeles and San Francisco. There were performances by Panamá Lindo; Panamá, Molas, Polleras y Tambores (the official House of Panama Dancers); Congo Istmeño; and Viva Panamá. Many local dignitaries also attended the event.
As I walked around Balboa Park, I swung by the International Cottages a few times to enjoy the lawn program. The next three photos were taken outside and inside the beautiful new House of Panama cottage…
On the lawn stage, there was a sea of colorful Panamanian folk dance costumes!
I caught the singing of National Anthems, then an emotional speech concerning the hard work done to open a new cottage in Balboa Park…
Then the dancing began!
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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!
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