Tag: events

The Curious World of Seaweed in San Diego!

Can seaweed be beautiful? It definitely is in an exhibit now on display on the first floor of San Diego’s Central Library!

The Curious World of Seaweed explores the science and historical importance of seaweeds, algae and kelp, and does so using fantastic images, such as the ones you see in my photographs.

Indigenous peoples have utilized seaweed for thousands of years. Taking various parts of certain seaweeds, they would create fishing lines, containers for water and funnels for fish traps. Edible seaweeds were commonly used for food–as they are today! Sushi anybody?

In modern times, the thousands of species of algae and seaweeds have been studied and more completely understood. These living organisms sustain ocean biodiversity and are an important part of our planet’s ecology.

The extensive exhibit is based on the research, photography and writings of Josie Iselin. Her latest book is also titled The Curious World of Seaweed.

As explained here, Iselin’s writing and art focusing on seaweed, kelp and sea otter puts her on the forefront of ocean activism, presenting and working with scientists and environmental groups working to preserve the kelp forests of our Pacific Coast.

There’s much to learn when viewing this exhibit, but what struck me most was the exquisite beauty and complexity of the different colored seaweeds. You’ll enjoy viewing the illustrations, photographs and works of art.

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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.

Food, cars and fun at Lemon Fest in Lemon Grove!

This weekend, after a five year absence, Lemon Fest returned to the city of Lemon Grove!

The community festival, held at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church, featured tons of food, a cool car show, live music and entertainment, a baking contest, kids games, vendors, a huge rummage sale, a plant sale, an auction . . . and many people wearing yellow and big smiles!

I was told that St. John of the Cross has had a Fall Festival since 1940, the year its church building was dedicated. The festival was temporarily suspended during COVID, but is now coming back. Next year the plan is that the Lemon Fest is even bigger and better, as it was before the pandemic!

I walked around enjoying the smells of food and the sound of music. Lots of families were at the tables eating great food and enjoying company. What a fun time!

The team Steel Magnolias is Making Strides Against Breast Cancer! They’re walking on October 27th. You can support this team by clicking here!

The Old Memories Sur San Diego car club had some very cool cars on display at Lemon Fest.

Kathy Villalobos of Gift of Dance was selling a piano with an amazing history. She explained how this Miraculous Brewster Piano, once the property of an opera singer, has produced many unexpected blessings. Funds from its sale will go toward repairing flood damage in the church.

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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.

Painting new murals in downtown La Mesa!

Half a dozen new murals are now being painted in downtown La Mesa!

The fresh new murals are located in The Walkway of the Stars, a pocket park that celebrates La Mesa’s volunteers. I checked out the walkway today and was excited to discover both finished murals and murals in progress, and two artists at work!

Three weeks ago these walls were blank, and I posted a blog concerning the project. See what I wrote here. Two more murals are due to be painted, for a total of eight.

Here’s what I saw today…

Artist Kolten French of Mindful Murals is working on artwork titled Litter Pick Up.

A mural in progress. Agents of Change: A Novel Approach is by artist Marc Hedges. One book spine indicates World Design Capital San Diego/ Tijuana.

Another beautiful new mural. Basket of Abundance and Sharing by artist Jonny Alexander.

Painting a cool mural that concerns volunteerism in local sports. Volunteer Coaching by artist Don Masse.

Artist Don Masse of Shine Brite Productions smiles!

Helping Hands Make La Mesa Shine is a mural in progress.

Grow Love. A very colorful, beautiful mural in downtown La Mesa by Anna Pearson.

UPDATE!

I swung by a couple weeks later…

A beautiful mural in La Mesa, by artist Shannen Mythen.

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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.

Creative fun at San Diego Museum of Art!

At the San Diego Museum of Art, you can do more than walk through its amazing galleries. You can create amazing art, too!

Yesterday, during my visit to Balboa Park, I stumbled upon two art-making workshops at the museum.

A table was set up on the grass of the museum’s outdoor sculpture garden. Participants in this Community Art Workshop would use geometry and compass to design their own birthdate star marker. The cool markers have an antique appearance, and depict a person’s birthdate and corresponding constellation.

This workshop will be repeated on Saturday, October 19th.

Next, I was kindly permitted to view a Book Binding activity inside the museum library.

According to the SDMA website, participants explore Islamic book binding techniques and the practices of codex creation by engaging in folding, wrapping, decorating, and binding a book.

This Community Art Workshop is inspired by the astrolabes on view in Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World, a special exhibition on view at The San Diego Museum of Art September 7, 2024–January 5, 2025.

If you’d like to create your own art at the museum, keep an eye on their event calendar here. You’ll find future opportunities!

Next month there’s a chance to create a Jasper Johns-inspired work of art!

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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.

CleanUp Kitsune leads Balboa Park clean up!

Lila and Corey Cleary-Stoner led a clean up event in Balboa Park yesterday. They and a group of caring volunteers walked around the park, removing litter from San Diego’s beautiful crown jewel, making it shine.

What was unique about this clean up? Lila and Corey combine litter removal with performance art. To attract interest from those nearby, they wear full Japanese costume and call their performance Cleanup Kitsune.

The two got the idea for Cleanup Kitsune from their attending Renaissance Fairs in costume. Both are Japanophiles. In Japan, they explained as I watched them sort collected trash, people are very careful about keeping their world clean and healthy. Why not inject some of that ethos here in San Diego?

According to the All Goods website: Since their launch in June 2023, CleanUp Kitsune has removed and sorted approximately 45,000 pieces/280lbs of litter & through their waste organization stations have diverted over 2000 pounds of waste from landfills. CleanUp Kitsune is also the recipient of the 2024 Enhancing Ecosystems sPARK award by Forever Balboa Park.

I spent much of Saturday morning wandering around Balboa Park, meaning to find Lila and Corey doing their thing in costume. I failed!

But I did find both speaking to the CleanUp Kitsune volunteers at the conclusion of the day’s effort. We all learned what sorts of trash can be recycled. Then the sorting began!

Thank you all for “littering kindness!”

This is what I missed:

I did discover volunteers picking up litter…

Forever Balboa Park and some friendly superheroes joined the effort!

Look at all the trash they collected! That’s Lila and Corey speaking to the assembled volunteers…

UPDATE!

Lila and Corey have told me that with nearly 40 volunteers they collected a total of 110.51 pounds of trash in Balboa Park. They diverted 49.55 pounds of trash from the landfill by separating waste into the following categories:

Landfill: 60.96 lbs
Recycle: 35.58 lbs
Compost: 4.14 lbs
Textile: 8.32 lbs
Hazardous: .60 lbs
E-Waste: .66 lbs
Cigarette Butts: .25 lbs

Awesome!

Here’s a photo of the two in costume!

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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.

So many colorful events today in Balboa Park!

What is a photographer to do? There were so many colorful events going on today in Balboa Park, I drained my camera’s battery trying to capture it all!

I’ve already blogged about the San Diego Heart & Stroke Walk, the Master Gardeners Plant Sale, art activities at the Exchange Pavilion, and a performance by San Diego Yosakoi!

I have yet to share my photos of today’s CleanUp Kitsune event, and classes provided by the San Diego Museum of Art. Stay tuned for that!

But what should I do with various photographs of other events? I’ll share them now!

These first few photos were taken at the International Cottages. Balboa Park’s four Latin Houses (House of Colombia, House of Mexico, House of Panama and House of Spain) would celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a colorful lawn program.

I walked through before the event began in earnest…

When I walked past the Old Globe theatre complex, I noticed people were setting up for this evening’s Globe Gala 2024…

Over at the Municipal Gymnasium, the San Diego Senior Games were underway! Food awaited the athletes outside. Inside, the basketballs were flying!

The weekly Saturday greyhound walk passed by…

Some friendly guys dressed as superheroes were participating in the CleanUp Kitsune parkwide litter pick up activity. I’m hoping to receive additional photographs. I’ll blog about it tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, Balboa Park’s usual cultural wonderfulness was to be seen everywhere!

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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.

San Diego Yosakoi perform in Balboa Park!

San Diego Yosakoi performed today in Balboa Park! They would dance at noon at the Exchange Pavilion in the Plaza de Panama, part of a fun Japanese cultural event.

I spied members of the group in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion earlier in the day. They were rehearsing for the big performance.

Then I and many others enjoyed their show at the World Design Capital Exchange Pavilion. Afterward, the dancers would teach those in the audience how to dance!

Being a bit ignorant, I asked Google what Yosakoi is, and I learned it’s a high-energy, energetic Japanese dance style that combines traditional Japanese dance with modern music and choreography. It’s often performed by large teams at festivals and events throughout Japan.

San Diego Yosakoi formed this year. Visit their Instagram page 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.

Creating a community mural during San Diego Design Week!

The public was invited to paint color into a community mural in San Diego’s Balboa Park today. Just before noon, paintbrushes were busy in the Plaza de Panama at the Exchange Pavilion!

We are now in the middle of San Diego Design Week (September 19th to 25th), and this Community Mural Project is a creative activity inspired by San Diego/Tijuana’s selection as World Design Capital 2024!

The mural intends to bring diverse communities together–to interact and collaborate. Plus adding all those vibrant colors is fun!

As the mural was painted, an art workshop was also held inside the Exchange Pavilion. Brush & Letter, Painting With Words was a World Design Experience.

According to the event website. students could discover the art of typography and mural creation under the guidance of typographer and mural artist, Itzel Islas… During this workshop, you’ll use the iconic San Diego Tijuana Grafiko logotype to create your own 8×10 art piece.

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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.

Master Gardeners of San Diego in Balboa Park!

The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County had their very popular Fall Plant Sale today in Balboa Park!

A small army of smiling Master Gardeners took over the Casa del Prado, both Room 101 and the two courtyard patios. The public could check out thousands of plants for sale, plus an art and crafts marketplace, educational booths and several master gardener speakers.

Plant purchases today would help fund many worthy projects around San Diego, including community gardens, public education and school gardens. Very cool!

I took these photos and have included some captions with a little more information!

Plants and more plants, and beautiful pots, crafts and more!

Kids could learn how to plant seeds.

Educational displays concerning plants and gardens could be found at many tables.

A smile!

The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County has a program for public education with the University of California Cooperative Extension.

A Guide for School Gardens.

Two-time Paralympian Stephen Cantu teaches Friendly Inclusive Gardening. He designs wheelchair accessible gardens. Watch his video here.

Visitors to the Master Gardener Plant Show could check out this Compost Demo.

Rita Perwich presents KISS In Your Rose Garden–Keep It Simple and Sane.

Some bugs are nasty, some are helpful!

Mother Earth among many colorful butterflies!

So many plants for sale in Room 101.

A long line of happy customers!

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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.

Photos of 2024 San Diego Heart & Stroke Walk!

The 2024 San Diego Heart & Stroke Walk was held this morning in Balboa Park. Participants raised over one million dollars this year, supporting the American Heart Association and its many important programs!

I visited the event and took these inspiring photographs. Teams walking through the park and past the finish line were being encouraged by students from San Diego State University. There was a fun dog costume contest, a photo booth, roses for participants, a community board showing who walkers walk for, a small farmers market, and more. Heart disease and stroke survivors could ring a bell to celebrate life!

The American Heart Association supports medical research and educational programs. Projects, according to their website, include:

Up-to-the-minute research into doctors’ hands so they can better prevent and treat heart disease among patients. Groundbreaking pediatric heart and stroke research that is key to saving babies’ lives. Providing life-saving information that can save a life – like how to eat better, how to recognize the warning signs of heart attack, and how to talk to a doctor about critical health choices.

If you’d like to support the American Heart Association with a donation, or if you’d like to participate in a future walk, click 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.