A very cool San Diego holiday event is coming up this Saturday in North Park!
A Holiday Bazaar will be held December 4, 2021 from 10 am to 1 pm at the urban farm at 3745 30th Street. Look for the outdoor space just north of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. According to the event website, you’ll be able to shop from “local refugee and immigrant owned business, explore global street food, and listen to live music.”
I came upon this urban farm four years ago and described my experience here. As you can see in the above photo, I met friendly refugee students whose new home was San Diego. They were gaining confidence and learning job skills!
The 3rd Annual Holiday Bazaar is put on by MAKE Projects and International Rescue Committee’s Small Business Development Center.
Why not swing by and find some unique Christmas gifts? Vendors will be selling clothing, art, crafts, jewelry and much more!
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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 local San Diego artist has designed beautiful mood lamps that are perfect for any indoor room or outdoor patio. Why are they special? You can alter how they appear in a matter of seconds!
I love the original concept that makes these mood lamps so innovative. Their appearance can be completely changed by simply slipping on different fabric sleeves. Warm light shines through colorful symmetric designs that are inspired by the beauty of nature. In the dark they’re pure magic.
One can select lamps that are solar powered, battery powered, or plug-in. The soft light they emit slowly changes color, too!
I discovered these mood lamps today during a visit to the Talmadge Art Show at Liberty Station in Point Loma.
I love creativity, and how brilliant inventions like these can brighten one’s life.
The artist’s name is Julia Burnier. She happens to be really nice, too!
Check out her Eye-Catcher Designs website and the many beautiful, artistic sleeves that can decorate your mood lamp here!
Buy these very unique mood lamps at the artist’s online store by clicking 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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
A very fun Harvest Fair and Marketplace could be enjoyed today in Balboa Park!
The San Diego Floral Association hosted this annual event–which they call Birds, Bees, Flowers and Trees–at the Casa del Prado’s outdoor courtyards.
During my walk through Balboa Park, I lingered at this autumn festival to look about and meet some cool people.
This is what I discovered…
The family friendly event provided many educational opportunities.Vendors had all sorts of unique crafts and art for sale.Representatives from the organization Senior Gleaners pose for a photo. They’ll pick your fruit and donate to local agencies that feed the hungry. Or you can volunteer and help pick fruit!Ikebana International had a table with some beautiful flower arrangements.The San Diego Audubon Society was present. We talked about local estuaries, lagoons and feral parrots in my Cortez Hill neighborhood!I learned there’s a College Area Community Garden in a canyon near San Diego State University.These cool folks in costume were representing the San Diego Costume Guild!The San Diego Beekeeping Society was showing this hive of bees. Hundreds of people around San Diego County keep bees. Many are hobbyists.If you happen to come upon an injured parrot, call these friendly ladies at SoCalParrot.org. They perform urban wild parrot rescues.The San Diego Floral Association had lots of helpful and interesting information on display.The colorful Harvest Fair included a “Flower Power” floral design competition!
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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 Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park is currently undergoing a major renovation and expansion. Once completed, this world-class folk art, craft and design museum will be more amazing than ever!
You might recall a blog post from last year that featured the Mingei’s planned transformation. To see architectural renderings of what the Mingei will eventually look like, click here!
While construction is underway, Mingei’s gift shop and cafe are temporarily located at Liberty Station, in the historic Dick Laub NTC Command Center building. Step through the front entrance and you can’t miss it.
Today I meandered about Liberty Station with no definite destination in mind. I was pleased to happen upon the Mingei’s shop and meet the smiling lady behind the counter. She told me that Niki de Saint Phalle’s fun, kid-friendly Nikigator sculpture, which used to stand in front of the museum in Balboa Park, might be moved out from storage and placed right in front of the Command Center. How cool would that be?
Here are a few photos. The lobby of the Command Center not only features Cafe Mingei, but a collection of great art created by Liberty Station artists!
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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!
Beautiful works of art on display at the Glass Show and Sale in Spanish Village.
Glass art never ceases to fascinate me.
Pieces of shining glasswork often appear like gems that have been mined from a place deep in the artist’s heart, then melted, shaped and recrystallized, as if upon a fiery potter’s wheel.
This weekend the Glass Show and Sale is being held on the patio of Balboa Park’s Spanish Village. The twice-a-year event is the production of the Art Glass Guild in Studio 25.
I took some photos today and met a few of the gifted artists.
If you love beautiful things and happen to be in San Diego, head over before the weekend ends!
The first five photographs you see here show glasswork created by Patricia G. Yockey, who also happens to be very nice.
I like how colorful and cheerful these pieces are at one artist’s table.
This photo and the next show kilnformed art glass produced by Rick Knight Designs. The tray is made of glass strips that are shifted and fused back together.
These magical lampworked beads are by Cornelia Jarst. They can be used for different types of jewelry and accessories.
Glass pumpkins in time for Halloween and Thanksgiving!
The artist told me this amazing glass piece took a long, long time to make.
This cool glass robot and the next two photos are small pieces of hand etched “dichroic glasswear” made by ChrisStell CreativeArts.
A fun, colorful face.
These clocks–some made with circuit boards from discarded computers–are the fused glass creations of The Glass Giraffe, Carol Korfin, artist.
Many beautiful works of glass art can be seen and purchased this weekend in Balboa Park at the always wonderful Spanish Village!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Windows at The Black contain all sorts of sights that fit right in with the laid-back, unconventional OB lifestyle.
Walk through Ocean Beach, particularly down Newport Avenue, and you’ll pass all sorts of weirdly wonderful shops. Look into some windows and you might think you traveled by time machine back to the 60’s.
I paused for a moment in front of The Black, a store that sells stuff that fits perfectly with OB’s alternative lifestyle. Coming down the sidewalk were surfers, retired hippies, free-spirited youth and sandal-wearing professionals. I looked into one window filled with dragon figurines and small toy robots.
My eye was then caught by a nearby historical sign. It explained that The Black’s rather plain-looking building, dating from 1918, has been home to a variety of more traditional grocery stores and markets selling meat, fruit and fresh produce. But that was decades ago. Long before the counterculture’s rise in the 1960’s.
One fascinating thing about history is that a community can change in ways that seem rather unexpected!
The Black in Ocean Beach occupies a building with a unique history. Greeson Hardware was once here, as were various markets, and the USO.
Historical photo on the building at 5017 Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach shows past markets. The Black’s owner won the right to lease in the building after winning a card game across the street.
In the window of The Black I see Gumby, Mr. Bill, some drums, guitar strings and a Grateful Dead baby onesie.
Smoke shop items and other diverse gifts can be seen in the front windows of The Black in Ocean Beach.
I see some fun, nostalgic robot toys!
I also see a Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band tin tote and a Super Mario figure.
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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 well-dressed gorilla on a plate in a funny San Diego shop window. I also see some wind-up chattering teeth.
Here comes another generous helping of funny photos! All of these pics are from past walks.
Enjoy a laugh or two!
A silly bee made of a potted plant and old metal stuff. I spotted this in front of the Hive Sushi Lounge on Golden Hill.
Marshmallow Madness in the window of IT’SUGAR in the Gaslamp. This cereal has Absolutely No Nutritional Value Added!
So lazy can’t move. Must be the sugar crash.
World leaders on socks! Funny gifts on display in the window of the Find Your Feet store.
In the middle of the day, a neon sign hopefully proclaims It’s 5:00 Somewhere.
Education is important but beer is importanter, according to a sign in front of Coin Haus in La Mesa.
A tiny gull stands atop the hat of a Navy sailor! (Actually it’s just an ordinary gull atop Seward Johnson’s enormous Embracing Peace statue on the Embarcadero.)
Someone from Park City, Utah with a yacht is bored of the snow, or snowboarding, apparently.
Perhaps Santa is tired of the snow, too. I think I spotted his beard in Seaport Village. That heavy beard is great for the North Pole, but too warm in sunny San Diego!
A banner for your spoiled rotten cat.
Another elegantly dressed animal–a cow! Plus a bonus funny face.
These two dogs in the Michael J Wolf Fine Arts gallery must like to wine.
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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!
Neighbors gather in San Diego’s East Village to learn how to make cool mosaic planters!
This morning, residents of San Diego gathered at Fault Line Park in East Village to learn how to make mosaic planters! The neighborhood event was put together by the Downtown San Diego Partnership and Home Depot.
To make your own cool mosaic planter, you need a clay pot, ceramic tile adhesive, and broken bits of tile, colored glass or mirror. Apply a generous coat of adhesive to the outside of the pot, then press in the colorful, shiny mosaic bits! I was told it takes a good 24 hours for the white adhesive to thoroughly dry and harden.
What a fun DIY gift idea! Or a cool craft project for a downtown apartment or condo!
I think I heard that events like this will be happening at different parks around downtown San Diego every first Saturday of the month!
An event held Saturday morning at Fault Line Park taught participants how to produce an easy, artistic craft.
Home Depot sponsored the Do-it-Yourself Workshop. Everyone learned how to piece together beautiful mosaics!
A layer of ceramic tile adhesive is applied to the exterior of clay pots.
Lots of broken bits of tile are spread out on the table like jigsaw puzzle pieces!
Art is easy! You just gotta do it!
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In the newsletter, they are calling for donations to the Friends of Balboa Park Endowment Fund. One generous donor has offered to match gifts made to the endowment during 2015, up to $500,000. That means every dollar you give before the end of this year will likely be doubled.
If you’ve ever been to Balboa Park, you know how special it is. Please consider giving a donation. To do so, click here.
Over the past hundred years, countless millions of people from around the world have enjoyed visiting the park. They have experienced so much joy. Let’s make sure the next hundred years are just as wonderful.
Plaque at east end of Cabrillo Bridge. To commemorate the foresight and civic wisdom of the founders of Balboa Park this tablet is erected by the people of San Diego.
View of the Natural History Museum from a point near the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
History comes alive in one small section of the Casa del Prado’s fantastic facade.
People enjoy the grass near the Botanical Building.
Exploring life and beauty in Balboa Park’s reflecting pool.
More natural beauty along Sixth Avenue, the west edge of immense Balboa Park.
A view of the Alcazar Garden from above.
An artistic face in a fountain by the Old Globe Theatre.
The House of Charm and California Tower in silhouette as day ends.
It’s the holiday season. Make a donation to the Friends of Balboa Park, and it will be an enduring gift to the entire world.
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