Tag: health

City Heights mural raises awareness about tuberculosis.

Photo courtesy SVPR Communications.

A new mural in City Heights was unveiled this evening. The intent of the mural is to raise awareness about tuberculosis in San Diego, Mexico, and our border region.

I haven’t had a chance to photograph the finished mural yet, but will try to swing by tomorrow to check it out.

The mural is titled Los Colores acTBistas.

Why has this artwork been painted in City Heights, on a wall at Super Cocina (where, incidentally, many other great murals can be found)?

The Americas TB Coalition will conduct an international ‘ArTBtour in the United States – Mexico Border’ from March 9th to 26th, 2024. The tour will include murals, talks, and interviews to raise awareness of tuberculosis, its comorbidities with HIV and diabetes, and its impact on migrant populations and at-risk communities in Tijuana, Mexicali, and San Diego. The initiative aims to promote collaboration and understanding among different communities and stakeholders to end TB in the US/Mexico border region.

The murals on both sides of the border will be created by Alan Vazquez, a highly acclaimed ecological artist designated by the Mexican Ministry of Health as an ambassador for the fight against tuberculosis in Mexico, with the participation of local artists and affected communities.

UPDATE!

Here are photographs of the finished mural!

(I spoke to a couple of people who’d parked nearby. They loved the art, but didn’t perceive the mural’s message concerning tuberculosis.)

ANOTHER UPDATE!

I’ve learned a plaque will be added to the mural, conveying important information about tuberculosis!

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A look inside San Diego’s Brain Observatory!

Refrigerator at the Brain Observatory holds brains preserved in formaldehyde.

About a year ago the Brain Observatory moved into downtown San Diego.

What, exactly, is the Brain Observatory?

It’s a museum-like place that the public can tour, whose mission is: Advancing knowledge of the brain and mental health through research, education, and the arts.

I enjoyed a look inside the Brain Observatory recently and much of what I saw was astounding. I was shown about briefly and learned about the unique facility’s history and mission.

The Brain Observatory houses a fully-functional research laboratory. Students and visitors can learn about the brain by utilizing authentic, state-of-the-art scientific equipment and by exploring real data, including samples from a large collection of donated human brains.

Founded in 2005 by Dr. Jacopo Annese, the Brain Observatory began as a brain research lab at UC San Diego. Ph.D. scientists from around the world, including a Nobel Prize winner from the Salk Institute, are on the Advisory Board.

The Brain Observatory uses MRI and microscopy to understand the biological basis of normal brain function and neurological disease. Advanced scientific equipment is also used to educate youth who take part in school programs.

Curious? The public can tour the Brain Observatory by reservation. In addition there are lunchtime lectures. Learn about these great opportunities by clicking here.

Dr. Jacopo Annese enthusiastically talked about his endeavors during my short visit. He has big plans. My own brain tried to assimilate so much information.

Brain Observatory tours and lectures, and the programs for students, are certain to be very stimulating!

A look inside the Brain Observatory in downtown San Diego. This space was last occupied by the SDSU Downtown Gallery.

The fascinating Brain Observatory uses scientific equipment to slice brains and conduct microscopic investigation.

Education is a focus of the Brain Observatory. Student artwork hangs on one wall.

Photos of people who donated their brains to science.

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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)!

Sculptures at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.

Dozens of sculptures are scattered around Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. Together they constitute the amazing Wolfstein Sculpture Park!

I walked around Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla recently and took photographs of many sculptures. There are dozens all together, and it turns out I missed several. You can see all of the art presently on display and read plaques that include artist information by clicking here.

What you see here is one of several Wolfstein Sculpture Parks! Another smaller sculpture park can be found around the Scripps hospital in Encinitas. Last year I checked out those sculptures and posted photographs here.

Why are these parks named Wolfstein? Nathan Wolfstein developed the process for purifying the blood thinning anticoagulant drug Heparin. Countless lives have been saved as a result of his discovery. Ralyn and Nate Wolfstein donate art to healing and educational centers and to help promote Arts for Healing Programs.

If you’re ever in La Jolla near Scripps Memorial Hospital, a very pleasant walk can be enjoyed outside the hospital and around nearby medical buildings!

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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)!

The Art of Healing mural in City Heights.

Should you walk down Fairmount Avenue, a block and a half north of University Avenue, you’ll find this beautiful mural. It was painted outside the La Maestra Community Health Center’s HOPE Clinic, which provides health care for the homeless.

There’s a face gazing up at the stars. And a plaque…

The Art of Healing, Sheena Rae Dowling, 2017-2018

This work of art is one of a series of murals commissioned by Covered California in collaboration with La Maestra Community Health Centers as part of the “Covered in Art” project to promote health and wellness in communities across California and attract attention to locations across the state where individuals can enroll in health insurance, get care or participate in activities that foster better health. Sheena Rae Dowling said The Art of Healing was designed to showcase the holistic approach to healing mentally, spiritually and physically. The “Covered in Art” project is a living demonstration of the fact that health care is local and that Covered California is woven into the fabric of local communities.

Sheena Rae Dowling is a San Diego artist whose work has been shown at exhibitions around Southern California. See her website here.

I’ve observed a couple of her great pieces at exhibitions years ago. If you’d like to see them, too, click here and here and read the photo captions.

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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)!

Art at Wellness Garden in Southeast San Diego.

A beautiful new Wellness Garden opened last year in Southeast San Diego!

The sunny, park-like space, filled with colorful art, is located outside the new Southeastern Live Well Center in Valencia Park. The garden can be freely accessed by anyone via a pathway on the south side of the large health and social services facility.

A plaque near the pathway indicates that the garden’s public art was created by Jean Cornwell Wheat. It’s titled Spirit of the Community featuring Bird Song. Additional information is provided:

Commissioned; painted and mosaic embellished totems; concrete, poured resin, lime stones.

Artist Statement: These totems represent the community cultures of African American, Mexican/Chicano, Latin American, Filipino, Polynesian, and Asian. The final meditation totem is the artist’s personal statement of peace, love and unity. The centerpiece, Bird Song, represents the Kumeyaay Nation’s symbol of the oak tree. Images on the four sides symbolize earth, air, fire, and water.

Across the Market Street from the Southeastern Live Well Center, at the Malcolm X Branch Library and Performing Arts Center, a beautiful mosaic was created by the same artist. You can see it 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)!

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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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 security blankets to comfort hurting kids!

Do you knit, quilt or crochet? Do you know someone who does?

Project Linus would love your help!

Project Linus gives warm security blankets to hurting kids, particularly those who have cancer or have suffered trauma. The effort is named after the lovable Peanuts comic strip character who carries a security blanket at all times. Project Linus has more than 400 chapters in the United States. Over the years, more than 4.5 million security blankets have been distributed!

The San Diego chapter of Project Linus had a display at last weekend’s Boston Tea Party anniversary event in Chula Vista. I spoke to several ladies and learned about the wonderful things they do. I was told they could always use more volunteers. Even if you don’t knit, quilt or crochet, you can help in other ways, such as donating fabric or transporting blankets.

Please visit this page concerning Project Linus in San Diego. There is contact information near the bottom of the page.

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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)!

Sign up for tomorrow’s More Than Pink Walk!

You can still sign up for tomorrow’s Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk! I was told this today as I walked through Balboa Park. The headquarters for the big event is being set up along Sixth Avenue, south of Laurel Street, in its usual spot.

If you’d like to help researchers find a cure for breast cancer, and help those who’ve been diagnosed with the disease, check out this website. You can join the 5k walk tomorrow morning (Sunday), become a team member or a sponsor, join the pre-walk festivities, and more! Or you can simply make a donation to Susan G. Komen on their website and help them with their important work.

Tomorrow’s weather in San Diego will be perfect for a walk. Why not join?

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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)!

Veterans receive help at North County Stand Down.

Do you know any military veterans who could use some help? Perhaps they are struggling financially. Perhaps they need a little boost. Perhaps they are homeless.

There’s a four day event next month in Vista, in San Diego’s North County, that wants to help. The North County Veterans Stand Down welcomes all veterans and their families to free meals, accommodations, hot showers and haircuts. Veterans are given new or gently used clothing and shoes, prescription glasses, dental services, medical services, legal services, and simple rest, support and friendship.

Do you know someone who might benefit? Even you, perhaps?

I learned about the North County Veterans Stand Down during my visit to the Escondido Grape Day Festival last Saturday. Good people who know how life can be difficult want to help. I thought I’d pass this information along.

To go to the North County Veterans Stand Down website to learn more and perhaps register, 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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Help end hunger: plant a vegetable garden!

Would you like to begin a project at home that is fun and beneficial to others in need? Why not plant a vegetable garden, grow healthy produce and donate your harvest to a local food bank?

I was walking through the Garden Show at the San Diego County Fair when I came upon a “Homegrown Hunger Relief” display. I stopped to read what that meant.

The organization Healthy Day Partners works to feed the hungry with healthy food, and encourages the creation of home and school gardens. They offer gardening workshops, and support a number of different hunger relief programs.

Healthy Day Partners has collaborated with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to plant fruit trees in many communities throughout San Diego County.

They also offer Grab & Grow Gardens to aid people grow their own food. A small selection of vegetable and/or herb seedlings are handed out in an easy to carry bag, along with instructions in English and Spanish.

Sounds like a good thing? Check out the Healthy Day Partners website and perhaps become involved 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 Twitter!