Tag: immigrants

Hidden art by community garden in El Cajon.

What inspires you?

Should you walk through the park-like space just outside the New Roots Fresh Farm Community Garden in El Cajon, you might spy several instances of weathered art.

Post-like structures overlooking El Cajon and distant mountains in East County contain messages of welcome and belonging. Most of the nearby garden plots are tended by refugees. Many of these refugees are Iraqis who’ve fled persecution. By selling fresh vegetables at local farmers markets, a little extra income might be obtained.

The park-like space where this art is painted was empty when I walked down its overgrown path a couple days ago. I saw places to sit. It would be a good place to find quiet and fresh air.

The land occupied by the New Roots Fresh Farm Community Garden was provided by Kaiser Permanente a little over ten years ago. The project was completed in partnership with El Cajon’s local International Rescue Committee.

Leaves and Fruit.

Home is anywhere or any place you feel safe.

I am from: the past and the future where the present lasts forever.

Be yourself.

Environment. What have you been through?

Roots.

Welcome.

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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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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)!

Farm coming to SDSU Mission Valley!

Believe it or not, a farm is being created at SDSU Mission Valley!

The future farm is located between the parking lot of Snapdragon Stadium and the SDSU Mission Valley river park. The above photo shows how produce is now growing a short distance east of the Stadium trolley station, where I made the unexpected discovery this afternoon.

Refugee and immigrant women and youth will be working the farm. They will gain work experience, and the produce they grow will be used at a restaurant in North Park, at 2920 University Avenue.

The undertaking is called Community Supported Agriculture. This farm is the creation of Make Project. As their website explains: The 30th Street farm has moved to a bigger, longer-term location at SDSU Mission Valley.

In 2017 I blogged about the previous farm in North Park here.

(It’s interesting to recall that before Mission Valley was developed–before shopping malls and freeways–this land along the San Diego River supported many farms–primarily dairy farms.)

A huge flock of crows was hovering around the new SDSU Mission Valley farm late this afternoon. Hopefully the coming crops are safe!

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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)!

Restoring many murals in Chicano Park!

About a week ago I was privileged to be shown many outdoor murals that are currently being restored in world-famous Chicano Park. What I observed were artists and volunteers working on the Chicano Park Mural Restoration Project 2023.

New color and vibrancy were being applied by many brushes. Preserving these historic murals, which speak vividly of struggle, resilience, and accomplishment by members of the Chicano, Latino, Mexican migrant and Indigenous communities, is an important undertaking. Chicano Park has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Over 15 murals are to be fully restored in collaboration with the original artists. In the next photo you can see Mario Torero, who painted many of the Chicano Park murals.

I encourage anyone in San Diego who has never experienced Chicano Park to swing on by and wander among the monumental artwork. History, culture and decades of activism in the pursuit of civil rights will make an unforgettable impression.

I was amazed when I learned a group of three artists that painted a mural in 1977 as young women are now restoring their beautiful mural, almost half a century later! They call themselves Mujeres Muralistas. Watch an interview of the artists here. You can see their inspired work in my final two photographs!

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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!

Is this an idealistic, utopian home?

A unique trailer towed by bicycle is now on display near the front counter of the San Diego Central Library. It’s called Migration Home 1 (MH-1).

According to its description, this tiny “mobile home” that doubles as a rowboat was crafted with repurposed materials, and designed with a mixture of realism and idealism.

The artist, Aaron Glasson, seems to envision a bleak future where humans can’t rely on technological progress to solve problems, but must live a more primitive existence.

Can a vehicle such as this carry an idealist toward utopia?

The statement concludes: By believing in the value of solution-based thinking, artmaking, and utopian idealism we can help guide the future in a more positive direction.

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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!

Filipinos of South Bay Exhibit in Chula Vista.

The current exhibition at the Chula Vista Heritage Museum celebrates the life and history of Filipinos in the South Bay.

Display cases are positively overflowing with photographs and ephemera. Moments large and small are collectively remembered. You see the hopes, struggles, victories, family life. There are memories of community gatherings and festivals.

Words and images tell what it was like as a Filipino to go to school or church, run a business, serve in the military, or work to improve the life of the community. Perhaps you share these experiences.

I peered into the display cases and found so much life.

You can see that life, too, throughout 2023. Visit the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, which is located inside the Chula Vista Public Library Civic Center Branch.

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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!

Lemon Grove Incident mural honors desegregation.

An emotionally moving mural was created in Lemon Grove earlier this year between two buildings on Broadway.

The Lemon Grove Incident mural was painted by lead artist Mario Chacón and a team of volunteers, including many local students. It can be viewed at 7963 Broadway, between the Welcome Home Boutique & Art Space and Body by Discipline.

The mural remembers and honors a court order in 1931 that ended school segregation in Lemon Grove. Previously, Mexican American students had been taught in a separate shabby schoolhouse. The groundbreaking ruling set Lemon Grove on the path to being one of the most integrated towns and school districts in San Diego County.

You can read more about the mural’s history and dedication back in March here.

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Honorary Tom Hom Avenue in downtown San Diego.

At the intersection of Market Street and Third Avenue in downtown San Diego, you might spot an unusual street sign.

Third Avenue where it runs through the Asian Pacific Historic District is now also called Honorary Tom Hom Avenue.

I noticed the sign the other day while driving down Market Street, so I walked through the neighborhood this evening in order to take a few photographs.

I’ve learned the street sign made its first appearance this February during a public ceremony with many dignitaries.

Tom Hom was a civic leader who worked hard to achieve his successes. In 1963, he was the first person of color to be elected to the San Diego City Council. He later would be elected the city’s deputy mayor, and then only the second Asian American elected to the California State Legislature!

As a politician, Tom Hom used his influence to help get San Diego Stadium built. He also supported the gentrification of the run-down but historic Gaslamp Quarter.

This Wikipedia article details his rich life, including how his family came to California in 1909 on the steam liner SS Manchuria, and how his father named him after Thomas Edison!

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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!

Exhibit shows history of Japanese Americans in Coronado.

The Coronado Historical Association’s Museum of History and Art presently features an exhibit titled Uprooted: The Story of the Japanese Americans of Coronado.

I visited the museum yesterday. The kind lady at the entrance allowed me to take a few photos when she learned I’m a blogger.

As I stepped into the first gallery, I was immediately pleased to see that the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park had contributed objects for display, including beautiful kimonos. I’m a member of the garden.

Then, as I looked at old photographs and read descriptions, I was stunned to learn that Coronado once had its own Japanese garden! Actually two tea gardens! And the second would be the setting for four motion pictures from 1913 to 1919!

Looking at the exhibit’s many historical photographs, I tried to imagine what life on the island might have been like years ago, particularly for Japanese Americans. The years covered are from the mid-1800’s when immigrants came to California seeking opportunity, to the forced detention of Japanese American citizens during World War II, to more recent and optimistic times.

Many of the displays are made possible by the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego.

Anyone interested in local history absolutely should visit this exhibit. I was surprised to learn so much!

More information can be found on the Coronado Historical Association website 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!

Hidden historical markers around San Diego.

Walk around the city and you’ll discover surprising things. Once in a while, if you’re lucky, you might stumble upon an historical marker in a hidden or unexpected place!

Over the years I’ve happened upon a number of these historical plaques and markers. I’ve seen them by shopping centers, by apartment buildings, on hilltops, beside trails, and tucked away in odd places off the beaten track.

I thought that perhaps you’d enjoy reading a few of them.

Here are a few of the more interesting markers I’ve found….

To read a plaque in Linda Vista about one of the first planned shopping centers in the United States, click here.

To read a plaque in National City about a “miraculous” well dug for Mount Paradise Sanitarium, click here.

To read numerous historical plaques on the top of Presidio Hill, where Fort Stockton once was, click here.

To read an historical marker in the middle of UC San Diego in La Jolla, click here.

To read a plaque marking the location of Kate Sessions’ nursery in Pacific Beach, click here.

To read a plaque near old Mission San Diego de Alcalá, marking the location of Padre Luis Jayme’s death during a Native American uprising, click here.

To see a fascinating marker recalling the historic La Playa Trail which passed through present-day Point Loma, near Midway and Rosecrans, click here.

To read several historical markers that are easily overlooked near an entrance to Presidio Park, click here.

To read a plaque in Coronado that concerns the birthplace of naval aviation, click here.

To read a marker that recalls a long vanished Chinese shipbuilding site in Point Loma, click here.

To read a marker in Chula Vista that commemorates Japanese immigrant farmers in the South Bay, click here.

To read plaques and inscriptions near the Old Mission Dam in Mission Trails Regional Park, click here.

Finally, to read a marker at the edge of a golf course near Old Town, detailing the history of San Diego’s oldest surviving structure, click here.

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