Do you know any kids who’d like to win 4 valuable passes to San Diego Comic-Con this year? Listen up!
I just learned there’s a contest underway that ends tomorrow, put on by the Comic-Con Museum and Feeding San Diego. It’s called the Hunger Action Hero Art Contest.
Students from K to 12 are invited to create a hunger fighting superhero! Artwork and a brief superhero origin story are required to enter the contest, but kids must do so by April 22, 2022–that’s tomorrow! Fortunately, submissions can be made easily online.
Various prizes will be awarded for the top ten entries, in addition to 4 Comic-Con passes for the contest winner. To learn more, 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!
Explosive reactions! A gigantic walking virus! Snakes, molecules, robots and rockets!
Oh, wow! Check out the fun that families and kids enjoyed today during the Barrio Logan STEAM Block Party, part of this year’s very cool San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering!
There was much to see, do and learn in the outdoor plaza of Mercado del Barrio!
The event featured immensely entertaining live science demonstrations, creative kids activities, and even a bunch of awesome lowriders on display! I was personally pleased to see the substantial community involvement by UC San Diego.
Look at the great event attendance!There’s plenty of science and technology to learn from lowriders–especially the hydraulics!Check out this awesome lowrider!Everywhere I turned, people were engaged in hands-on learning at this Barrio Logan Science and Art Expo! Young Women in Bio.
I saw a demo of the above very cool science video game Microscopya, designed by Dr. Beata Mierzwa, an artist and UCSD molecular biologist! Students learn about cells and human biology while having tons of adventurous fun! Check out the web page here!
Friendly folks from the San Diego Public Library!The ladies of Mad Science make a memorable demonstration using carbon dioxide.That is planet Earth’s size relative to Jupiter!Free Trees for your neighborhood!
If you live in San Diego, and want to plant a free street tree where you live, check this out!
EcoVivarium brought snakes, tortoises and other critters for the educational event.A scientific experiment in progress.Concentrating on science.Two very impressive young men give a presentation concerning groundwater.Look at all the drones!That’s the biggest virus I’ve ever seen! I didn’t bring enough hand sanitizer.That’s either goop or slime.A smile!The Vulcan-1 rocket, built by students at UC San Diego. It’s the world’s first undergraduate rocket powered by a 3D printed engine!What’s the space weather today?The science of tortillas!Even very young kids were interested and excited!STEAM related artwork by local students decorates the event stage.A hand crank powers different light bulbs.A fun demonstration of various physics principles by folks from General Atomics.Yes, the boiling point of liquid nitrogen is -196 degrees celsius! Brrr!What happened?Hair-raising fun!
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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!
In Chula Vista, the dastardly supervillain Darkula has been defeated, thanks to the superhero Power Avengers!
Don’t believe me? The exciting comic book story fills the walls of the Energy Station at the South Chula Vista Library!
When local sixth grade school students enter the Energy Station, with its action-packed walls, they might be inspired to become real life heroes. At the Energy Station makerspace they learn about energy conservation and sources of renewable energy, such as solar or wind power.
This unique City of Chula Vista project, created several years ago in partnership with San Diego Gas and Electric, aims to inspire the next generation to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM. Having a pipeline of future STEM workers is essential to the health and growth of our regional innovation economy, which depends on technical expertise in fields such as electrical engineering, biomedical research, and wireless communications…
No matter what a kid’s talents or interests might be, at the South Chula Vista Library they can learn how to create a brighter future and thwart the menace of Darkula . . . as members of the Power Avengers!
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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!
This evening I headed to Balboa Park to watch The Sky Tonight at the Fleet Science Center’s giant domed IMAX theater.
Every first Wednesday of the month, the Fleet’s eye-popping, jaw-dropping The Sky Tonight astronomy presentation coincides with Stars in the Park, a fun, educational outdoor event hosted by the San Diego Astronomy Association.
When I stepped out of the theater, with a sense of renewed wonder at the immensity and beauty of the universe, night had fallen, and I gazed through several telescopes at the distant stars themselves.
But prior to all this, well before the sun set, I saw other stars all around the park…
Two brightly smiling members of the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society’s Realm of Andor. They usually hang out on Sunday afternoons at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.Indy is a shining Balboa Park star on a fine Wednesday evening.Look! Another musical star!Like planets orbiting the sun, kids were running around the Bea Evenson Fountain.Another star poses and smiles on El Prado!Options For All, an organization that serves adults with disabilities, welcomes those arriving for a special movie screening in Balboa Park.
A short film titled Climb premiered this evening at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.
According to its description, the film is based on a day in the life of the adaptive team, which consists of four rock climbers with disabilities at the Mesa Rim Climbing Center. Learn more at the Options For All organization’s Facebook page here!
One of the film’s stars smiles by the Climb movie poster. That’s her climbing in the upper left corner of the graphic!Stars that are light-years distant from Balboa Park would become visible after nightfall. Members of the San Diego Astronomy Association set up a powerful telescope for public observation of the sky after dark!
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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!
Wow! Have you seen the huge mural that was recently painted on the side of the Escondido Public Library, facing the new mini park?
I heard about it and had to go see for myself!
The amazing mural, presented by the Escondido Library Foundation and the City of Escondido, is titled Escondido’s Vision. It was painted by Julia Anthony in late 2021, and officially dedicated, along with the new park, last month.
The bright, super colorful artwork depicts a beautiful day in Escondido, through the prism of imagination. It’s a broad landscape where the sun shines, reading is fun, the future is hopeful, and life is good!
I took a variety of photographs at different distances…
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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!
Does anyone out there know anything about this wonderful bronze sculpture of children playing in a tree? It’s located on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, near the entrance to the San Ysidro Health medical building.
As I walked past the beautiful artwork on Saturday I took these photos. I looked for a plaque or any indication of the artist and history. Perhaps I missed it, but I all saw was the sign near its base indicating the sculpture is monitored at all times.
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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!
Last Sunday I enjoyed a fascinating tour of Waterfront Park in San Diego. The special public tour was part of the 2022 San Diego Architectural Foundation’s Open House event.
Our small group was guided by Glen and Jeff of Schmidt Design Group, landscape architects who worked on the Waterfront Park project almost ten years ago. The park opened to the public in 2014. (I was there for the big grand opening! You can see many photographs taken during that historic day by clicking here!)
As we walked around the beautiful park, where two large parking lots originally existed, we learned so many facts I failed to jot many down!
I did note that the two stretches of fountains on either side of the County Administration Building together are 830 feet long. The fountain design was tricky, because the water in the basin where children jump and play could be only one inch deep, due to safety concerns. The fountains utilize an 80,000 gallon water tank, and the 31 jets spray water 12 to 14 feet high.
The fountains were to be set in marble, but to save tens of millions of dollars, specially applied concrete made to look like marble was utilized instead.
The parking garage under the south end of Waterfront Park is below the water table (San Diego Bay is a block to the west), and consequently various innovative measures were taken to keep water from seeping in. I was surprised that, like the nearby County Administration Building, piles were driven 100 feet deep into bedrock to support and stabilize the structure!
The “hill” with a slide in the wonderful, very popular playground was built up with high density foams blocks. (The same hill referred to as Tony Gwynn’s opposing “pitching mound” when the park’s sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle debuted back in 2015. See those fun photos here!)
One bit of information really surprised me. There had initially been plans to install Dr. Seuss sculptures around the playground! The Grinch and his dog Max were to stand atop the hill. The Cat in the Hat would welcome kids near the fountain area. Our group didn’t hear why that plan fell through.
We did learn how, during Waterfront Park’s construction, large old palm trees and the San Diego County Law Enforcement Memorial were moved. We saw the bits of shining, sparkling mica that were placed in the concrete around the memorial.
We learned how the large garden at the north end of the park was designed to be a beautiful, contemplative area. And, indeed, it is.
The garden is divided into three sections. The north “grass” or “meadow” garden with 15 varieties of grass; the middle Mediterranean garden with sages, rosemary, lavender and Torrey pines; and the south “tropical” or “diversity” garden, with plumeria, bird of paradise and many other lush plants.
Irrigation for the park requires 8 million gallons per year! But this free, very popular “water park” serves hundreds of thousands of San Diego residents every year, many arriving by trolley from less affluent neighborhoods.
Lastly, we learned how the County of San Diego will soon be removing the garden, and replacing it with a dog park, basketball and pickleball courts, and other recreational amenities. I suppose the change is both sad and exciting. As they say, there are two sides to every coin.
I’ll be watching the progress of that project and will probably be taking photos in the future!
This is where the proposed Cat in the Hat sculpture would have stood!Donal Hord’s iconic Guardian of Water sculpture stands in the background. Learn a little more about it here.The present location of the San Diego County Law Enforcement Memorial.Part of the Waterfront Park garden. The large garden will be removed to make way for sports facilities.
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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!
One of San Diego’s most beautiful community parks is located in La Mesa. It’s called Briercrest Park.
I toured Briercrest Park yesterday during the 2022 San Diego Architectural Foundation’s annual Open House event.
The winding paths I walked along were shiny wet from a recent rain. The grass was green. The air was fresh, the sun peeking out from behind clouds. Surrounding nature smelled so good. I felt at peace.
I soon learned that feeling was by design.
Our tour group gathered by an amazing mosaic labyrinth created by renowned local artist James Hubbell. His architect son, Drew, was on hand to tell us about the Hubbell created public art around the park. Glen of Schmidt Design Group, the landscape architect who designed the park some 20 years ago, was also there.
Well, you can see in my upcoming photos what an extraordinary place this is.
I’ll let my photo captions explain some of what I learned.
Walking into the park by one pathway from Wakarusa Street.
The above map near one entrance contains information about Briercrest Park, which was designed to emphasize the “healing and restorative values of green park space in an urban environment.”
The site, originally a reservoir, features a central wetland where water runoff collects. Turf mounds radiate outward from the watery center, like expanding ripples. Gentle bridges add a scenic touch. Native drought tolerant plants and trees are lush, providing refuge for the spirit.
Kids are encouraged to meander about, explore the fun playground, art and nature. Who knows what they might discover?
This butterfly glass mosaic was assembled by Emilie Ledieu, one of the artists in residence at James Hubbell’s Ilan-Lael Foundation, located near Santa Ysabel, California, in the mountains east of San Diego.One plaque on a park bench. Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often…Many benches in the park were designed to accommodate people in wheelchairs.An herb garden, maintained by a local gardening club, provides a sensory experience. I smelled sage.The playground has numerous fun elements, including these critters.Path by the central wetlands, with lots of greenery and boulders and stone benches for meditation.An area of open grass. The unique restrooms are in the distance.Hubbell mosaics can be found on three sides of the beautiful structure, said to be the only park restrooms in San Diego with stained glass!Organic mosaic above and around drinking fountains appear a bit like a watery landscape.Mosaic on one side. The vertical blue lines are like cascading water.The other side. The flowing mosaic almost seems to have the shape of a heron.Stained glass window seen from inside the men’s restroom, made with durable resin.Tiles around another small garden space created by local school children.The very beautiful Hubbell labyrinth. One begins at water, passes through space, and arrives at the bright flaming center.Tables set up for the Open House tour visitors. That’s Emilie the artist in red. People could help build two small mosaics!One of the small example mosaics in progress.A smile!This looks like a very cool book concerning the history of this neighborhood. La Mesa’s Severin Grossmont Hills and Vicinity.We have gathered near the labyrinth for a talk at the beginning of the tour. Look at that sunlight in trees.That’s Glen Schmidt on the left and Drew Hubbell on the right, standing near a small climbing structure.Glen, the friendly landscape architect, explains concepts behind Briercrest Park’s creation.We look at one concept image board. Emphasized are accessibility, the senses, nature, serenity, and even music! I didn’t photograph it, but one area is equipped with outdoor chimes and other musical instruments to freely play.Drew Hubbell leads the way.We stroll through a very beautiful park.
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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!
Look at all the inspirational street art painted in Allied Gardens, just outside Stephen C. Foster Elementary School!
The artwork on several electrical boxes was painted by Mindful Murals, whose positive messages inspire and motivate students at a variety of schools around San Diego.
Colorfully written outside Foster Elementary are the words Creativity Is Contagious…Pass It On. To encourage learning, there are also images of a pencil, a palette, a book and a computer, a question mark inside a light bulb, and the mathematical symbol for pi.
As I walked through Allied Gardens this past weekend, I was excited and pleased to happen upon this great Mindful Murals art!
Three years ago I was given a cool tour of their motivational art at Edison Elementary School in City Heights. See those photos 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!
This evening, shoppers at the Fashion Valley mall enjoyed dragon and lion dances! It’s another fun celebration of the Lunar New Year in San Diego!
I swung by after work to experience the festive scene.
Members of the Southern Sea Dragon and Lion Dance Association performed near the center of the mall, then marched up and down past shops on the ground level, attracting a crowd of onlookers.
Drums and cymbals followed the energetic procession. Kids were delighted. Dollar bills were being placed into lion mouths to bring good luck in the new year. One small lion was aglow with colored lights!
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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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