Tag: la jolla

Four more colorful Murals of La Jolla!

The Murals of La Jolla are constantly changing. Older murals are taken down; colorful new ones appear.

Every time I walk through the Village of La Jolla, it seems, I spot murals that I hadn’t seen previously. And indeed that happened last weekend!

Two of the four murals I photographed are fairly new. The others I must’ve missed in the past.

Enjoy these photographs!

My first three photos are of a large mural from 2024, by artist Todd Gray. It’s titled Ghosts in the Machine.

The next mural in La Jolla is also from 2024. Artist Amy Adler titled it Location.

The next mural from 2023 is titled The Scripps Gill Loggia. The artist is Rex Southwick.

Finally, the next two photos are of a mural titled Time. It’s from 2021. The artist is Gabriella Sanchez.

UPDATE!

Oops! I’d forgotten that I photographed The Scripps Gill Loggia last year. To see those photos, click here.

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Photos of 2024 La Jolla Christmas Parade!

The 68th Annual La Jolla Christmas Parade was held today. In 2024, this community holiday parade was bigger and better than ever!

I positioned myself on Prospect Street with my camera and awaited the excitement. I admit I love parades, whatever the occasion. People come together and can’t help being happy. It’s life as it could be… No, it’s life as it should be.

I took almost 700 photographs. I’ve selected my favorite images–those that caught the occasion and the mood best.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Smiles and fun at the La Jolla Holiday Festival!

Natalie Miragliotta, 2024 California Cinderella Teen, smiles at the La Jolla Holiday Festival!

Before the 68th Annual La Jolla Christmas Parade kicked off today, a Holiday Festival beside the parade route got underway in the late morning. Fun-seekers and families gathered for the colorful event in front of the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library!

A variety of activities could be freely enjoyed, including robotics demonstrations by students, a kids entrepreneur exhibit, face painting, and, of course, the opportunity to take photographs with Santa Claus!

I arrived for the afternoon’s Christmas Parade much too early. To pass the time, I took a long walk around the Village of La Jolla, which included a visit to the Holiday Festival!

I found plenty of smiles and fun!

Look at all the Santa hats!

Photos were snapping at the Kiwanis Santa’s Village. Was that dog naughty or nice?

La Jolla Youth Robotics had a cool demonstration table.

A sophisticated robot created by Overclocked, Team 2485, a FIRST Robotics Competition team from Francis Parker School in San Diego.

Table featuring Young Entrepreneurs Club. I think those tubs contain slime!

The Kumeyaay First Peoples exhibit featured native wildlife images that kids could color.

Friendly guy from The Salvation Army with a red kettle.

My Gym Children’s Fitness provided more fun at the La Jolla Holiday Festival.

A nearby shooting star above the Village of La Jolla.

La Jolla Christmas Parade participants smile for a photo near the Holiday Festival!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Beautiful art outside La Jolla Community Center!

Very beautiful artwork can be seen just outside the entrance of the La Jolla Community Center. Tile panels on either side of the front door and tile work on a nearby bench depict La Jolla’s stunning coastal scenery.

I took these photographs during a walk a couple weekends ago when the center happened to be closed. I’m very curious who the artist might be.

I believe the work was done back in 2012–part of a larger building renovation. If you know more about this wonderful art outside the community center’s entrance, please leave a comment below!

Enjoy these photos, which I edited slightly using increased contrast and sharpness to bring out the colors and details.

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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.

Birds, Stars, Our Lands represented in La Jolla.

A large, very beautiful mural in La Jolla shows three birds–a Black-throated Sparrow, a Rock Wren, and a Cactus Wren–in their native habitat. It’s titled Mukikmalim, Su’ulim, Chem-tema-ki’ay, which is in the Kupa language. It translates as Birds, Stars, Our Lands.

According to this article, it’s the first public display of the Kupa language. The artist, Gail Werner, who descends from three of the county’s native peoples, Kupa (or Cupeño), Luiseño and Kumeyaay, received her inspiration for the mural from her hikes in the Anza-Borrego desert, beyond the mountains east of San Diego.

The public art debuted in downtown La Jolla in 2023, and is part of the ongoing Murals of La Jolla project. I saw the artwork last weekend on Herschel Avenue as I approached the bus stop on Silverado Street.

According to the Murals of La Jolla website: The bird imagery is inspired by traditional Southern California Native American songs, called Bird Songs, and the accompanying dance, the Bird Dance. These songs and dance weave a story of how the people came to be where they are and the accompanying journey that brought them to this land, which is said to parallel the migration of the birds.

In my own opinion, Mukikmalim, Su’ulim, Chem-tema-ki’ay is one of the most beautiful murals I’ve ever encountered in La Jolla

The imagery transports me to wilder places around San Diego . . . to hikes I’ve enjoyed.

With all its buildings, streets and parking lots, it’s hard to imagine how La Jolla (or any San Diego neighborhood) might have appeared before the first Europeans and settlers transformed the natural world they found.

And now for my photographs–of unspoiled nature represented on a building, taken from across an asphalt parking lot…

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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.

Sacred Architecture photo exhibit in La Jolla.

Sacred Architecture of San Diego and Tijuana is a free exhibition now showing at the La Jolla Historical Society’s Wisteria Cottage. The exhibit features stunning architectural photographs in the cottage’s museum-like galleries.

You won’t see photos of “old” church architecture–with ordinary steeples, gothic decoration and the like. San Diego is a relatively young city. Many places of worship in our region were built in the 20th century, and consequently reflect a more modern, unadorned, experimental style.

I noticed that much of this “sacred architecture” makes use of simple geometric forms like triangles, circles and waves. The basic forms feel simple, elemental and universal, and yet the structures are often a bit strange: elongated as if striving heavenward, or modest and sheltering near the earth where we stand. Much of the architecture produces a sense of wonder–at least for me.

Notable architects highlighted in the exhibition include Irving Gill with his masterful protomodern designs, and midcentury modernists Richard Neutra, Albert Frey and Jaime Sandoval. Postmodern buildings include a church by Charles Moore. La Jolla’s own Sim Bruce Richards is also represented.

The exhibition is being presented in conjunction with San Diego/Tijuana’s selection as World Design Capital. These stunning architectural photographs will be on display through September 1, 2024.

In San Diego, I’ve enjoyed architectural tours of several prominent places of worship. You can read descriptions and see photographs by clicking the following links:

Colorful stained glass windows of The Abbey.

An architectural masterpiece in San Diego.

A quick peek inside St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Beautiful sanctuary of historic San Diego church.

Photos inside the historic Ohr Shalom building.

History and faith at St. Agnes Catholic 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.

A new Tony Gwynn mural in La Jolla!

Tony Gwynn, one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history, is quite possibly the most beloved person in all of San Diego. Even years after his passing, tributes continue to pop up in communities throughout the city and beyond. He was loved not only for his legendary on-the-field heroics, but for his always sunny personality.

A very cool mural depicting Mr. Padre was painted in La Jolla this summer. It decorates one side of the Mandarin House restaurant in La Jolla. It was created by Ground Floor Murals, who’ve already painted many outstanding Padres baseball player murals.

Taking photos around San Diego for the past 11 years, I’ve documented various artworks and events that honor Tony Gwynn. You can see many of them by clicking here.

And now a bonus photograph!

There’s a second cool mural on the opposite side of the Mandarin House’s building! It depicts an Asian dragon in a watery setting. When I walked by today, I didn’t notice an artist signature…

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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.

Plaque in La Jolla honors Kate Sessions.

Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Park, originally named La Jolla Park, was established in 1887. The scenic coastal park has seen almost a century and a half of history, so it’s not surprising a variety of historical plaques can be found by visitors wandering around its 5.6 acres. I once photographed a couple of these plaques and shared them here.

An old plaque that honors San Diego’s beloved horticulturist Kate Sessions can also be discovered at Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Park. The plaque is located near a New Zealand Christmas tree (metrosideros tomentosa) that was planted by the La Jolla Garden Club in 1939 on Kate Sessions’ 82nd birthday. She would pass away in 1940.

Katherine Olivia Sessions is widely known as the Mother of Balboa Park, but she planted hundreds of trees all over San Diego. She even has a park named after her in La Jolla. Her legacy will continue far into the future. Many majestic trees throughout our beautiful city were planted by her own hand.

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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.

Two wise plaques overlook La Jolla beauty.

Two plaques can be found at an ocean overlook in La Jolla, midway between La Jolla Cove and the Children’s Pool.

After viewing the beautiful surf and rocks below, eyes might read the wise quotes on these plaques, which are embedded in the low stone and abalone shell wall.

Treat Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was lent to you by your children. –Anonymous

We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give. –Winston Churchill

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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)!

Plaques honor heroes in La Jolla park.

During my walk last weekend through Ellen Browning Scripps Park in La Jolla, I paused to take photographs of two plaques. One is over a century old. The other was created much more recently.

Both plaques honor people who, in their own way, made the world better. Both are heroes.

The Abraham Lincoln Centennial Memorial, set inside a boulder, is dated February 12, 1909. It was placed by the people of La Jolla beside a flagpole that no longer exists. I found an article that concerns the placement of this plaque. Read it here.

The second plaque reads:

In honor of our beloved mother Selma Malk, who enjoyed this view from her home at the La Valencia Hotel for 31 years.

The plaque was recently placed between a newly renovated picnic area and the scenic boardwalk south of La Jolla Cove.

According to this article: Selma Malk lived for 32 years at La Jolla’s La Valencia Hotel and volunteered at the Birch Aquarium and Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park. She died in La Jolla in 2017 at age 103.

In the next photo, you can see the historic La Valencia Hotel.

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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)!