Tag: museums

Chinese lantern street lamps replaced downtown!

In the last couple weeks, several street lamps in the form of traditional Chinese lanterns have been replaced along Third Avenue in downtown San Diego. Third Avenue, between Market Street and J Street, is the heart of the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District.

The original Chinese lanterns were installed in the 1980s, back when the historic district was first designated. Those lamps, however, had deteriorated over time and were badly in need of replacement.

With the help of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, several of the old lamps were refurbished and provided with LED lighting. They’ve been reinstalled on Third Avenue in the vicinity of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.

Sadly, these beautiful Chinese lantern street lamps no longer run the entire distance to Market Street. I was told the City of San Diego disposed of several of the old lanterns that might have been given to the museum and also refurbished.

The San Diego Chinese Historical Museum has retained one of the newly refurbished lanterns for safe keeping as you can see from my next photograph. It will be used as a model for future lanterns, if money can be raised to produce them. Recreating them from scratch will be, unfortunately, fairly expensive for the nonprofit museum. (Would you like to help?)

The museum would also love to create an Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District gateway on Market Street. Chinatowns in other cities feature such gateways.

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Space Day amateur astronomers in San Diego!

Members of the San Diego Astronomy Association participated today in the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s 19th Annual Space Day!

The local amateur astronomers gathered on the grass of Pan American Plaza in Balboa Park, in front of the museum, and observed our sun through a variety of telescopes.

As I walked nearby in the late morning, I spied telescopes of every size pointed skyward toward the sun, which was still hiding behind “May gray” clouds.

I paused and spoke to several of these friendly astronomy hobbyists. Solar observation was their activity on this Space Day, and telescopes fitted with special filters could provide magnified images of sunspots, the sun’s corona and solar flares!

I was told how there are thousands of amateur astronomers around the country and world, and how their efforts often help to further scientific knowledge. When distant stars are seen to slightly wobble over time, or when their light’s intensity as seen from Earth periodically changes, it can be an indication that they are orbited by planets–exoplanets very far from our own solar system!

The members of the San Diego Astronomy Association possess an enthusiasm that is infectious. I could have spent half the morning absorbing fascinating information.

How can you not be excited, peering out into the awe-inspiring Universe–a vast, vast, incredibly vast Universe that includes the nearest star: our Sun!

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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!

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C Street Keeps It Green for Earth Day!

A special Earth Day event was held today in downtown San Diego. C Street Keeps It Green was the name of the fun environmental event, which took place–surprise!–on two blocks of C Street.

I saw inspirational art being created, spoke to representatives of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, checked out info presented by I Love a Clean San Diego, San Diego Community Power, and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, and enjoyed learning more about the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum–did you know every second Sunday they are open free to the public? There were smiling vendors, too, and music!

Enjoy some photographs and read the captions…

Inspirational art and messages are created on C Street in San Diego.

Three Falls Brand had all sort of cool merch–many of the designs were a fusion of lucha libre wrestling and hard rock music.

I learned the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum has an exhibition titled Poem ‘ Li Sao’, Qu Yuan & Dragon Boat Festival. The featured, very famous poem, by the father of Chinese romantic poetry, consists of more than 2,470 Chinese characters!

Old photographs show how the Chinese played an important role in early San Diego history.

Smiles by representatives of San Diego Community Power, which provides cleaner electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind at competitive rates.

Another smile! Oside HandMade provided fun small potted plant projects for the Earth Day event.

Creativity in action.

San Diego County Bicycle Coalition provided all sorts of useful information.

I Love a Clean San Diego told me about their recent Creek to Bay Cleanup. Tons of trash were removed from our precious waterways.

I’m shown how small positive choices we make add up! And another big smile!

Music for the event across C Street!

Our beautiful planet Earth.

A quote about nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Shayna Goodwin, a San Diego Clean and Safe Ambassador, creates her first mural. And it’s absolutely incredible!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Boat loads of inspiration in San Diego!

An inspirational art exhibit is now on display at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Beautiful paintings remind us that rebirth can come unexpectedly after a period of destruction.

Boatloads of Mizuaoi are works by artist Shintaro Araki, who is a member of the Mizuaoi Project.

As the Japanese Friendship Garden’s website explains:

The Mizuaoi Project, initiated by a group of artists receiving a seed found in Fukushima from an artist, Shigenobu Yoshida, celebrates the “rebirth” of the nearly extinct Mizuaoi plant…a genus of flowering plants…considered a weed species in Japan…exterminated so as not to corrupt rice cultivation.

Thought to have been eradicated throughout most the country, the Mizuaoi lay dormant until the Great East Japan Earthquake, on March 11, 2011, and tsunami, brought the Mizuaoi seed back to life and sparked a poetic Movement, spreading the Mizuaoi image as a symbol of hope, and regeneration throughout Japanese society.

Members of the Mizuaoi Project cultivate the plants in pots, metaphorically referred to as “Boats” and distribute their boats nationwide…

These individual works by Shintaro Araki do indeed resemble boats filled with robust green life. Their simplicity and beauty float before our eyes, flower in the mind. The art expresses hope. It reminds us of nature’s inherent power to renew living things.

The exhibition can be viewed in the garden’s Exhibit Hall through April 28, 2024.

Here are just a few of the beautiful pieces on display…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Hotel del Coronado’s industrial complex.

What’s that tall brick smokestack near the world-famous Hotel del Coronado?

It’s the most noticeable part of a historic industrial complex!

I walked around the Hotel Del’s old laundry building, ice house and power plant last month during the San Diego Architectural Foundation Open House event. I discovered several plaques that provide information about these three buildings, which, clustered south of the hotel lobby entrance, are called the industrial complex.

The brick building shown below once provided the Hotel del Coronado’s laundry service. It’s now home to The Laundry Pub!

Laundry, established 1919.

The original hotel laundry opened on the second floor of the Power Plant in January 1888. The Laundry occupied the majority of the second floor and employed 20 women. In 1919 this brick structure was built to house the laundry operation, which had expanded to serve all of Coronado Island with a fleet of five laundry trucks and a branch location on Orange Avenue. Laundry services were provided here for the hotel until 2018.

The next photo is through the window of The Laundry Pub, which features an 1880s-era bar and the laundry’s early conveyor system above restored wood floors.

North of the brick laundry building is the hotel’s old ice house.

The ice house is now home to the fascinating Ice House Museum of the Hotel del Coronado, where you can view historical displays and artifacts, plus photographs of the many celebrities, movie stars and United States Presidents who’ve visited the Victorian resort over the years. I blogged about the museum two years ago here.

In the rear of the ice house is this plaque…

Ice House, established 1889.

Ice was originally produced with a small machine inside the Power Plant until this masonry structure was built to house a new 10-ton De Coppet ice machine. Renowned for excellent tasting ice, the De Coppet system was cutting edge technology at the time and allowed The Del to manufacture and supply ice throughout Southern California. In 1909, the building was converted into a storeroom with later uses including an upholstery shop and offices.

Lastly, north of the ice house is the old power plant with its tall, striped smokestack.

Power Plant, established 1887.

Built in 1887 to house the incandescent electric light plant, laundry, and engine house, the Power Plant supplied electricity to all of Coronado Island until service was established with SDG&E in 1922. The Power Plant housed five Mather dynamos, two Hazelton boilers, and heavy pumping and heating machinery. To this day, a utility tunnel connects the Power Plant to the historic 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)!

USS Midway, strangely wrapped!

Why is the towering island of the USS Midway aircraft carrier wrapped up?

To protect San Diego Bay and the environment as the historic aircraft carrier (now a popular tourist destination) receives a new coat of paint! That’s what I was told a couple days ago by a USS Midway Museum employee.

But how strange it appears!

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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!

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Window to an imagined future in Balboa Park!

What might the future look like? Can science and technology, guided by human compassion, intelligence and imagination, bring forth a better world?

These questions might enter your mind as you peer at works of art created by UC San Diego professor Dr. Pinar Yoldas, now on display in Balboa Park at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Pinar Yoldas: Synaptic Sculpture is an exhibition that challenges the world that we presently know. It offers a window to a future that is possible. And some of the ideas are a little weird!

I visited the exhibition last weekend and loved the boundless creativity. Biology, artificial intelligence, psychology, environmental science and more–even mythology–are combined in unique ways by the speculative mind of Dr. Yoldas.

Imagine works of art in your home that grow environmentally beneficial algae! Imagine sitting on enormous molecules while having your mind calmed by an aroma-wafting sensory pendulum! Imagine having your life ruled by a cute kitten AI overlord! (Oh, wait. Would we really want that future?)

The free exhibition definitely stimulates a sense if wonder. It encourages open minds to speculate where all us human types might be headed.

If you choose, head to the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego in Balboa Park before June 23, 2024 when the exhibition closes!

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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)!

Women’s History Month celebrated in Balboa Park!

It’s March, Women’s History Month!

Several walls inside the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park now feature an exhibit that chronicles the fight for women’s equality, highlighting successes by women in music, entertainment, art, and society at large. The exhibit makes use of informative displays that originally appeared in 2015 at the Women’s Museum of California.

Stories of trailblazers in the popular culture are told. In the 1960s and 70s, Helen Ready, Aretha Franklin, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and others filled the airwaves with music that related the experience of women and furthered their empowerment. In television, the advancement of women could be followed in shows like That Girl and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. With the 1968 television show Julia, Diahann Carroll become the first African-American leading actor on a sitcom.

As one sign explains: During the resurgence of the larger women’s movement in the 1960s and 70s, women artists, writers, choreographers, actors, filmmakers and playwrights sought to create a new dialogue between the viewer and their art through the inclusion of women’s perspective.

Other displays in the History Center concern the historic struggle for equal rights, including the women’s right to vote, as you can see in my photographs.

A couple years ago the Women’s Museum of California moved their archives and administrative offices from their old museum at Liberty Station into the San Diego History Center. Their presence has been online.

I’m told that in the future, a special gallery inside the History Center will be set aside for Women’s Museum of California exhibits.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Exhibition of African American history in Coronado.

An exhibition now showing at The Coronado Historical Association‘s museum concerns the history of African Americans in Coronado. An Island Looks Back: Uncovering Coronado’s Hidden African American History is open free to the public and extremely enlightening.

Numerous old photographs and historical documents tell the story of how a few African Americans pioneers first came to Coronado in the late 19th century, and how their numbers would greatly increase beginning in 1944, because of the Federal Housing Project. The island had more than twice the African American population in 1960 than Chula Vista, El Cajon, Escondido, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, La Mesa and Vista combined!

The exhibition features stories of families through many generations, telling of their struggles and triumphs.

Some of Coronado’s earliest African American pioneers migrated west looking for opportunity, following Elisha Babcock, who would develop the once-barren island and build the Hotel del Coronado. In its early years, Coronado was considered more accepting of African American residents and visitors than most San Diego neighborhoods.

Members of the segregated United States military would also settle in Coronado–Civil War veterans, Buffalo Soldiers, and veterans of the two World Wars.

The exhibition explains that many African Americans in those early years worked as maids, cooks, nurses, butlers, housekeepers, gardeners, laborers, coachmen and chauffeurs. The pay was low and life could be difficult–many residents of Coronado would persist in supporting segregation for decades. Surprisingly, Coronado’s local schools were integrated from the beginning.

Visitors to the museum will learn how African American graduates from Coronado High School during the Civil Rights Era went on to successful careers and achievements in the arts, military, private business, and government. That success in the community continues to this day.

If you ever find yourself in beautiful Coronado, head to the The Coronado Historical Association‘s free museum and experience An Island Looks Back: Uncovering Coronado’s Hidden African American History.

You will be inspired by the life stories and accomplishments of African Americans who’ve called Coronado home.

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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)!

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)!