Tag: museums

Support the creation of a local Holocaust museum.

RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the stories of Holocaust survivors. At this time they have an exhibition in San Diego on the second floor of downtown’s Central Library.

The extensive exhibition, featuring stories and artifacts from the Holocaust and World War II, has previously been located at the Chula Vista and La Jolla libraries. The organization is seeking to create a permanent museum.

To establish a Holocaust museum in San Diego requires a lot of time, effort and fundraising. If you think this effort is important, you can help!

First, check out their website to learn more by clicking here.

I visited the library’s exhibition again today. I learned RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust is now pursuing the acquisition of a very rare Holocaust uniform worn by a Jewish political prisoner in Auschwitz named Saba Goldschmid. You can see it in the above photograph.

You can go to the associated GoFundMe page by clicking here, where you’ll find a detailed description. The hope is to make this uniform part of the RUTH: Remember Us The Holocaust museum collection, where it can be preserved and shared with thousands of people.

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Remnants of 1915 Panama-California Exposition in California Quadrangle.

I discovered these amazing remnants of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park yesterday during a visit to the Cannibals exhibition at the Museum of Us.

A friendly museum employee explained that the south side of the California Quadrangle served as an art gallery during the Panama-California Exposition. He believes that these ornamental touches inside the long, narrow gallery all date from 1915.

If you can provide more information about these discoveries, please leave a comment.

You can find a beautiful sculpted work at the west end of the gallery. It’s mounted above a door that leads into the California Quadrangle’s chapel, which remains separate from the museum gallery. The imagery appears to include explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador.

A balcony inside the gallery, which is closed to the public, features four cherubic figures which seem to represent artistic creation…

At the east end of the gallery you’ll find this amazing (now waterless) fountain. It’s near steps that ascend to the closed balcony. Beautiful tiles frame it.

APIΣTON MEN ‘ΥΔΩP in Greek translates “Water is best.”

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Drawings of abbeys, barns and churches at Timken Museum of Art.

I really like this new exhibition at the Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park. It’s titled Abbeys, Barns, and Churches: Drawings of Medieval Architecture by Ernest Born.

Ernest Born was a notable California architect who did much of his work in San Francisco. He spent his later years living in San Diego.

In ink, chalk, pastel, and pencil, Ernest Born sketched impressive Romanesque and Gothic style Medieval buildings that he observed in Europe during several trips abroad in the 1920s. Over twenty pieces are on display. They’re on loan from the University of San Diego.

Visitors to the Timken can clearly see Born’s passion for this architecture and his artistry in producing these sketches. Some of this very detailed work was done in collaboration with architectural historian Walter Horn.

Gazing at these fine works, I felt ready to step into unusually grand structures built in places far from San Diego long ago.

The Timken Museum of Art is always free to the public. I encourage lovers of history, art or architecture to pay a visit before this exhibition ends on February 28, 2027.

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Model of San Diego’s historical Old Police Headquarters.

One cool thing about the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park is how several train layouts loosely recreate parts of San Diego, from downtown’s Santa Fe Depot and surrounding buildings to the scenic backcountry.

The museum’s San Diego and Arizona Eastern HO scale layout depicts parts of downtown San Diego in 1949, including the harbor, airport, and the old police headquarters. The model of the Old Police Headquarters is quite detailed and realistic!

Today, the historical building with its large courtyard is The Headquarters at Seaport, a dining and shopping destination. The Headquarters retains a very cool exhibit concerning its days as San Diego’s main police station.

I walked through The Headquarters yesterday and noticed an additional police exhibit is being created! I’ll visit again later to see what’s happening!

Meanwhile, check out the cool model of the historical building at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum…

The new Chula Vista Museum and History Center.

Several weeks ago a new museum opened in Chula Vista. It’s called the Chula Vista Museum and History Center. I visited it for the first time late last week.

The museum building at first sight might be mistaken for an ordinary home, until you notice the banner in front. Stepping inside, you’ll find yourself surrounded by multiple displays recalling the rich, diverse history of this South Bay community.

The museum’s inaugural main exhibition is The Chula Vista Japanese American Story.

Photographs and historical artifacts tell the story of Japanese immigrants who established farms in Chula Vista, becoming an important part of the community. Then visitors are shown, with the advent of World War II, how these loyal Americans were unjustly incarcerated.

When the war finally concluded and families returned home, these hard-working residents of Chula Vista would go on to become successful once again.

By seeing photographs of real people, and by learning all that they endured, an unfortunate period in history is better understood.

The museum features several rooms. They’re overflowing with more fascinating stuff. From early Chula Vista to the present time, you can visually appreciate the city’s enormous growth and evolution.

If you’d like to visit this new museum, make sure to check out their website by clicking here first.

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Moments That Made US exhibit in Coronado.

Moments That Made US. That’s the title of a special exhibition now at the Coronado Historical Association museum.

The word US is capitalized for a reason. On this 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, US can stand for both us and the U.S. Unique moments in history help to explain our present-day life.

The exhibition concerns a variety of past events in the United States and Coronado. They are often tied together.

History tends to be created through turbulence. A new country’s revolution and its founding documents, the Mexican-American War, gold rushes, voting rights with the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments, World War II…

Moments That Made US also includes history of the Hotel del Coronado, North Island as the birthplace of naval aviation, the ferry, notable residents…

All of these pieces of history–large and small–have helped make us what we are today.

My favorite part of the exhibition is a silent video loop showing footage of Coronado’s traditional Independence Day parades in the mid 1950s to early 1970s.

There are marching bands, patriotic floats–everything you’d expect on the Fourth of July. Every year: enthusiasm and an appreciation of liberty, but evolving uniquely over the years.

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Coronado mural celebrates America 250!

This amazing community mural is now being displayed in the museum of the Coronado Historical Association!

The patriotic mural, depicting a U.S. flag and bald eagle, is composed of tiles hand-painted by Coronado residents. It’s a colorful part of the exhibit titled Moments That Made US. A variety of displays in the museum celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding.

Images painted on the tiles include American presidents, historic figures, and symbols that represent our nation’s ideals and culture. Other images simply show an appreciation for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, particularly in beautiful Coronado.

Just look at it. The extraordinary mural deserves a permanent home. I presented the thought to a museum docent and she agreed.

Why not install it at Coronado’s civic center?

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Día de Muertos altar created at Mingei Museum.

A beautiful Dia de Los Muertos altar (ofrenda) was created today for the large display case outside the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park.

This particular altar, containing marigolds and other traditional spiritual symbols, is dedicated to beloved athletes who’ve passed away, including Tony Gwynn and Junior Seau.

The altar was created by members of the Sherman Heights Community Center, whose own displays at the community center will open to the public on October 15th.

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LEGO brick train exhibit coming to San Diego!

In November a cool new exhibit is coming to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park!

The exhibit will be celebrating 60 years of powered LEGO trains!

I learned about the upcoming exhibit today during my visit to the museum. Michael was demonstrating a portion of what will be an operating train layout, built mostly of LEGO bricks!

Members of the San Diego LEGO User Group will be working on the layout, which will open just in time for the holidays. You know it’s going to be awesome!

Check out what Michael showed me!

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Local artist Paul Strahm paints in Pacific Beach!

Paul Strahm, accomplished local plein air painter, was doing his thing in Pacific Beach today. I ran into him by the boardwalk south of Crystal Pier. He was smiling as usual.

I learned that one of his beach paintings is now on display at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park–part of their Changing Terrain exhibition. He has another piece, too, now on display at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

On my way home I swung by the San Diego History Center to check out his painting exhibited there. Here it is…

Mission Beach, 2024, Paul Strahm. Oil on canvas.

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