Tag: museums

Positively Animated art rocks Escondido!

Do you love art that is bold, energetic and unabashedly fun? If so, there’s an art exhibition in Escondido that you should check out. It’s titled Nan Coffey: Positively Animated!

Step into the museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido through November 5, 2023 and you’ll discover a gallery splashed with swirling words and images. Guitars, clothing, furniture, canvases and walls are positively covered with pop culture references. You’ll find homages to Rock and Roll and Southern California subcultures in particular.

The San Diego based artist Nan Coffey has a unique style which she calls Art All Over. As you can see from my photos, lively art covers every surface of those objects she decorates. Her work promotes connectivity, inclusivity, and love while drawing inspiration from her childhood obsessions with music, cinema, television, and pop culture. Let your eyes wander up, down, right and left and her animated art seems to have no boundary and no end.

It’s hard to adequately describe her work without actually seeing it. Here’s a small taste…

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The famous Jessop’s Clock coming to Balboa Park!

The incredible, famous, one-of-a-kind 1907 Jessop’s Street Clock is coming to Balboa Park! The elegant clock, which was removed from Horton Plaza in 2019, has been given to the San Diego History Center, and it will be a centerpiece of their museum’s future redesign and renovation!

Did you know the several million dollar Jessop’s Street Clock was once San Diego’s biggest tourist attraction? Did you know that much of its movement is gold plated, and that it is decorated with precious gems mined in San Diego County? Did you know the one day the clock’s 300 moving parts stopped working was also the day its creator died?

Eight years ago I wrote this and more, and posted photographs of the incredible clock here.

Four years ago I posted a blog about its removal from Horton Plaza. See that here.

To learn more about the San Diego History Center’s planned renovation, and see renderings showing the 22 foot high Jessop Clock standing just inside the museum entrance, check out the San Diego History Center’s web page here. You’ll also view historical photographs of the clock from a century ago!

How awesome is this!

Postcard depicting San Diego’s Famous Clock, in a display case at San Diego History Center. Published circa 1946. SDHC Document Files Collection, Jessop Family. “It is the most completely jeweled and the finest made street clock in America, and the first clock of its kind ever built in a retail jewelry store…It took 15 months to build…”

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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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Pillars exhibit at the Chicano Park Museum!

Have you ever visited the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center in Barrio Logan? During my recent visit I was surprised to find a fantastic exhibit inside, titled PILLARS: Stories of Resilience and Self-Determination.

Two large rooms are filled with colorfully painted pillars that resemble the towering supports of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge just outside the museum.

While the outdoor pillars are home to the many famous murals of Chicano Park, these miniature indoor pillars pay homage to diverse groups that have worked to preserve the legacy and integrity of the local community, and the park itself. The exhibit also features related works of art, and historical photos of community members and artists (particularly Visionary Elder Artist, Salvador Roberto Torres) and their grassroots fight against the powers-that-be to create Chicano Park.

The Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center contains other great exhibits, too, and its corridors are brimming with work by many different artists. I was interested to observe a community event room, a workspace containing printing equipment for the production of fine art, and a large gift shop that’s also filled wall-to-wall with artwork that you can purchase!

If you never been, make sure to check the museum out! Go soon, however, because PILLARS: Stories of Resilience and Self-Determination will be on display through September 9, 2023.

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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!

Beautiful garden railway runs in Balboa Park!

Perhaps you remember the Centennial Railway Garden, which was built in a small outdoor space at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in 2015 for the centennial of Balboa Park. (You can see it here.) That model train layout is now history. Those 3D printed models of Balboa Park buildings have been replaced with beautiful handmade buildings that represent the late 1800s Victorian era.

Check out these photographs of the new Freight and Flora: A Garden Railway Exhibit!

A company called Applied Imagination constructed and donated the awesome little buildings. You can view other similar garden railways on their website!

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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!

Inside the homes of famous and local artists!

Have you ever wanted to peek into the homes of well-known artists? Now is your chance!

The La Jolla Historical Society has an intriguing exhibition now running at its Wisteria Cottage Gallery. The Artist At Home provides a glimpse into the domestic life of artists–many of whom are world-famous, and many who live in the Southern California and Baja region.

The exhibition has a bit of fun recreating how the home of an artist might appear. But by far the most interesting thing you will see are the numerous photographs of artists in their living spaces and home studios, often at work.

The architecture is frequently unique, designed by creators who continuously create. Works in progress are scattered in rooms among furnishing. It’s apparent that for many artists life and work are indistinguishable. Living is devoted to creating.

Learn more about the exhibition The Artist At Home, including the location and hours, by clicking here.

Niki de Saint Phalle and her assistant Tim Herr at the Princess St. studio. La Jolla, California. 2000.

Studio of James Hubbell. Santa Ysabel, California. 2012.

Norman Rockwell.

Georgia O’Keeffe.

Andrew Wyeth.

Studio of Irène de Watteville. Solana Beach, California. 2023.

“Being an artist is a lifestyle… There is no major distinction between home and studio life.” Einar and Jamex De La Torre.

Studio of Johnny “Bear” Contreras. San Pasqual Reservation. 2023.

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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!

Annual art exhibition at Athenaeum in La Jolla.

If you’ve never visited the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla, now would be a great time to go. They’re currently presenting the 31st Annual Juried Exhibition in their beautiful, light-filled Joseph Clayes III Gallery.

During my La Jolla walk yesterday, I stepped into the Athenaeum merely to savor the handsome architecture and furnishings of this special, unique library. As I turned from the entrance into the main gallery, I was pleased to discover this juried exhibition. The very different pieces–including sculptures, paintings, drawings and photographs–were created by twenty-five artists. (How prestigious is this annual exhibition? Three hundred artists submitted their work for consideration.)

Visit the Athenaeum to enjoy the great pieces in this gallery and elsewhere in the library. You’ll appreciate the passion of artists who love to create.

Check the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library website here to learn more!

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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!

Famous map museum in La Jolla to close.

Very sad news. One of San Diego’s most important museums will soon be closing permanently. The Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla, considered one of the top map museums in the world, will remain open through the end of this month. After August 31, 2023, it’s gone.

If you are interested in art, printing or world history, you absolutely must visit this museum before it vanishes forever.

Extremely rare maps fill the galleries. Many contain blank spaces–those places on the planet that centuries ago hadn’t been fully explored. By observing the known (or surmised) outlines of oceans and continents, and the shifting boundaries of nations, it’s possible to follow history and the evolution of geographic knowledge.

Five years ago I carefully explored the museum. You can find that informative blog post here.

The Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla is located at 7825 Fay Avenue. Take the office building’s elevator down to the lower Courtyard Level. The museum is open to the public on Wednesday and Thursday, and the 1st and 3rd Saturdays, from 11 am to 4 pm.

Those who are curious have few chances left to visit. You won’t regret it!

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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!

Cool photo memories from August 2018.

I can’t believe how many cool photographs I captured five years ago, back in August 2018!

There were so many great events. There was the Lemon Festival in Chula Vista . . . RC boats racing on Mission Bay’s Model Yacht Pond . . . the Sea Chantey Festival at the Maritime Museum . . . and a celebration of Californio history in Old Town!

And there was that strange mathematical sculpture being assembled at University of San Diego . . . a special look at a model of Lane Field, which long ago was home of the Padres . . . an exhibition of truly bizarre furniture . . . the US National Beat Poet Laureate performing in Balboa Park. . . and, last but not least, a look inside one of San Diego’s most amazing and little known museums!

Curious?

Click the following links to enjoy lots of photographs!

Model of Lane Field stadium at Petco Park.

A taste of the Lemon Festival in Chula Vista!

Assembling a beautiful mystery: Unfolding Humanity.

Photos of RC boats racing for San Diego Cup!

Californio history celebrated again in Old Town!

Cleverly designed furniture is surprising, playful art!

US National Beat Poet Laureate in Balboa Park!

Rare cars, antiques at a surprising museum!

Fun photos of the Sea Chantey Festival!

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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!

Alvarado House of Del Mar Historical Society.

The Del Mar Historical Society operates a museum inside the 1885 Alvarado House, a small structure that in 1989 was relocated and placed inside the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Every year, visitors to the San Diego County Fair have the opportunity to look inside the old beach cottage and view its exhibits.

The house was originally lived in by Don Diego de Jesus Alvarado, who owned Rancho de los Peñasquitos. According to a handout that a friendly society volunteer offered me, Don Diego de Jesus Alvarado purchased the house in 1885 from Jacob Taylor, Del Mar’s original developer, and moved to Del Mar where he ran a livery stable.

The furnishings inside the Alvarado House represents the period between 1885 and 1910. Visitors can walk through the parlor, the family/dining room, and view a bedroom and the kitchen.

Exhibits covering many walls document the rich history of the Del Mar Fair. A special display recalls Don Diego, the fair’s official greeter that was played by actor Tommy Hernandez.

In addition, dozens of celebrity photographs document how the Del Mar Racetrack, founded by Bing Crosby, attracted numerous big stars from Hollywood.

According to their website: A major goal of the Del Mar Historical Society is to bring the Alvarado House back into Del Mar. We are searching for the ideal location, and the recently-acquired Del Mar Shores School property may be that place. The goal includes a museum for the display of Del Mar artifacts, an atmospheric-controlled storage room, and a meeting room.

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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!

A peek into the Japanese Friendship Garden gallery.

The Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park has more than beautiful trees, plants, waterfalls and streams. The garden is home to a gallery containing Japanese cultural artifacts.

Not to be confused with the Exhibit Hall, which houses rotating art exhibits, the museum-like gallery that I visited today is located near the outdoor courtyard in the Upper Garden. You’ll find it inside the Deborah Szekely Activity Center.

The diverse pieces you can admire in this gallery are very fine. Anyone can take a close look at several colorful kimonos, an exquisite Mizuya Tansu (kitchen chest), the elaborate model of a Japanese-style cargo ship, and a jinrikisha dated circa 1868-1912. You’ll also find traditional works of Japanese craft and art.

The next time you walk through the breathtaking natural beauty of the Japanese Friendship Garden, remember to enjoy this great gallery!

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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!