Tag: san diego

Make art, help kids in Balboa Park!

A very cool event is taking place in San Diego this weekend through tomorrow, Sunday, August 21, 2025. Artists from the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park are helping you to create your own art, in a fundraiser that benefits kids!

It’s Art Galore Days!

Between 11 am and 4 pm, head over to the Casa del Prado’s outdoor courtyard and look for various stations where you can make fun art!

Purchase $5 tickets and use them to create what you wish. You get entered in a raffle, too, where you can win a fine work of professional art!

The awesome thing is, funds raised will be used to support Spanish Village art education programs for kids and young students!

Some of the beautiful pieces you can win in the raffle:

You can create a snowman button!

You can paint tribal rocks!

You can paint a sunset (or anything you desire) with a frame!

Make a cool succulent shoe!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

French Market returns to San Diego bayfront!

The French Market returned to San Diego’s bayfront this afternoon. The fun cultural event, organized by the French-American Chamber of Commerce of SoCal, was held outdoors at Lane Field Park. Its purpose was to celebrate French culture, flavors and innovation right here in San Diego, and to promote vibrant Franco-American business ties and cultural exchange.

I swung by to check it out!

Several vendors and organizations had canopies on the grass, and there was live music provided by Chloe Perrier & the French Heart Jazz Band, too!

Without further ado…

Versailles Café & Pastries had tasty crepes topped with strawberries and chocolate!
The Alliance Française de San Diego offers French classes in La Jolla and Vista, and organizes social gatherings. Their French Literature & Arts Festival is coming October 2-4, 2025 in San Diego. More here.
The San Diego French American School, in La Jolla, offers bilingual education from preschool through 8th grade.
The mobile and online Clotilde French Bookstore had many books at their table!
Author Claude Koehl’s book, The American Way of Life: The Foreigner’s Perspective, helps people understand cultural differences, using humor.
Some smiling authors!
Six Years of Absence is a novel based on French Sergeant Alexandre Rolland’s harrowing experiences during World War II. Written by Alain Rolland, his son.
A good time in sunny San Diego.

…

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.

Feel free to share!

A funny Air Mail mailbox in Pacific Beach!

An unusual mailbox is located high above the sidewalk in Pacific Beach. You might see it while cruising down Ingraham Street.

What’s that? I wondered during my walk today. Is that actually a mailbox? Only a mail delivery giant could possibly reach it!

Then I zoomed my camera in for a closer photograph…

Oh, I see! The funny mailbox is for Air Mail! Makes perfect sense!

Hopefully the mail delivery aircraft doesn’t stall!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

An artistic seed library in Barrio Logan!

A very cool seed library stands in Barrio Logan. The metal sculpture, resembling a growing plant, can be found on the sidewalk outside Libélula Books. I saw it the other day while walking around.

I spoke to someone at the bookstore. She didn’t know who placed the seed library here. Perhaps someone reading my blog knows.

This is definitely the most creative seed library I’ve ever found!

When stocked, community members can find seeds to plant in their yard or garden. It’s a great concept. Seed libraries promote food security, local biodiversity, and self-reliance.

Here’s proof they can double as a work of art, too!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Rest, strength and Lying Fallow in Logan Heights.

One gallery inside Bread and Salt in Logan Heights now contains an art installation titled Lying Fallow. Dried tall grasses rise from soil underfoot in an artificial indoor meadow. One can walk through the small “meadow” and rest on one of the seats, regathering strength.

I love the outdoors and being in nature. That’s where I feel the most healthy, alive. I know many other people feel the same way.

This installation, when I visited it, did remind me that a real meadow, outdoors, with its earthy smell and gentle movement in the wind, calms, restores, inspires, reconnects the mind, body and soul with something larger than ourselves.

But where in the gallery is the sky?

Everything about Lying Fallow is sincere. The artist Helena Westra has assembled something that is an important reminder: Quiet renewal helps us on life’s journey. It helps us to be newly creative.

But what sort of world have we created where we feel compelled to build a realistic natural landscape inside walls?

Are we so hurried and so trapped in artificial environments that “being in nature” is merely an exhibit that we experience for a moment or two?

Real meadows are still out there.

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Laurel and Hardy accompanied by Spreckels Organ!

What a fun San Diego evening!

Laurel and Hardy entertained a huge crowd at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park during another very popular Silent Movie Night. (Appropriately renamed Not-So-Silent Movie Night!) The entertaining concert was part of the 37th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival.

The comedy duo starred in three silent films as San Diego organist extraordinaire Russ Peck added his own incomparable, equally humorous soundtrack!

Putting Pants on Philip, 1927, had the ladies chasing Stan Laurel, to the chagrin of Oliver Hardy. Two Tars, 1928, had Laurel and Hardy causing absolute havoc wherever they went. Liberty, 1929, saw the two bumbling heroes high up in the city sky balancing precariously on steel girders. All very silly, all hilarious!

As the San Diego evening sky darkened, Russ Peck played jaunty, sunny, nostalgic old tunes from the 1920s, getting the audience in the mood for silent films from the same decade. Then he joined “Stan Laurel” on stage for a fun little skit concerning hats.

Then the pavilion lights were dimmed and classic silent film antics commenced!

I can’t tell you just how wonderful it all was. Laughter all around!

After the films, I approached a table where I learned a big international Laurel and Hardy convention is coming to San Diego in 2026! The 24th International Sons Of The Desert Convention will be held on June 21-25, 2026 at The Legacy International Resort and Spa in Mission Valley.

Do you love Laurel and Hardy? Read all about the big event by clicking here!

San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez says hi before the start of Not-So-Silent Movie Night.
Raúl Prieto Ramírez gets the evening started.
Introducing Russ Peck, who is House Organist for the Balboa Theatre in San Diego.
Russ Peck with Spreckels Organ curator Dale Sorenson.
A fun Laurel and Hardy skit has the audience laughing.
Two Tars on the way to causing mayhem.
The 24th International Sons Of The Desert Convention is a big Laurel and Hardy event coming to San Diego in 2026!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Beautiful shells return to Balboa Park!

Eight years ago I posted the blog Natural beauty at the West Coast Shell Show. Today, while walking through Balboa Park, I noticed the West Coast Shell Show was being held again in the Casa del Prado, so I checked it out!

Yes, there were hundreds of amazing shells. All types! I’m no expert when it comes to seashells or marine organisms–all I know is that these jewels from the ocean can be indescribably beautiful. I can see why people collect them.

Dealers had tables full of specimens and there were educational displays to read, too. I learned these shells were gathered from all around the world. One gentleman told me that collecting shells at protected San Diego beaches is illegal.

I must admit that while walking along the sand I’ve never seen anything that approaches these perfect specimens at the Shell Show. When lucky, I might observe very tiny polished shells underfoot, or an occasional sand dollar, or a broken abalone piece glinting in the sun.

Searching for what the vast ocean has churned up is instinctive, I suppose. The sudden discoveries–even shells that are broken–invite a closer look. They’re small hints of our planet’s immense magnificence.

I see the San Diego Shell Club would be happy to welcome new members!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Unique art and ideas multiply at Zine event!

Individual free expression took center stage today at the Compressed Zine & Music Fair. The event, organized by Particle FM and Burn All Books, was held at Bread and Salt in Logan Heights.

Writers and artists (and dreamers who are doers) gathered from around the San Diego region to showcase hundreds of their uniquely created zines. (And other printed works of art!)

What is a zine? According to Wikipedia: A zine is a magazine that is a… noncommercial often homemade… publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter.

As you might imagine, individuals printing their own zines can be boundlessly creative. They aren’t limited by the “demands” of societal acceptance or mainstream publication. Anyone with access to a copy machine or modest printer (and perhaps a stapler) can create a zine. It’s a cool way to easily get ideas out there and create something tangible that others can share.

You know those revolutionary pamphlets created by our nation’s Founding Fathers? In essence, they were zines.

Today’s zines can range from philosophically serious or politically satirical, to just plain silly or art for the sake of art. Some zines are love letters to people, places or things by devoted fans. Some are critiques. Many titles include wry humor.

Titles I spied while walking around the Compressed Zine & Music Fair include Copy Machine Manifesto, Shotgun Seamstress, Respawn Archive, Typical Natural Disaster, We Miss Jerry Garcia, This is a Critique of the X-Files, and My Feelings Are Not Wrong.

It appeared to me that the best part about making a zine is the simple joy of creativity.

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Love radiates from Barrio Market mural!

Memorializing a loved one. Love for the community. This bright mural on the side of Barrio Market radiates love. You can’t miss it at the corner of Cesar Chavez Parkway and National Avenue in Barrio Logan.

A year ago, almost exactly, I happened upon artist Andrea Border Baby with her ladder at work painting this mural. I learned she’s a high school math teacher in South Bay. It was her first ever public mural. See my photos of her actively painting here.

I walked past Barrio Market again today and aimed my camera at the beautiful, finished artwork!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Eduardo Chillida’s amazing sculptures in San Diego!

Fantastic public sculptures by world-renowned Spanish Basque artist Eduardo Chillida stand in cities around the globe. San Diego is fortunate that many Chillida sculptures–large and small–can now be experienced in an important exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art!

Eduardo Chillida: Convergence includes dozens of amazing abstract pieces that challenge museum visitors with their visual complexity.

Many of these sculptures combine sharp angles with sinuous curves, and are puzzle-like. They can make one wonder about the composition of reality–how space and matter interact.

As the San Diego Museum of Art web page explains: Each of these creations are points of convergence where myriad forces, including nature and culture, material and immaterial, form and void, all meet.

I like how many of the sculptures appear like paper cut in irregular ways with scissors then twisted impossibly every which way. Gazing at the sculptures from different angles, I wondered if their divergent parts could somehow be pieced together.

They somehow recall that three-dimensional puzzle cube I once played with as a boy. One docent at the museum told me a child called these sculptures Puzzles of the Gods. How appropriate!

The sculptures can be made of oak, iron, alabaster or other earthy materials. There are also works on paper. For very abstract works of art, they are strangely natural, weirdly familiar. Chillida liked to call himself a realist sculptor.

Visitors have the opportunity, for an additional five dollars, to experience a virtual reality flight around Comb of the Wind XV, Chillida’s famous installation that rises above the bluffs of La Concha Bay in San Sebastián, Spain.

This awesome exhibition continues through February 8, 2026 at the San Diego Museum of Art.

Stimulate your eyes and brain and go see it!

…

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.

Feel free to share!