The San Diego Natural History Museum celebrated its 150 year anniversary today with a big “block party” in Balboa Park!
Shortly after 9:30, presentations were made on the museum steps by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, California’s Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, and Judy Gradwohl, President and CEO of the San Diego Natural History Museum. Not to mention a friendly dinosaur! Then everyone watching enjoyed free morning admission to the museum!
Those who ventured into the San Diego Natural History Museum could experience fascinating exhibits and enjoy live entertainment. By heading down into the building’s basement, visitors could see the museum’s amazing new Paleo Center. I did just that, and posted photos of it here!
The big outdoor block party attracted visitors to numerous canopies situated on either side of the museum, which sheltered environmental and educational organizations from throughout San Diego County.
Scientists from the Fleet Science Center were happy to be asked anything! I asked two daunting questions. What is existence? What is consciousness?The San Diego Air and Space Museum showed kids how to make straw gliders and paper helicopters!The Coronado Public Library was showing how to made a newspaper pot for plants!A smile from the Earth Discovery Institute! They are helping with natural habitat restoration and conservation.A kid uses a stamp to print an image using red ink from ground up cochineal, at the Balboa Art Conservation Center table!I correctly answered Balboa Park Facts for 500 at the Forever Balboa Park table and won a cool pin!Inside the San Diego Natural History Museum during their 150 year celebration block party!Great live music inside the museum.Back outside, on the north side of the museum, on the lawn near the Moreton Bay Fig and the Natural History Museum’s new nature trail.The Friends of Famosa Slough in Point Loma were showing award-winning photographs. I need to return to the slough for another bird watching walk.All sorts of great information was available concerning Mission Trails Regional Park.Cans4Books recycles cans and bottles and uses the proceeds to provide books for kids!Reef the Whale is a fun sculpture on a trailer used by Cans4Books to collect recyclables!A wood plaque shows that Reef the Whale was born in Point Loma this summer!So many organizations were present for The NAT’s big block party.Amazing sculpture of a California Red-legged Frog made of unrecyclable plastic collected at the museum. A cool creation of local nonprofit Endangered Concepts.San Diego Botanic Garden had lots of plants to check out.A big, wonderful smile!I learned construction of the San Diego River Park Foundation’s new nature center in Mission Valley is making good progress!Thank you for helping to maintain our beautiful San Diego River!
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The new Paleo Center had its soft opening today at the San Diego Natural History Museum!
The Tom Deméré Paleontology Center has opened in the museum’s basement, where visitors can view a huge number of fossils behind glass windows and scientists at work in their processing lab! The new Paleo Center is a state-of-the-art facility that provides adequate room for the museum’s extensive fossil collection and frees up space in the museum for other collections and exhibits.
Visitors this morning could enter The NAT for free as the museum celebrated its 150 year anniversary with a “block party” in Balboa Park. (I’ll be posting a blog about the big event shortly!)
I walked down stairs to the Natural History Museum’s basement not knowing what to expect, and look what I discovered!
In addition to the processing lab and fossil storage space, museum volunteers and scientists had assembled several puzzles and displays for both young and old.
The Paleo Center is still being worked on and is scheduled to fully open in Spring 2025. Visitors were asked for suggestions for the center’s name. I suggested The Paleo Vault!
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Lots of pumpkins were chucked off the roof of the San Diego Air and Space Museum today, to the delight of watching children! The event was part of the museum’s annual Halloween-themed Pumpkin Chunkin’ celebration!
Some pumpkins were frozen, some not. Some pumpkins were hollow, some not. Some had parachutes attached, some not. As they were dropped in pairs, curious onlookers could view and compare the results of each toss!
The pumpkin launching was just one family-friendly activity hosted at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. I photographed several of the outdoor drops during my walk through Balboa Park!
Inside the museum, kids (many wearing costumes) could construct a catapult and parachute to launch and safely land candy pumpkins, use 3D pens to make creepy sculptures, and drive robot ghouls!
Did you know October is Kid’s Free Month at the San Diego Air and Space Museum? It is!
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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.
Various works belonging to the San Diego Civic Art Collection can be experienced by visitors to the Rancho Bernardo Library. I took photos of three prominent examples a couple weekends ago.
The first work is titled Ampersand. Matt Rich, Assistant Professor of Art at the University of San Diego, created the eye-catching acrylic on canvas in 2018. It hangs on a wall above the library’s main stacks.
This particular painting is part of a series of works that riffs on the symbol of the ampersand. The ampersand holds, both symbolically and formally, the ability to represent the idea of connection.
Connection perfectly describes any library. Shelves connect readers with unexplored worlds.
The next artwork I observed in the library hangs high on a wall roughly opposite the front desk. It’s titled Salta pa’ lante (Jump Forward), by artist Alida Cervantes. The dynamic art was created in 2020. A pair of aluminum panels come alive with acrylic spray paint and oil.
Alida Cervantes is a Mexican artist who lives and works in the Tijuana and San Diego border region. Traveling daily between the US and Mexico, Cervantes’ work is characterized by an interest in power relations between race, class, gender and even species.
This diptych…is part of the artist’s exploration into the Mexican casta (caste) paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries…Cervantes presents two figures that are the offspring of individuals not only from two different races but also from two different times in history: the present and the colonial…
Finally, here’s a piece titled Primary Waveform (half circle), by artist Kelsey Brookes. The optically mysterious acrylic on wood was created in 2018. You can find it up on the second floor of the Rancho Bernardo Library, at the top of the stairs.
Kelsey Brookes is a research scientist turned artist. His paintings experiment with pop, abstract, and traditional styles while exploring scientific subject matter, including molecules, atoms, and modern biochemistry...
This sculpture is one of a series of works inspired by the Fibonacci sequence and waveforms...
From a distance the painted wood almost appears like basketwork, but give it a closer look. What are those tiny figures? Is that a reflection you see, or a complete circle that curves beyond your reach?
Stand near Primary Waveform (half circle), then gaze across the library for a commanding view of those first two works of art!
Additional works in the San Diego Civic Art Collection can be found at the library’s glass wall and gate entrance, exterior courtyard, and in the library’s study rooms.
Why not visit the Rancho Bernardo Library and see it all for yourself?
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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.
Sunspots on the surface of the sun were clearly visible today in San Diego! A sense of wonder filled me when I viewed the distant phenomenon from Balboa Park.
Today the Fleet Science Center had Sunspotter Solar Telescopes, solar binoculars and other instruments related to astronomy outside and ready for use.
I had stumbled upon a special event at the Fleet Science Center. They were hosting the NASA Community College Symposium, which would feature a planetarium show, educational talks, panels, and a variety of space-themed activities.
A recent graduate of SDSU’s Astronomy master’s program operated the solar telescope, and I tried to capture the tiny dark sunspots with my camera. (For my final photo, the image contrast was radically increased, bringing out the spots.)
What appear to be small spots on the sun’s surface can be up to 100,000 miles in diameter! The sun itself is about 93 million miles from where you stand!
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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.
Next month, on September 14, 2024, a colorful new exhibition will debut at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park. It’s titled Blue Gold: The Art and Science of Indigo.
As I walked through the Mingei last weekend, I came upon a display that previews the coming exhibit. Glass cases near the museum’s front desk contain exquisite crafts and works of art: blue glass, Shimaoka ceramics, and lapis lazuli colored objects and jewelry.
Blue Gold: The Art and Science of Indigo is one of many exhibitions and programs to be presented in Southern California as part of Getty’s 2024 PST ART initiative. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science.
For me, the blue of sky and water and the indigo plant intersects with a feeling of wonder. So much beauty can be found in this world we live in. And much beauty can be created.
Learn more about the upcoming exhibition by clicking here!
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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 very fun and informative Garden Fair was held today outside the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. The event coincides with the recent opening of the nature trail that now encircles the museum.
The interpretive nature trail, which leads visitors past a wide variety of native Southern California plants, is a cornerstone of the San Diego Natural History Museum’s 150 year anniversary celebration!
All sorts of booths were set up on both the south and north sides of the museum. Organizations who care about protecting our natural environment provided information for curious passersby. I took these photographs…
Smiles from Forever Balboa Park. They are working to revitalize Balboa Park’s Botanical Building and gardens.The California Native Plant Society was educating the public about conserving our local flora.Activity at the Master Gardener table.Poster provides suggestions for native plants in your garden.Lots of sunshine and smiles today in Balboa Park!Table features seeds for native plants.Kids learn about bees and other pollinators.
Balboa Park Alive! has a cool app in the beta stage, developed by smiling folks from the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego.
The augmented reality mobile app transforms Balboa Park into an interactive biodiversity adventure. On your smartphone, you can plant virtual flora, release butterflies, and simulate pollinator behavior. I was told that so far you can explore Balboa Park’s Zoro Garden and the Natural History Museum’s new nature trail. Very cool!
Learn more about Balboa Park Alive! by clicking here.
Technology helps bring nature in Balboa Park to life.More booths for the Garden Fair, along the new nature trail on the north side of the San Diego Natural History Museum.Member of the NAT Garden Corps tells me various facts concerning the cactus wren and prickly pear. While she spoke a hummingbird came by.How cool! Moth Week 2024 has a night party outside the museum on Friday, July 26, after 8 pm. A naturalist will attract moths near the Moreton Bay Fig for photography.San Diego Canyonlands focuses on the canyons in City Heights around Azalea Park. They support youth education and environmental job training in underserved communities. They also have an urban hike-a-thon event.Smiles from some San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers. They offer free guided hikes throughout the county. Enjoy nature and become a citizen scientist!The San Diego Habitat Conservancy currently manages 33 open space preserves in Southern California.The Climate Science Alliance mission is to safeguard natural and human communities in the face of a changing climate.
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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.
There’s a fascinating sign at the end of Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego. It’s located near scientific equipment used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to collect meteorological and sea level data in real time.
When I read the sign recently, I was surprised that this San Diego Bay tide station was moved to its present location in 2018. It belongs to the National Water Level Observation Network, a system of over 200 stations situated around the United States. The particular tide station has the capacity to support tsunami monitoring. Sensors collect and transmit data to NOAA every six minutes via a satellite antenna. If you want to see that real time data, click here.
The station also gathers information concerning water temperature and barometric pressure, which is very helpful in forecasting the weather.
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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.
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!
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)!
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.
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)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 