"A symbol of San Diego, the iconic California Tower has served as a magnificent entry to Balboa Park since its construction for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. "
"The majestic tower, home to beautiful bells that chime every quarter hour, soars 200 feet above the California Building."
"The California Building, home to the San Diego Museum of Man was designed by noted architect Bertram Goodhue as a design hybrid, blending Plateresque, Baroque, Churrigueresque, and Rococo details to present a unique Spanish-Colonial façade. Its design hints of Gothic influence with inspiration from Spanish churches in Mexico."
"Balboa Park is steeped in history. A true labor of love to the City’s leaders of the era, there was great effort to shape this rolling plot of land into the masterpiece it is today.
Balboa Park began as 1400 acres of land set aside in 1868 by San Diego civic leaders. Known then as “City Park”, the scrub-filled mesa that overlooked present-day Downtown San Diego sat without formal landscaping or development for more than 20 years.
The first steps in Park beautification were made in 1892, largely due to the contributions of Kate Sessions. Sessions offered to plant 100 trees a year within the Park as well as donate trees and shrubs around San Diego in exchange for 32 acres of land within the Park boundaries to be used for her commercial nursery. Several popular species, including the birds of paradise, queen palm, and poinsettia were introduced into the Park’s horticulture because of Sessions’ early efforts. In fact, many of her original trees are alive and visible today."
" Just after the turn of the century, a master plan for Park improvements and beautification was formally introduced. Supported by a City tax levied in 1905, the process began in 1903 and continued through 1910. Water systems were installed, planting continued, roads were built, and the Park began to take on much of the familiar look of today."
" As San Diego was set to play host to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, and “City Park” was a less-than-memorable or distinctive name for such an internationally prestigious event. In 1910, Park Commissioners announced plans to re-name City Park and the public was eager to throw potential names into the hat. After months of discussion and great public interest, the Park Commissioners decided on the name Balboa Park, chosen in honor of Spanish-born Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the first European to spot the Pacific Ocean while on exploration in Panama."
"Ther are over 15 museums and performance arts centers located within Balboa Park including The Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Museum of Art, Mingei International Museum, San Diego History Center and Fleet Science Center to name a few. Balboa Park is even home to one of the largest model train museums in the world, with over 27,000 square feet of exhibits and true to life scale representations of famous rail lines!"
Within this 1,200-acre cultural oasis in San Diego there is also an area called the Spanish Village Art Center, home to over 200 working art studios.
Established in 1936, The Village Arts Center, is San Diego’s premiere artist collective.
While the location and architecture are distinctly old-world, the art is not.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment