Our Balboa Park Day...

Our younger daughter-in-law hasn't spent much time in SoCal so there are many sights to share that are new to her. San Diego's Balboa Park was today's destination.

Balboa Park began as 1,400 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. (Today the Park's total land parcel has been reduced to 1,200 acres).

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. It is no wonder that Kate Sessions earned the title “The Mother of Balboa Park” at the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.

Just after the turn of the century, a master plan for Park improvements and beautification was formally introduced and finished in time for San Diego to play host to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. City Park was a less-than memorable or distinctive name for such an internationally prestigious event. 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.

The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal and provided a major impetus for the creation of the Park as it appears today—the first of two Expositions that created many cultural institutions as well as the stunning architecture in the Park.

Most of the arts organizations along Balboa Park's famous El Prado pedestrian walkway are housed in Spanish-Renaissance style buildings constructed for the 1915 Exposition. It was one of the first times that this highly ornamented, flamboyant architectural style had ever been used in the United States.

The California Tower and dome, which houses the Museum of Us, (formerly the Museum of Man), is one of the most spectacular buildings and is framed perfectly by the blue 80° sky.

The architectural accents are mesmerizing and abundant. I delighted in searching for the beauty, diversity and intrigue, housed within.

We stumbled into the Panama-California Sculpture Court, in the Casa del Prado, and were greeted by many unexpected faces... faces that peer out of San Diego’s past. The sculptures in the building’s courtyard were used in various ways to decorate the facades of buildings in Balboa Park during its colorful history. Most of the pieces are made of staff, which is a type of plaster reinforced with fibers. The artwork in the Court was rescued in 1975, found abandoned in a corner of the Casa de Balboa. So very, very cool.

Each piece has an informative plaque, telling the reader the history of the image captured and where to find it within the park.

As we walked by Casa de Balboa and gazed upward towards the roof, we were surprised by the caryatids (weight-bearing pillars shaped like people). So very interesting and quite provocative.

Turns out, nudes weren't just on the buildings.

A must for me was Zoro Garden. During the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition this space was an exhibit featuring...nudists who played volleyball, lounged on cowhide rugs, danced about, and performed a 20-minute skit, “Sacrifice to the Sun God,” five times daily. Visitors could get a full view for a quarter, or catch glimpses through knotholes in the surrounding fence for free. It was a huge hit, hence the postcard!

Architect Richard S. Requa (1881-1941) has been mentioned in this blog before. He supervised the creation of the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition and designed this park. Now, only butterflies dance about within.

The building behind us is one I really wanted to enter (closed due to COVID). Also built for the 1915-16 Exposition, along with the adjacent Lily Pond, the historic Botanical Building is one of the largest all wood lath structures in the world.

And while we couldn't see inside, the surrounding extensive landscaping was pleasing for now. This landscaping, brought for the Exposition, earned it the moniker, the Garden Fair.