La Jolla Part 2: Art, Books, Gliders & Penguins

La Jolla has a whole lot going on. Each time we visit we always promise to return for a longer stay.

One of our favorite spots to just pop into is the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, located in the heart of La Jolla Village. It is one of only 17 nonprofit membership libraries in the United States, and one of three west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1899, the Athenaeum provides library resources in music and the arts and presents over 200 programs and cultural events annually at two venues in La Jolla and Logan Heights in San Diego. This rare cultural institution offers a depth and accessibility of resources and programs found nowhere else in the region.

We actually came to see Andrew Alcasid's Turning Pages, a collection of figure drawings depicting his partner, Aubrey Mejia, reading at their home. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2019, Alcasid began to draw small still lifes. Mejia, a floral designer, would bring a variety of blooms to the hospital and home as Alcasid underwent chemotherapy, resulting in a series of watercolor florals he called Get Well Soon. The Turning Pages series began in 2020 while the artist was convalescing at home during the pandemic, creating these quiet studies of their shared love of reading and writing.

A highlight was the exhibition on book arts. This one had to be my favorite. Common Threads XCII by Candace Hicks is part of a series of "hand-embroidered unique canvas books that copy the form and design of dime-store composition books. The books themselves, self-consciously hand-made objects, are a record of coincidental occurrences generally gleaned from reading or mundane events. The use of embroidery thread allows for the production of the text and image with the same mark and material, to make the text, image, and substance of the book inseparable." Truly amazing.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the artist's name who created this fun piece. Look closely at its finish.

The entire surface is covered in library book checkout cards. Oh man, so dang cool.

This was a super fun find. Book For A Buck is a clever repurposing of a toy/candy machine. I've seen numerous Art-O-Mats which sell art via vintage cigarette vending machines but this book dispenser is truly unique. Sadly, it was currently 'out of order'.

Next stop on our La Jolla journey was at the Torrey Pines Gliderport, which they claim is "the most historic aviation site in North America, with nearly 100 years of flying history."

It is Southern California’s premiere location for paragliding, hang gliding, remote control models and sailplanes. The Gliderport provides a world class flying site, flight lessons, certifications, tandem flights, equipment sales, and repair services. We seek to promote all forms of flight and to make Southern California a destination for flight enthusiasts from around the world.

The Gliderport was instrumental in the development of several new technologies including the first Robinson variometer (1939), which was a sensitive instrument used to determine the rate of climb or sink. John Robinson’s Zanoonia sailplane, built in 1939 was the first aircraft in the nation to use spoilers (air brakes) on the wings, which are still used by aircraft today. Bob Fronius invented the first aircraft parachute recovery system which was flight tested at the Gliderport in 1947.

In the late 1960s, the first radio controlled model airplanes were designed and flown here. Then in 1970s, the first hang gliders graced the bluffs of Torrey Pines, which became the most influential flying and development site for the modern era of foot launched aviation. In addition, it promoted paragliding during its infancy in the mid-1980s.

Today the Gliderport hosts several forms of aviation which, include radio controlled model aircraft, hang gliders, and paragliders. It may be the only site in the world where these aircraft all share the cliffs in harmony. It is also just an amazing place to hangout and marvel.