SAN DIEGO CULTURAL ICON BALBOA PARK CELEBRATES 100 YEARS

The largest cultural complex west of the Mississippi and the largest urban cultural park in the United States, San Diego’s Balboa Park celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2015. Often referred to as the “Smithsonian of the West” for its vast concentration of major cultural institutions, the 1,200-acre Balboa Park offers visitors eight lush gardens, 15 diverse museums, the Tony Award-winning Old Globe theater and the world famous San Diego Zoo.

Originally built for temporary use during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Balboa Park has served as the cultural heart of San Diego for a century. Many of the museums along the park’s celebrated El Prado walkway are housed in strikingly-beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival-style buildings that reflect San Diego’s rich history and ethnic diversity.

As part of the centennial celebration, one of Balboa Park’s most historic and iconic landmarks, the majestic California Tower at the Museum of Man, will reopen to the public for the first time in 80 years. Beginning January 2015, visitors can ascend the 150-foot tower to take in 360-degree views of both Balboa Park and the surrounding San Diego cityscape.

Balboa Park and its many institutions have also lined up a year-long celebration of innovative programming and unique events to enjoy during its centennial year. The following are just a few of highlights:

EXQUISITE EVENTS

Floral fetes, dramatic concerts and lively dance performances are just a few of the festivities visitors will find throughout 2015 around Balboa Park.

• On Dec. 31, 2014 from 7–9 pm, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion will kick off the centennial year with a special anniversary concert featuring organ and choral performances. The celebratory concert opens with a grand procession of banners led by 50 bagpipers from the House of Scotland Pipe Band and the Cameron Highlanders Pipe Band, followed by a brass fanfare from Westwind Brass. Afterwards, the Spreckels Organ by Balboa Park founder John. D. Spreckels (as portrayed by actor Walter Ritter) will rededicate the Spreckels organ and inaugurate the organ’s newest addition, the regal Centennial Tuba. Civic organist Dr. Carol Williams will then perform a world-premiere organ composition written especially for the occasion and highlighting the new Centennial Tuba.
• Beginning Jan. 30, 2015, San Diego Civic Dance Arts presents “A Century of Dance” featuring the talents of San Diego’s elite dance troupes performing in various styles ranging from jazz and modern dance to musical theater and hip hop. This variety-style show will offer an imaginative and surprising visual treat for the young and young at heart. Performances run through Feb. 15.
• On weekends between April 24 and May 9, 2015, guests can welcome the arrival of spring in Balboa Park with a “Garden Party for the Century.” Presented in partnership with San Diego Floral Association, Botanical Foundation, Friends of Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, and Fern Street Circus, the event highlights the Park’s numerous gardens on the west and east mesas and extensive horticultural history through a floral show, garden tours, expert consultations, demonstrations and entertainment.

GROUNDBREAKING EXHIBITIONS

From innovative and forward-looking art exhibitions to historical retrospectives on the park, the 16 museums of Balboa Park plan to celebrate the centennial with diverse programming that will appeal to visitors of all ages.

• Beginning TBD, the San Diego Museum of Man is teaming up with the world-renowned La Jolla Playhouse to present “Border Crossing,” an innovative and site-specific theatre program that will immerse audiences in the experience of crossing the border illegally from Mexico into the United States. Participants will be challenged to walk in others’ shoes as they are led on a journey through the canyons of Balboa Park at night, encountering some of the scenarios and decisions faced by countless border-crossers. The performances will offer a vivid first-person experience, cutting through polarized political debates and offering complex points of view.
• Opening Jan. 9, 2015 at the San Diego History Center, “San Diego Invites the World: The 1915 Expo” will showcase the legacy of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition that created the nation’s largest urban cultural park and first brought awareness to San Diego both domestically and internationally. Guest will also be able to create their own “Make & Take” plaster casts of El Prado’s Spanish colonial architectural façade and electronically record items to be placed in a 2015 time capsule that will be buried at the end of 2015.
• Jan. 17, 2015 will mark the unveiling of “Coast to Cactus,” a 9,000-square foot permanent exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum that takes visitors through the amazingly varied habitats of Southern California, from the beach to the mountains and the deserts. Visitors will be able to explore the rich animal and plant life through the region with immersive, life-sized dioramas, interactive elements and live animals. The exhibit will also explore how humans have become key players in these habitats, affecting the natural processes and changing relationships of animals, humans and landscapes.
• Opening Feb. 14, 2015, the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) presents “7 Billion Others,” a groundbreaking, multimedia exhibition that brings voices and compelling video portraits from more than 6,000 individual interviews filmed in 84 countries by nearly 20 directors. The exhibition marks the world premiere of the 30-week presentation, which allows visitors to identify what separates and unites man by giving direct access to individuals as diverse as a Brazilian fisherman, Chinese shopkeeper, German performer and Afghan farmer. These interviews touch on visceral emotions and pose many thought-provoking.