Park Social: Hilltop Community Park and Chollas Lake
Visual art, Outdoors
A few installations and activations are happening this weekend with the ongoing Park Social initiative from the City of San Diego's arts commission — including two installations in the same park.
beck haberstroh and Katie Giritlian will host a community photo lab for their "Floating Photo Studios" project at Hilltop Community Park in Rancho Peñasquitos. Attendees will fly a camera-kite and snap an aerial photo. Hilltop is adjacent to Black Mountain Open Space Park for some scenic backdrops, as well as several sports fields and Mt. Carmel High School. At the end of the project, the photos will become a community archive that's distributed to all the participants as postcards. This project is a countersurveillance study, in partnership with the AjA Project and the Tech Workers Coalition.
Also at Hilltop Park, Keenan Hartsten will set up his musical playground, "The Honeycomb Harmonies."
The artist duo Brian and Ryan have been effectively "in residence" at Chollas Lake since the launch of Park Social in May, and recently installed one of the culminating pieces of their activation there. Two billboards are now installed directly in the lake, including one called "The Legend of the Sunken VW Bus," which represents an invented (or is it?!) piece of lore about the park. The billboards are on view through Nov. 4.
Details: The photo lab runs from 2-5 p.m. and the music installation is from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22. Hilltop Community Park, 9711 Oviedo Way, Rancho Peñasquitos. Free.
Bach Collegium: Blow by Blow
Music, Classical
Get your harpsichord fix this weekend with two concerts from local historical music ensemble Bach Collegium San Diego. The ensemble will be accompanied by four soloists (Sherezade Panthaki, soprano, Kristen Dubenion-Smith, mezzo-soprano, Jay Carter, countertenor and John Buffett, baritone) as they perform works by 17th-century, English, Baroque composers John Blow and Henry Purcell, under the direction of Ruben Valenzuela.
Catch them Friday at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox in Cardiff, where Bach Collegium is the ensemble-in-residence. They'll also perform the same program Saturday evening in Point Loma.
Details: Two performances. 7 p.m. on Friday at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 3459 Manchester Ave, Cardiff. 7 p.m. on Saturday at All Souls Episcopal Church, 1475 Catalina Blvd., Point Loma. $15-$60.
'Posters of Optimism'
Visual art, Design
This exhibition has been on view at Art Produce since San Diego Design Week, and is the result of an open call for poster designs. It features new, imaginative and hopeful posters by more than 50 artists and designers — including Arzu Ozkal, Ami Ipapo Glass, Don Masse, Chitra Gopalakrishnan, Bhavna Mehta, Melanie Taylor, Scott Gengelbach, Michelle Montjoy, Lynn Susholtz and more.
The exhibition originally opened during San Diego Design Week in late September and remains on view at Art Produce through Nov. 12, 2022. The exhibition is also visible from the sidewalk, and the posters featured can also be viewed online on the Art Produce website. 18 x 24" posters are on sale for $50.
Details: On view through Nov. 12, 2022. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and by appointment. Exhibition is visible from the sidewalk. Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. Free.
Community Fest and 'Purple Rain' Film Night
Music, Jazz, R&B, Theater, Dance, Visual art
If you missed your chance to snag tickets to see Death Cab for Cutie this weekend at the new UC San Diego Epstein Family Amphitheater, or maybe emo isn't your jam, don't sleep on this free community festival, performances and film screening on Sunday afternoon.
The La Jolla Playhouse and Animal Cracker Conspiracy will pair up for a giant puppet parade, you can participate in salsa dancing lessons, or listen to music performances from the Young Lions Jazz Ensemble. Throughout the day, a marketplace will be set up near the stage with vendors, activities and food. As the afternoon winds down, a performance from R&B artist Kahlil Nash will be followed by a screening of the 1984 film "Purple Rain." Nash does amazing Prince covers, in addition to his original material, so expect a bit of both.
For more on the Epstein Family Amphitheater and upcoming concerts, read my feature here.
Details: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (marketplace runs until 4 p.m.) on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. Epstein Family Amphitheater, 9500 Gilman Drive, UC San Diego. Free, no reservations required.
Opera4Kids: 'The Enchanted Tail'
Theater, Music, Family
This Sunday afternoon, Opera4Kids will perform their original "The Enchanted Tail" opera in a free concert accompanied by San Diego's very own civic organist, Raúl Prieto Ramírez. Victoria Robertson and Bernardo Bermudez play a savvy princess and a woodsman-slash-enchanted fox, in an opera designed for families to follow, understand and enjoy. Check out the story in advance here.
Bonus fact: All shows on the Spreckels Organ are free, by order of the 1915 deed from the Spreckels brothers. Although your kids will probably care more about the enchanted fox than historical deeds.
Details: 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022. Spreckels Organ Pavilion, 2125 Pan American Rd., Balboa Park. Free.
More weekend arts events we're covering
Malashock Dance returns for the second weekend of performances of "Everyday Dances II," this time at their home theater in Liberty Station. Read my feature on the production (and Malashock's future) here. Tickets still remain for the 7:30 p.m. Saturday show. 2650 Truxtun Rd. Ste. 200, Liberty Station. $15-$35.
Write Out Loud's PoeFest continues this weekend. Check out KPBS' Beth Accomando's preview of the two-weeklong festival of macabre, strange and spooky Victorian literature. Performance time slots are 6, 7:30 and 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Villa Montezuma Museum, 1925 K St., Sherman Heights.
Last chance: "Come Fall in Love: The DDLJ Musical" closes this weekend at The Old Globe. Remaining showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Then it's off to Broadway. Listen to my interview with musicians Vishal Dadlani and Sheykhar Ravjiani. The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park. $53+.
For more arts events or to submit your own, go to the KPBS/Arts calendar. And be sure to sign up for the weekly KPBS/Arts newsletter.
