Art in the Park fundraiser for Mission Trails

For its fourth annual Art in the Park event, the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation is hosting an exciting, fun-filled evening featuring live painting, food, wine and music on Oct. 10 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Mission Trails Visitor Center.

This year’s juried, multi-artist show in the MTRP gallery will present works with themes of nature, history and the Mission Trails Park. Local plein air artists include Paul Strahm and Margaret Larlham. Strahm will be painting a new piece especially for Art in the Park on the Visitor Center terrace in the afternoon and early evening of the event. Art pieces will be priced for gifting or collecting. Cash, checks, and credit cards will be accepted.

Two MTRP board members are donating wine that will be for sale for $5 per glass or $20 for five glasses and the first glass of wine will be free. In addition to the wine bar, Brad Bruce, Program Director for the San Diego Wine Guild and wine competition judge, will serve a selection of regional estate wines for the tasting pleasure of the attendees.

In the exhibit hall, the award-winning Morse High School Culinary Art & Restaurant Management Program will be serving hors d’oeuvres and desserts that tempt the palate and Rita’s Italian Ice of Del Cerro is returning to provide samples of their delicious flavors.

Guests will also enjoy the guitar stylings of Fred Benedetti who has performed in the United States, England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, Taiwan, and Mexico. There will also be a silent auction.

Tickets are $50 per guest and may be purchased at the MTRP Visitor Center or online at mtrp.org. All exhibits and displays will be open for your enjoyment and parking is free.

If you have a service or product you would like to donate for the silent auction, please contact Jay Wilson at Mission Trails by calling 619-405-0177 or email at [email protected].

23rd annual Amateur Photo Contest entries on display

Entries for our 23rd Amateur Photo Contest are on display in the Visitor Center Gallery through Oct. 9.

“We have a variety of great photographs, and all were taken at Mission Trails. Stop by and cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award,” said Betty Ogilvie, an MTRP Foundation board member and contest chairperson.

Categories for the contest include: scenic views; flora and fauna; and black and white. There is also a category for digitally-enhanced color, and black and white photos.

Improved hearing system installed at theater

Visitor Center guests who are hearing impaired are now going to be enjoying a better experience thanks to the recent T-coil system that was recently installed.

The T-coil system is an “induction loop” system that transmits sound magnetically to hearing aids and cochlear implants. The T-coil system is built into 90 percent of hearing aids and all cochlear implants. The loop refers to an audio-induction loop system installed in the theater. It creates a magnetic field according to Richard Archbold who, along with Warren Willard, owns Hearing Now USA, a business that installs and services hearing loops.

For people who don’t have hearing aids or implants but still want to have increased volume for presentations at the park, there are free portable receivers and headphones available at the front counter of the Visitor Center.

Children and adult educational programs for the 2015/16 school year

Children’s “Nature Tales and Trails” classes for ages 4 and up will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, Oct.13 and Oct. 20.

“We will take a close look at our San Diego treasures through stories, songs, inquisitive thinking, scientific investigations, trail activities and artistic expression,” says naturalist Cindy Christ, who leads the classes.

The theme for Sept. 29 is “Young Chaparellian.” Students will take a close look at native plants composing the habitat we call chaparral.

On Oct. 13, the theme is “Mammal Tracks” and on Oct. 20, it is “Arachnids: 8 Legs are Great!”

Art Smarts 

Art Smarts presents art classes for young people and adult beginners. The classes are led by artist and instructor Bette Ann Pierce.

“We will engage with the gorgeous landscape, out doors for both inspiration and subject matter,” Pierce said. “I will be teaching students some of the important techniques used in classical fine art to create a three-dimensional look on a two-dimensional surface. All my class subject themes are based on nature and even blend in a little science.”

All beginner classes are open to young people ages 7 and up from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

On Sept. 26, the theme is “Clown Fish/Aqua Pencils.” Students will learn how to draw clown fish with color pencils and markers.

On Oct. 3, the theme is “Sunsets/Watercolor.” Students will learn how to paint gorgeous San Diego sunsets using watercolor painting techniques.

All advanced art classes are open to young people ages 7 and up as well as adult beginners from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m.

On Sept. 26, the theme is “Rendering in Still Life/Charcoal.” Students will be creating art work from a still life set up in the classroom.

On Oct. 3, the theme is “White Sage/Watercolor.” Students will explore how to draw and use watercolor to render and shade while creating paintings of the white sage plant that grows in the park.

On Oct. 24, the theme is “Pumpkins/Oil Pastels.” This class will expand on the techniques learned in the Sept. 26 class on still life drawing and use oil pastels to recreate pumpkins displayed in the classroom.

For more information on the art and nature classes – including cost and registration information – go to the “More News” section at mtrp.org.

Concerts in the theater

All concerts are free and begin at 3 p.m. in the Visitor Center Theater. On Oct. 4, the theater will present the San Diego Symphony Woodwind Quintet. On Oct. 18, the theater will host klezmer vocalist Elizabeth Schwartz. 

–Jay Wilson is executive director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation. Write to him at [email protected].