Liza Tuscano picked alstroemerias, a flower that symbolizes love and support, strength, and friendship. Cindy Gipson opted for dahlias for “inner strength or grace under pressure, as well as new beginnings.” Catherine Hampel went with willow leaves. (The willow’s not weeping; it’s resilient: You can

Every time I drive past Jacobs Medical Center, that hospital with a mirrored façade on the 5 near La Jolla Village Drive, I wave to my dad’s old lungs. Even though his lung transplant was almost two years ago—and in a different building, the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center 200 feet away—I still imagi

San Diego has beaches, sunshine, biotech, and enough stucco to wallpaper a small country. But what actually gives a city its personality? The artists, musicians, designers, dancers, galleries, theaters, museums, and all the other creative people making things that give a place its identity. That’s t

For over two decades, the San Diego County Medical Society (SDCMS) has worked collaboratively with San Diego Magazine to recognize physicians who are held in the highest regard by their peers. Votes and nominations are open to all physicians in San Diego. The voting physicians are asked to vote for

It’s finally fall, and although it may not feel like it (our ceiling fans are this close to flying off their hinges), San Diego is ringing in the cozy season with a heap of fun events. Whether you’re wanting to find your new favorite outfit at Fashion Week, cheer at the Oceanside Shock’s home debut,

What does a soccer team have to do with San Diego’s arts scene? Quite a lot, as it turns out. When San Diego FC launched, the club could have spent its marketing budget on billboards, bus wraps, and digital ads. Instead, it went into neighborhoods, found local artists and creatives, and started buil

At Del Mar Wine & Food Festival’s Grand Tasting, the walk between food tents can take a while. You might stop to watch a chef competition, get pulled toward the DJ, or find yourself playing mini golf before you remember which bite you were after. Across the Del Mar Polo Fields, there’s also line dan

At Del Mar Wine & Food Festival’s Grand Tasting, everyone has their own goals for the day. One friend wants oysters and Champagne. Another heard there’s line dancing. Someone disappeared into Taco Alley. The food person is making a beeline for every chef demo, the golf friend has found the simulator

Tickets to the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival get you in the door. The real fun is figuring out who you’ll run into once you’re there. This year’s weeklong schedule of exclusive events, running September 30–October 4, includes dinners, tastings, and loosely-supervised chaos where celebrity chefs and l

Jonathon Glus is the Prebys Foundation senior fellow leading the development of the Art + Design District at the Downtown San Diego Partnership. He has been asked what an arts and design district is many times. In our conversation, I asked him instead to describe what it isn’t. His answer opened up

Sebastián Morúa is the Senior Vice President of Brand & Innovation for San Diego FC. He oversees Playmakers, the program through which the club has, over the past three years, engaged with over 80 working artists—not as marketing partners, but as co-creative directors. Morúa didn’t build Playmakers

Fall Arts Preview presented by SDFC Playmakers September Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World Museum of Photographic Arts at the San Diego Museum of Art Now through Jan. 10, 2027 Sift through over 200 photographs, sketches, letters, and costumes from “The King of Vogue,” who photographed World War II, m

This is part of a three-part series. This is Act III. See Act I and Act II here. The Future We’ve been here before. In 2012, city funding for the arts and culture in San Diego had eroded. As a corrective, the city council unanimously approved “Penny for the Arts”—a promise to dedicate roughly one pe

This is part of a three-part series. This is Act II. See Act I and Act III here. Without concrete, wildflowers are just weeds. Any honest history of San Diego art and culture is tension and its reckonings. It begins before the name existed, with the Kumeyaay. It must pass through the Panama-Californ

This is part of a three-part series. This is Act I. See Act II and Act III here. Every spring, Christine Martinez reaches out to the arts community to explain what’s on the line, hoping they’ll engage with the city’s budget process. Cultural funding, she constantly reminds, is almost always strapped

San Diego is full of people who deserve a few thousand words on what they make, who they bring together, and how their work changes the city around them. The artists, makers, advocates, and behind-the-scenes talent below are a small part of that larger ecosystem. To help us narrow our list, we looke

Some ancient philosophers believed that humans experience seven-year life cycles or phases of life. Some went so far as to believe that every cell in the body regenerates every seven years. Much later, in the 1800s, Austrian philosopher, architect, and social reformer Rudolf Steiner developed anthro

What makes San Diego, San Diego? That’s the question at the heart of this issue. Over the course of eight weeks, San Diego Magazine staff and I spoke to dozens of people, from long-time leaders at some of our biggest institutions to emerging artists working alone at night in studio apartments after

People remember the first time they see Joe Dreamz. Mine was a mile into the 2023 Carlsbad Half Marathon. He was standing on a speaker in the middle of the course, singing: “Hey you with the shoes, are you living Joe Dreamz?” Clearly not. I’m running uphill at 7 in the morning, I thought. Months lat

Hawaiian shirts hang from the ceiling like Jimmy Buffett chandeliers. Shelves of Waterford Crystal, uranium glass, and 1930s Depression-era glass line the narrow walkways, the latter mass-produced during a time when few could afford fine china. There’s enough to pour a mai tai for every San Diegan w