In February, the San Diego Automotive Museum will display all seventeen posters commissioned by the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and the AIGA San Diego design group.
Fifteen artists entered the competition and the winner was Antonio Mustico, a pastry chef turned graphic artist. Two entrants submitted two posters. The AIGA San Diego managed the competition and assembled a jury of artists and Balboa Park leaders. Several of the posters are on sale at the Auto Museum, Balboa Park Visitors Center, and Marston House museum.
C100 partnered with AIGA San Diego to celebrate the recreation of the four murals installed at what was then the California State Building at the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935-36.
Juan Larrinaga, the expo artistic director, painted the murals to depict California's commerce, scenic beauty, agricultural bounty, and industry. But to save time and money, they were painted on fiberboard and taken down after the fair and presumably trashed.
Last year, C100 completed the recreation of the murals in 576 ceramic art tiles and also commissioned copies of the ornamentation which also was made of impermanent material.
To complete the building restoration, C100 underwrote the cost of painting the building in its original "Bagel" and "Honeymoon" beige colors. In the coming months, C100 will install two California grizzly bear statues on the roof. The originals were also created for the 1935-36 fair and removed afterward.
Because of the upsurge in Covid-19 cases, a reception featuring the artists was canceled. So this will be the first time all entries will be on view at one place and inside the Auto Museum.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Tuesday through Sunday and is free to local residents on the fourth Tuesday of each month. For February, while the posters are on display, that will be Feb. 22. The exhibition will end March 3.
The museum is located in the park's Palisades area, adjacent to the Air & Space Museum and opposite the Municipal Gym, Comic-Con Museum, and Starlight Bowl.
For more information on the posters, go to aigasdposterproject.com, and balboaparkcommitteeof100.org.