The Committee of 100 - Balboa Park San Diego

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The Committee of 100 - Balboa Park San Diego

The Balboa Park Committee of 100 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our charitable tax identification number is 95-8187105

08/27/2026

Afrotruko concert at Twilight in the Park Concert at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, August 20th, 2026. The last Twilight concert will be at 6:30 p.m. on August 27th (TODAY!!)

08/18/2026

We stop for Packards! You never know what toy you may see on one of my Balboa Park walking tours!

Join Ross this Friday, August 21st at 11 a.m., beginning at the Balboa Park Visitors Center (1549 El Prado)

No RSVP required! We hope to see you there!

08/12/2026

C100 Past President Roger Showley with José Aroeste, president of the La Jolla Shores Sunrise Rotary Club, at a recent presentation to his club on the wins in Balboa Park's improvement, including the recreation of ornamentation in permanent materials on the Municipal Gymnasium. The 1935-36 original, made from fiberboard, was removed at the conclusion of the California Pacific International Exposition.

08/07/2026

Internationally recognized artist Bestabee Romero brings Green Carpet: The 12th Player to San Diego on Saturday, August 8th at 4:30 pm. Join us for an evening of art, food, soccer, and connection at the Plaza de Panama!

07/28/2026

Women in Balboa Park, Week 13

Meet Gertrude Gilbert!

As chair of the Music Committee for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Gilbert brought internationally recognized concert artists to Balboa Park.

In the 1920s, she and her sister, Bess Gilbert, became leading advocates for preserving the Exposition's Spanish Colonial Revival buildings. Opposing plans to demolish them, Gertrude famously compared the effort to "letting a loved one die because it wasn't convenient to raise money to pay the surgeon."

Her dedication helped preserve the historic character of Balboa Park for future generations.

07/21/2026

Women in Balboa Park, Week 12

Meet Darlene Marcos Shiley.

A philanthropist and longtime supporter of the arts, Shiley helped shape the future of the Old Globe through a $20 million gift in 2006, which led to the naming of the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage.

She is also the current major underwriter of the Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, a partnership between the Old Globe and the University of San Diego.

In addition to her support of Balboa Park institutions, Shiley has contributed extensively to organizations throughout San Diego, including USD and UC San Diego.

07/16/2026

San Diego celebrates its birthday on July 16, the anniversary of Junipero Serra's dedication mass for the Mission San Diego de Alcala in 1769. At the time, this marked the "launch" of Spain's project to establish a chain of 21 missions in "Alta California" from San Diego to San Francisco.

07/07/2026

Women in Balboa Park, Week 11

Meet Belle Baranceanu (1902–1988)

A Guggenheim Fellow and Chicago-trained WPA muralist, Baranceanu became San Diego’s premier muralist of the Depression era.

Her mural, The Progress of Man (1935), still hangs in the Balboa Park Club. During a visit to the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, Eleanor Roosevelt called it “one of the best murals she had ever seen.”

Baranceanu also created WPA murals for Roosevelt Junior High School, preserved at the San Diego History Center, and the La Jolla Post Office. In 1950, she served as president of the San Diego Artists Guild and taught generations of local artists.

Follow along as we continue sharing the women who shaped Balboa Park.

06/30/2026

Women in Balboa Park, Week 10

Meet Vicki Estrada!

A landscape architect and urban planner, Estrada authored the 1989 Balboa Park Master Plan, which remains the park’s governing master plan today. She followed it with the Central Mesa Precise Plan in 1992.

Her work also includes the Plaza de Panama Fountain and the restoration of Alcazar Garden.

Follow along as we continue sharing the women who shaped Balboa Park.

06/23/2026

Women in Balboa Park, Week 9

Meet Bea Evenson (1900–1981)

As the founding president of the Committee of 100, Evenson launched a movement to save and restore Balboa Park’s 1915 Spanish Colonial architecture.

Under her leadership, C100's first victory was the $3.5 million reconstruction of the Casa del Prado. She also secured $8 million in federal funds to restore the Ford Building (now Air & Space Museum) and Casa de Balboa and personally donated $131,000 toward the restoration of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

The Bea Evenson Fountain in the Plaza de Balboa stands as a tribute to her lasting impact on the park.

Address

San Diego, CA

Telephone

+18587890986

Website

http://balboaparkcommitteeof100.net/, https://pancalarchive.org/, https://cparchive.org/

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