sPARK Awards Celebrate Balboa Park Innovators and Change-Makers

Forever Balboa Park recently announced its annual sPARK Awards winners at a special event at the San Diego Air and Space Museum: Celebrating Innovation in Balboa Park. The program recognizes the people and organizations that amplify Balboa Park’s distinct role and increase the park’s positive impact on well-being through creativity, collaboration, and imagination.

Betsy Brennan, president and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, delivered a special keynote speech. Winners for outstanding achievement in three categories were announced by sPARK Awards emcee Miki Vale, a San Diego-based emcee, playwright, and Teaching Artist for the Old Globe. Awards were presented by Forever Balboa Park’s Interim Co-CEO and Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Phillip Sammuli.

The winners were:

Igniting Innovation

San Diego Automotive Museum | IGNITE Academy

This innovative program combines career exploration, independent research, and skill-building through project-based hands-on learning to prepare students for internships and other pathways towards successful careers in the automotive industry. The IGNITE program is ideal for students getting ready to enter high school through recent high school graduates and provides mentorship, guidance, and early career exposure and experience.

Crossing Boundaries

Museum of Us and Friends of Friendship Park | Border Wall Preservation Project

Murals from the old border wall were going to be destroyed. Now they will be given new life. Friends of Friendship Park and the Museum of Us in Balboa Park partnered to preserve several sections of painted wall that will go on public display in the future.

Enhancing Ecosystems

CleanUp Kitsune (kit-soo-nay) is a partnership project presented by Allgoods. It is a performance art project designed to generate waste awareness through culture and creativity. CleanUp Kitsune can be found at parks, events, and various gatherings, collecting trash and littering kindness. They hope to inspire people to be more mindful about the waste they make and kindly ask for help to keep our shared space clean.

Balboa Park is a source of health and wellness, economic benefit, and cultural enrichment for the San Diego region and beyond. The sPARK Awards are designed to honor this and the individuals, organizations, and groups that advance meaningful park experiences, deeper and broader connections, and environmental well-being and sustainability.

Winners were selected among the nominees by a volunteer Selection Committee whose members come from diverse experiences and backgrounds and share a love for Balboa Park. Each awardee was given a $5,000 cash prize from San Diego Foundation to their nonprofit of affiliation or choice, to fuel continued innovation and curiosity.

For more information on the sPARK Awards, visit https://foreverbalboapark.org/spark-awards.