Spanish Village Art Center, San Diego

The Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park is one of our favorite places to visit. We love the vibrant shops and we enjoy visiting some of the studios in the center and watch the local artists create. When visiting there are many studios where you can find just about any masterpiece such as oil paintings, wood art, ceramic, basketry, & many more. There is also a refreshment cart where you can order a delicious lemonade, iced coffee or some other fresh drinks. Free parking is available and bathrooms as well. Art classes available (visit their website to register)

Wow, what an unexpected, very cool place! My boyfriend and I were visiting for the weekend and I wanted to visit Balboa Park. We randomly ran into the Spanish Village Art Center. I am not sure if it should be advertised more or if it is Balboa Parks best keep secret. My boyfriend is a glassblower and surprisingly there was another one there. We walked through like 8 times! Love it and the artisans are amazing.

Fun artist village with studios run by artists, often actively engaged in art creation. Mostly just selling paintings, pots, baskets, jewelry, sculptures and other similar items. The atmosphere is fun and festive. Most artists are fairly friendly, some are a bit stuffy. Prices seem a bit steep, but most everything is high quality. Their focus is generally on esthetics and less on quantity produced, which is why the artists aren’t often actively producing art on site and mostly sitting around vending their “rare” works. The campus is repurposed fit art studios, but I believe used to be nation reception sites during the exposition of 1915. If you wish for an easy laid back stroll through a delightful art village, this is it, a very nice and mostly friendly place in bustling Balboa Park.

Spanish village is very much native. You get the feeling of village homes and hand looms. One of the best thing I visited was the artist who draws the scenes on canvas in front of you, it was so exciting although pricy. Trees and small plants mostly all are desert plants cactus and alovera families I suppose. People are friendly and I enjoyed my time. It is pretty close to zoo, if you go to zoo, plan a short visit to this village. Nearby there are many old buildings, if you like historic features, then just down the faint fig tree there are plenty of building, balboa park and museums. You may need another day apart from visiting the zoo.

Lovely and quaint, the Spanish Village Art Center is a cute local arts pavilion with several local artists booths. They also have art workshops, local artists exhibits and live music. The quaint architecture and ambiance is quite fun. Not bad for a free to do time.