{"id":197559,"date":"2025-09-03T19:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/197559\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T19:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:05:11","slug":"gyms-latest-art-display-puts-la-jolla-on-a-tabletop-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/197559\/","title":{"rendered":"Gym\u2019s latest art display puts La Jolla on a tabletop \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Balanced Fitness & Health<\/a> in La Jolla has made a custom of rotating displays of holiday-themed miniature art installations to create a \u201chomey\u201d atmosphere for clients.<\/p>\n

But unlike its predecessors over the past four years, the gym\u2019s latest installation is not holiday-themed \u2014 and could be here to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cLa Jolla Through My Eyes,\u201d installed earlier this year and crafted by hand using recycled or found materials by housekeeping manager Cristina Clay, is a tabletop art piece that highlights some of La Jolla\u2019s most recognizable landmarks. It features the beach, local parks, Scripps Pier made of Popsicle sticks, boardwalks, volleyball nets sewn with thread, painted houses and other \u201cthings I see in La Jolla,\u201d Clay said.<\/p>\n

It is on view in the lobby of the Balanced Fitness location at 7680 Girard Ave.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set it up at the entrance and \u2026 we were going to take it down after summer, but people seem to like it, so I think it will [remain] there,\u201d Clay said.<\/p>\n

Clay said she creates her art installations to \u201cmake people happy. When they tell me they like them, it melts me. It makes me feel fantastic. Being able to make something that makes people happy is my main goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BalancedBalanced Fitness & Health housekeeping manager Cristina Clay creates art installations for the La Jolla facility. (Provided by Cristina Clay)<\/p>\n

Clay started making the installations four years ago based on holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in art, but my kind of art is art projects\u201d rather than fine art, she said. \u201cI like to make things. From as far back as I can remember, I have done this. It\u2019s just so relaxing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus she started creating small holiday-themed pieces to help brighten the days of Balanced Fitness visitors.<\/p>\n

One year she did a Halloween \u201cwitches parking lot\u201d using found wood for broomsticks and a Christmas-themed chimney-inspired installation complete with a fireplace with an LED \u201cfire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do all the decorations for the gym, always using recycled materials,\u201d Clay said. \u201cBut I also have a thing for gnomes, so all my decorations have to include gnomes based on the holiday. Now members bring me little gnomes to include in future ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depending on a project\u2019s complexity, it could take months to complete, she said. Her most recent December holiday piece, complete with a menorah for Hannukah and a tree for Christmas, took five months.<\/p>\n

Now she\u2019s working on her next Halloween-themed project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take my time with it \u2026 so when I have the time, I work on it at home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"CristinaCristina Clay created this holiday-themed decor for Balanced Fitness & Health in La Jolla. (Cristina Clay)<\/p>\n

Though the holiday creations rotate, \u201cLa Jolla Through My Eyes\u201d is intended to stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe members love it,\u201d Clay said. \u201cLa Jolla is an amazing community and I like doing this for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The installations are not visible from the street but can be seen by entering the Balanced Fitness lobby. \u2666<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Balanced Fitness & Health in La Jolla has made a custom of rotating displays of holiday-themed miniature art…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":197560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,3548,7354,19284,3549,3550,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-197559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-la-jolla","12":"tag-la-jolla-light","13":"tag-la-jolla-light-news","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115141931093016020","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}