The Potters' Canyon

During her lifetime, my mother saw her mission as saving La Jolla, a coastal town within the City of San Diego, from unfettered real estate development. Towards that end, she worked tirelessly to have a small canyon that had been home to the Rodriguez family, a family of master potters from Mexico, declared an historic site and a public park. The family had settled at the mouth of the canyon in the 1920s and over the next several decades, produced tiles for many of San Diego's most important buildings.

By the time my mother became involved, the canyon had become a tranquil enclave, populated with eucalyptus and nasturtium, but surrounded on all sides by housing developments. My mother's efforts were ultimately successful. In the late 1970s, the City created Pottery Canyon Nature Park. After my mom passed away in 2019, I began to research the Rodriguez family and their contribution to San Diego, and to photograph the park as a way of honoring what my mother considered one of her most important professional accomplishments.