San Diego and Tijuana’s shared designation as the 2024 World Design Capital got a major boost on Wednesday with a $1 million matching grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundation.
The new grant follows a $3 million investment from the city that was spearheaded by City Councilman Raul Campillo and additional funding from the San Diego Tourism Authority and Qualcomm.
The Prebys grant was announced at a special event in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s downtown branch, at which WDC 2024 organizers unveiled the agenda for the year-long event.
Also unveiled was the “EXCHANGE Pavilion,” a temporary art installation by Tijuana artist Daniel Ruanova and San Diego-based Heleo Architecture + Design that will be placed first in the Palacio Municipal de Tijuana and then in the Plaza de Panama in Balboa Park.
Both San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramirez addressed the international significance of the year-long design event.
“Let’s spend 2024 showing the rest of the world what a bi-national region can do,” said Gloria.
For WDC 2024, six signature events are planned over the coming year:
- Community Celebration on Feb. 28 at the Tijuana Cultural Center
- World Design Festival and Tijuana Design Week, May 1-5 in Tijuana
- World Design Experience and San Diego Design Week, Sept. 18-25 in San Diego
- World Policy Conference sponsored by the City of San Diego and UC San Diego Design Lab, Nov. 12-13 in San Diego
- World Design Network of Cities on Nov. 15 in Tijuana
- WDC 2024 Convocation Ceremony on Nov. 16 at The Salk Institute.
In addition, over 300 community-focused events are planned.
The designation of San Diego and Tijuana in 2024 is the first to include a U.S. city, and the ninth since the Montreal-based World Design Organization picked Turin, Italy, in 2008.
World Design Capitals are chosen because of their effective use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental development. Then a year-long program of events showcases best practices, drawing worldwide participation.
Campillo said Wednesday he saw the impact of a World Design Capital designation first hand during an official visit to Valencia, Spain, the 2020 capital.
“I’ve supported the World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana project from day one because of the economic benefits and cross-border collaboration that it will bring to our region,” said Campillo.