Gym’s latest art display puts La Jolla on a tabletop

Balanced Fitness & Health in La Jolla has made a custom of rotating displays of holiday-themed miniature art installations to create a “homey” atmosphere for clients.

But unlike its predecessors over the past four years, the gym’s latest installation is not holiday-themed — and could be here to stay.

“La Jolla Through My Eyes,” 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’s 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 “things I see in La Jolla,” Clay said.

It is on view in the lobby of the Balanced Fitness location at 7680 Girard Ave.

“We set it up at the entrance and … we were going to take it down after summer, but people seem to like it, so I think it will [remain] there,” Clay said.

Clay said she creates her art installations to “make 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.”

Clay started making the installations four years ago based on holidays.

“I’ve always had an interest in art, but my kind of art is art projects” rather than fine art, she said. “I like to make things. From as far back as I can remember, I have done this. It’s just so relaxing for me.”

Thus she started creating small holiday-themed pieces to help brighten the days of Balanced Fitness visitors.

One year she did a Halloween “witches parking lot” using found wood for broomsticks and a Christmas-themed chimney-inspired installation complete with a fireplace with an LED “fire.”

“I do all the decorations for the gym, always using recycled materials,” Clay said. “But 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.”

Depending on a project’s 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.

Now she’s working on her next Halloween-themed project.

“I take my time with it … so when I have the time, I work on it at home,” she said.

Though the holiday creations rotate, “La Jolla Through My Eyes” is intended to stay.

“The members love it,” Clay said. “La Jolla is an amazing community and I like doing this for them.”

The installations are not visible from the street but can be seen by entering the Balanced Fitness lobby.