Category: Uncategorized

A closer view of public art at San Ysidro Library.

Picadillo Folklorico

Picadillo Folklorico and El Movimiento are two works of public art decorating the exterior of the San Ysidro Branch Library.

Visitors to the library might crane their necks to gaze up at these two large steel screens, but closely observing the intricate water-jet cut designs in each can be difficult. So I took a few photos that provide a better look at some of the detail.

The artists who created Picadillo Folklorico and El Movimiento are Einar and Jamex de la Torre, “brothers and artistic collaborators who were born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and maintain studios in Baja California and San Diego.”

According to the San Diego Civic Art Collection description, the two pieces were inspired by the Mexican folk art of paper-cutting and traditional Moorish screens.

By examining these close-up photographs, you can discover all sorts of interesting little figures incorporated into each design. Many of the figures appear like ancient pictographs, perhaps representing real or mythical creatures.

All of the elements combine to create the impression, in my own mind, of complex, outwardly expanding life.

What do you see?

(The same two artists created amazing public art inside the San Ysidro Library. I’ll post those photos coming up!)

El Movimiento

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Colorful mural at SALT in Oceanside!

This wonderful mural depicting life, sunshine and landmarks in Oceanside can be found at the SALT Apartments at 311 N. Cleveland Street. It was created by well-known abstract artist Lee Calderon.

I see the Oceanside Pier, a surfer, the harbor lighthouse, and Mission San Luis Rey. And many bright, vibrant colors!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Demons and ghouls gather in San Diego!

A horde of demons and ghouls have gathered in San Diego. The monsters have wandered to the edge of downtown and now haunt the southwest corner of Balboa Park. Should you travel through Balboa Park after dark–beware!

Disbelieve me? Check out these photos! I took them today!

Yes, I walked around the perimeter of The Haunted Trail, San Diego’s popular outdoor haunted house that is designed to make you jump with fright! Halloween has never been so spooky, scream-worthy and fun!

These photos were darkened for maximum scary effect. Boo!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Wildlife street art on electrical boxes.

I spotted this great street art during my recent walk through the new Creekside Park in Mission Valley.

Depicted are wild animals, birds and insects that one can find in San Diego County’s vast backcountry. Mountain and desert habitats appear to be well represented.

I’m not sure who the artist is, but the artwork appears to be fairly new. I didn’t notice a signature.

These electrical boxes are located about halfway along linear Creekside Park, inside the Civita residential development. Look for them where the park’s main path intersects Westside Drive.

If you’d like to see more street art in Civita painted on electrical boxes, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Photos from amazing Pacific Islander Festival!

During this weekend, San Diego’s big annual Pacific Islander Festival was held at Ski Beach in Mission Bay.

Thousands turned out to celebrate the traditional cultures of the indigenous peoples of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It’s the largest, most attended Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander festival in the United States!

As you can see from my photos, a huge audience sitting on the grass enjoyed San Diego’s warm sunshine and lots of traditional island dances, costumes and music. There was a fantastic selection of food, vendors everywhere, and, most interesting to me, an assortment of booths boosting tourism with fascinating cultural displays.

All those islands–all their culture–all that vibrant life– There was so much to absorb during my visit!

Did you miss this amazing, free, family-friendly event? I hope these photographs inspire you to go next year…

Does the above watercraft appear familiar? It’s a model of the ocean-going outrigger canoe Sakman.

Perhaps you recall seeing Sakman years ago during its stay in San Diego. See a couple of photos here.

I learned a documentary film is being produced titled Sakman: The Legend of The Flying Canoe. It follows the creation of the Sakman Che’lu, a 50ft. vessel built by a group of retirees in San Diego, CA. Despite being first-time builders and sailors, they courageously recreate this magnificent canoe, 6,000 miles away from their island home. Check out the film’s website here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

William Heath Davis Monument for downtown!

There are plans to place a monument to William Heath Davis in downtown San Diego. I learned about the project today. Drawings and details from the proposal were on display at the Gaslamp Museum‘s booth at the Pacific Islander Festival!

The connection to this festival? William Heath “Kanaka” Davis, Jr., the original creator of New Town San Diego, was born in Hawaii!

The bust of William Heath Davis will be placed in Pantoja Park, downtown San Diego’s first city park, which he also created. The photo above shows how the sculpture will generally appear.

You can expand my images of the information signs to read details!

…Kanaka Davis grew fond of San Diego’s warm weather and envisioned a thriving seaport, commercial center, and residential community along the waterfront which he dubbed New Town San Diego. With other investors, Kanaka Davis bought 160 acres of waterfront land, laid out streets, created Pantoja Park…

Seventeen years later, Alonzo Horton added his subdivision to the east of New Town, which today is the Gaslamp Quarter. Both Kanaka Davis and Alonzo Horton were the pillars that created downtown San Diego…

Project is a pedestal monument with a plaque and head bust… Pantoja Park…was founded by William Heath Davis in 1850. The proposed monument describes the founding of Pantoja Park…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Setting up the colorful Catrinas of Old Town!

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is already getting ready for Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos. Today I noticed that bigger than life Catrinas in beautiful dresses were being set up on barrels outside Fiesta de Reyes and Barra Barra!

I watched as a Catrina’s calavera (sugar skull) was removed from one figure, then attached to a second. Need to match those colors!

I was told that for Día de los Muertos, there will be a total of 51 Catrinas and skeletons set up at Fiesta de Reyes and Barra Barra!

I was also told that the celebration of Día de los Muertos in Old Town this year will be bigger and better than ever! The State of California’s Arts in Parks program is inviting local artists, culture bearers, chalk artists, piñata artists, traditional craftsmen and musicians to play a role!

I can’t wait to go! It’s a little over a month away. Meanwhile, lots of very fancy Catrinas will be greeting visitors to Old Town!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Art from the Great Depression in Oceanside.

A very fine exhibition of American art from around the time of the Great Depression is now on view at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Art for the People: WPA-Era Paintings from the Dijkstra Collection contains works that were created between the 1920s and the end of World War II. Many pieces by California artists are included, including San Diego’s own Charles Reiffel. The paintings are often dark, with images of poverty, violence and barren places. But there are glimpses of beauty, too, and of life’s striving, and inextinguishable humanity.

According to one sign: “Names for this art have ranged from Regionalism and American Scene Painting to Social Realism and American Expressionism.” I’m by no means an art expert, but I can tell you these diverse works are emotionally stirring. The artists, through the lens of their own experience, sought to capture true things from a difficult period of American history.

Enjoy a visit to the Oceanside Museum of Art no later than November 5, 2023. You’ll see how extraordinary this special exhibition is. It was organized by the Crocker Art Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, and The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.

Hooverville on East Tenth Street, Louis Ribak, circa 1940. In the late 1930s, Ribak worked on several murals for the Works Progress Administration.

The Hex Sign, Lancaster County, PA, Ernest Fiene, 1936.

Harlem Cows, Jan Matulka, circa 1924. The depiction of cows evidences the artist’s exposure to Cubism.

A Vale in Death Valley, Helen Forbes, 1939. The artist during the WPA era produced murals for post offices in Susanville, Merced and Monrovia, California.

Worker and Machine, Hugo Gellert, 1928. The artist focused on the struggles of the working class. He was an illustrator for The New Yorker and New York Times.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Super Girl surfers compete in Oceanside!

A fantastic event is taking place all this weekend by the Oceanside Pier. It’s the annual Super Girl Surf Pro!

I arrived late in the morning to enjoy what is essentially an enormous festival. The theme is female empowerment, and there’s plenty of inspiration and activities for everybody. There are free concerts, fitness camps, a volleyball competition, and, of course, lots of great food!

The main attraction is the surfing competition. The action continues throughout each day, and can be observed from the beach or pier. Amateur and professional female athletes conquer the waves with mind-blowing skill. Many of the world’s top surfers are participating!

Enjoy this collection of photos.

The longboard surfers made the best subjects for my modest camera–they were nearest the pier and illuminated perfectly in the Oceanside sunshine!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

San Diego River restoration near Fashion Valley.

Nearly 5 acres of San Diego River habitat in Mission Valley will be undergoing restoration through 2024. I saw this sign while walking down the San Diego River Trail this afternoon.

Invasive plants will be removed in a stretch north of the river, south of Fashion Valley. According to the sign, non-native species that will removed include the Brazilian pepper tree, Canary Island date palm, Mexican fan palm, eucalyptus and pampas grass.

This is a project of the San Diego River Park Foundation, Urban Corps of San Diego County, and the Fashion Valley mall.

Learn more about this and other river projects, and possibly help out as a volunteer, by clicking here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!