Did you know there’s a sculpture of Tony Gwynn in Waterfront Park, just south of San Diego’s County Administration Building?
The sculpture, created by world-famous artist Niki de Saint Phalle, is titled #19 Baseball Player. The mosaic sculpture debuted nine years ago, and I was there for the ceremony. You can see those photographs by clicking here.
When I walked through Waterfront Park early this morning, I noticed the fun sculpture depicting Mr. Padre holding a baseball bat was being restored.
According to a sign, the work is being done by Lech Juretko. He operates Art Mosaic Inc. in Santee. For eight years he was an assistant to Niki de Saint Phalle, helping to produce 100 of her works!
Lech now works with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation, and has done restoration work on Niki’s fun Nikigator (in front of the Mingei International Museum) and her epic, mind-blowing Queen Califia’s Magical Circle (at Kit Carson Park in Escondido).
To read a great article about Lech meeting Niki and his subsequent experiences, click here!
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It looks like a huge, three-dimensional blue squiggle, doesn’t it?
This twisty sculpture, by artist Ken Kelleher, is called Hand Drawn Sculpture. It’s located at the new Research and Development District (RaDD) complex on downtown San Diego’s waterfront.
Among RaDD’s five buildings, one can glimpse all sorts of public art: both sculptures and murals. I took some photos of the art that wasn’t fenced off during construction earlier this year, but I knew next to nothing about any of it.
Well, plaques have appeared near some artworks that are currently accessible to the public. Interesting information is provided about both art and artist.
I took these photographs this morning.
The abstract Hand Drawn Sculpture, according to its plaque, was created in 2023. It blurs the lines between two and three-dimensional art forms by merging the fluid, gestural lines of drawing with the tangible presence of sculpture…
Pretend the blue lines have no depth and were drawn on flat paper. Seen from different angles, the sculpture assumes different forms.
What do you see?
Very cool!
Look for more photos and descriptions of public art at RaDD in future blog posts!
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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.
As I entered Balboa Park for a late Sunday morning stroll, I noticed tents and a stage coming down on the grass near Sixth Avenue. I then spoke to smiling people who had worked to organize the event.
When I was told about the Walk in Remembrance With Hope, I wanted to help in a small way with my blog.
The walk was a memorable way to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to suicide & to raise awareness about suicide prevention. Funds raised stay in San Diego County for suicide outreach & prevention and survivor support services.
If you’d like to read more about the organization, find comfort, or help spread human compassion, please visit the Survivors of Suicide Loss San Diego website 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.
Sunspots on the surface of the sun were clearly visible today in San Diego! A sense of wonder filled me when I viewed the distant phenomenon from Balboa Park.
Today the Fleet Science Center had Sunspotter Solar Telescopes, solar binoculars and other instruments related to astronomy outside and ready for use.
I had stumbled upon a special event at the Fleet Science Center. They were hosting the NASA Community College Symposium, which would feature a planetarium show, educational talks, panels, and a variety of space-themed activities.
A recent graduate of SDSU’s Astronomy master’s program operated the solar telescope, and I tried to capture the tiny dark sunspots with my camera. (For my final photo, the image contrast was radically increased, bringing out the spots.)
What appear to be small spots on the sun’s surface can be up to 100,000 miles in diameter! The sun itself is about 93 million miles from where you stand!
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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.
Take a look at this amazing chalk art! It was created in San Diego’s Balboa Park about a week ago. Still in good condition, the artwork can be found directly in front of the Timken Museum of Art.
The chalk art replicates Equestrian Portrait of Prince Tommaso of Savoy-Carignan, a fantastic painting by Kehinde Wiley.
Until recently, Wiley’s painting could be viewed inside one of Timken’s galleries. It was displayed among major works by old masters. Wiley’s painting is inspired by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck’s equestrian portrait from 1634-35 depicting Italian military commander.
The chalk art was created by Erick Toussaint (@sidewalk_chalk_dad). You might remember his other work in front of the Timken in past years.
I’ll soon be blogging about the Timken’s newest exhibition, In Blue Time, so stay tuned!
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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.
Newly planted trees can be spotted in the southwest corner of Balboa Park near Marston Point. By sheer coincidence I spotted them today.
In the late morning I walked from downtown San Diego up to Balboa Park, intending to see if any progress has been made on The Haunted Trail. The “trail” is a very spooky, outdoor, after dark attraction that pops up in time for Halloween.
But look what I discovered! What an interesting contrast! Many young green trees are growing among scary props, including a beat-up car and broken-down old shack.
I asked someone who was preparing other ghoulish props for The Haunted Trail, and he believes the trees were planted earlier this year. I don’t recall seeing them before!
How scary might this “forest” be after dark?
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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.
Those who are fascinated by tall ships, exploration and the evolution of technology don’t want to miss a great new exhibit at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. It’s titled the Art of Navigation.
Visitors to the exhibit learn how navigators have used maps, charts and a variety of tools to find their way across the oceans and through dangerous waters. The extensive displays include some exceptionally rare antiques. Old instruments that can be viewed include an astrolabe, backstaff, nocturnal, traverse board, chip log and reel, hand-held telescope, cross-staff, quadrant, taffrail log, navigation slate and more! These instruments might seem primitive when compared with modern technology, but ship’s captains successfully sailed around the planet with the information they provided.
Personally, I like to read nautical stories set during the Age of Sail. As I read I’ll come across the names of these instruments, and at times puzzle over their application. The descriptive Art of Navigation exhibit brings helps to bring those adventurous old stories to life!
The exhibit also includes beautiful paintings and model ships, and even a display directly related to the Maritime Museum’s famous Star of India!
The Art of Navigation is free with museum admission. As advertised, it does indeed turn intellect, math, nature and science into beauty!
Micronesian stick chart, used by the indigenous island peoples of the Pacific to navigate across great distances of open water.Henricus Hondius. Polus Antarcticus. Map of Dutch discoveries published in Amsterdam, 1638.Benjamin King Backstaff (also known as Davis Quadrant), Newport, Rhode Island, 1764. Used by Colonial American navigators.Replica of 19th century chip log and reel. Used to estimate the speed of a ship through water.Log of Euterpe, a historic ship later known as Star of India.
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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.
Very beautiful artwork can be seen just outside the entrance of the La Jolla Community Center. Tile panels on either side of the front door and tile work on a nearby bench depict La Jolla’s stunning coastal scenery.
I took these photographs during a walk a couple weekends ago when the center happened to be closed. I’m very curious who the artist might be.
I believe the work was done back in 2012–part of a larger building renovation. If you know more about this wonderful art outside the community center’s entrance, please leave a comment below!
Enjoy these photos, which I edited slightly using increased contrast and sharpness to bring out the colors and details.
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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.
Enjoy half a dozen photographs taken this morning around sunrise.
It’s early September, still summer, and the weather has been unusually warm. A bit after 6 o’clock, the sky to the east brightened and broken clouds became even more beautiful above downtown San Diego.
My camera and I moved slowly west down Broadway from the vicinity of Santa Fe Depot. You can see in these photos how obelisk-like America Plaza with its colorfully lit trolley station is prominent in the foreground.
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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.
The Koester Memorial Sundial stands prominently in San Diego State University’s Campanile Mall, directly in front of the iconic Hepner Hall. I took photographs of the sundial when I walked through the SDSU campus a few days ago. A couple of corroded plaques invite a closer look.
According to this article, dedicated on November 4, 1978, the Gübelin Equatorial Sundial [is] in memory of the late George A. Koester…
Koester began his career at San Diego State in 1950 and went on to complete 14 years as a professor of education and 10 years as executive dean. During his time on Montezuma Mesa, Koester played a prominent role in building the campus, working on the creation of Love Library, the music and drama buildings, Aztec Center, Zura Hall, student health services, and multiple parking structures…
A plaque embedded in the brick pedestal states:
IN MEMORY OF GEORGE A. KOESTER Ph.D – PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION – EXECUTIVE DEAN – IN APPRECIATION OF HIS SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY 1950 – 1974 – PRESENTED BY HIS FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES AND FAMILY
Within the sundial, a faded plaque (I increased the image contrast) describes how the beautiful and fascinating device works. I transcribed as best I could, without every word in caps:
THE KOESTER MEMORIAL SUNDIAL
The sundial indicates local apparent time. Two steps are necessary to convert sundial time to Pacific Standard Time: one to correct for the longitude difference between SDSU (117°04`2W) and the central meridian of the Pacific Time Zone (120°W), and the other to correct for the non-uniform motion of the sun (equation of time).
The design of the sundial automatically makes the first correction. The image of the sun will be between the two lines (correct noon) just to the left of the XII noon line when the sun crosses the meridian at SDSU (117°04`2W) and on the XII noon line 12 minutes later when the sun crosses the central meridian (120°W) of the Pacific Time Zone.
To determine the equation of time for today, locate today’s date along the top or bottom the curved brass plate. Taking the distance between each vertical line as being 10 days, then move straight up or down to the corresponding point on the blue line. Move horizontally from this point left or right to the time scale and determine the number of minutes to be added (+) or subtracted (-) from the time indicated by the bright spot on the sundial. The distance between each vertical line is now taken as being 20 minutes. One hour must also be added if Daylight Savings Time is in effect.
Whew! Got that?
I think I’ll stick to my wristwatch or phone!
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 