Check out three colorful murals that I discovered last weekend during a walk down Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach. All three were painted in the past year or so.
The bird mural at Pacific Beach Tattoo, above, is titled The California Least Tern Mural. It was created by artist Todd Murphy. According to a tiny sign that I spied while preparing these photographs, the beautiful mural is dedicated to the community of Pacific Beach on August 12, 2023 with the purpose of promoting conservation and awareness of this local endangered species.
The next photograph shows the latest Guru Tattoo mural. It’s by Bowen Bramwell (@illustrationbybo). Other spray painted Guru Tattoo murals have decorated this same wall in the past. You can see two of them (and other examples of street art in PB) here and here.
Finally, check out this beach scene mural beside the Broken Yolk parking lot. (Is that sandy Coronado Beach with the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in the distance?)
The mural was created by artist Emily Fallon in 2024, in collaboration with San Diego Paint and Stain.
If you’d like to see even more cool street art in Pacific Beach, I’ve photographed a lot of it over the years. Additional examples can be found here and here and here!
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Big news in San Diego today! After 14 long years, the unused Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park appears to be on the road to recovery!
The City of San Diego has announced that it is looking for organizations or individuals interested in bringing the historic and famed Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park back to life. The city has issued a Request for Proposals for the lease and renovation of the open-air amphitheater. Interested to learn more? Visit the pertinent City of San Diego web page by clicking here.
When I heard this news today I cheered. I voiced my support for the restoration of the Starlight Bowl back in 2016. I, like many others in San Diego, have fond memories of the unique outdoor venue. You can read what I wrote by clicking here.
Over the years, many people have worked hard to pull weeds, paint and rehabilitate parts of the building, and advocate tirelessly for the historic Starlight Bowl’s survival. Congratulations to the organization Save Starlight and to all who have been involved in this effort.
That photograph above is of a performance in the Ford Bowl (now the Starlight Bowl) during the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park. The photograph below was taken with my camera eight years ago…
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Take a look at this interesting outdoor art installation in San Ysidro! It’s part of an exhibition titled MIRAGE: el orden de los factores y los riesgos de la ilusión.
The unusual tower-like structure stands in an open space next to San Ysidro’s Cultural Corridor, a short walk behind The Front Arte y Cultura community cultural center. It’s the same space where San Ysidro celebrates Día de los Muertos every year.
The Mexican born visual artist behind the exhibition is Marcos Ramírez Erre. The rest of his MIRAGE can be viewed inside The Front, which happened to be closed when I walked by last weekend.
What do the different levels of this peculiar “tower” represent? (I wouldn’t mind lounging near the top under those shades!)
As the web page describing the installation explains: the art explores the geopolitical and symbolic landscape of the Mexico-U.S. border, characterized by architectural, masculine, industrial, monumental, and anti-monumental elements.
It seems to me the open structure, with its ladders, huge cylinders and different platforms, would be a fine stage for an outdoor theatrical performance!
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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.
During my walk in San Ysidro last weekend, I discovered two relatively new murals painted in the Cultural Corridor. It had been a little over a year since I walked this way.
The San Ysidro Cultural Corridor extends north along Cypress Drive from San Ysidro Boulevard to the trolley tracks near the Beyer Avenue station. The alley-like corridor contains many colorful murals that change from time to time. Community development organization Casa Familiar is the driving engine behind this ongoing project.
Past blog posts that include photographs of additional murals in the Cultural Corridor can be found here and here and here and here.
My first images today show a happy mural on a wooden fence at the north end of the corridor. It was painted in 2023. The artist is Ivan Arevalo.
The second mural celebrates San Ysidro. It was painted by Ground Floor Murals. Sadly, you can see how the image of a proud bird of prey has been defaced by a tagger.
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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.
A large steel structure is now being erected near the center of San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park! It’s the Exchange Pavilion, another initiative of World Design Capital 2024!
San Diego/Tijuana won the coveted title of World Design Capital for 2024. There have been many activities and activations related to this international honor, and the Exchange Pavilion is the newest of these.
The lightweight skeletal structure evident in my photographs is being built in the Plaza de Panama, in front of the San Diego Museum of Art. The pavilion is designed to bring people together, along with their diverse ideas and experiences. Interconnectedness and collaboration are appropriate themes for the first ever binational World Design Capital designation.
The Exchange Pavilion, when completed, will feature interactive digital displays, special lighting, and a space for lectures, performances, workshops and more. It was designed by HELEO in collaboration with Tijuana, Mexico based visual artist Daniel Ruanova.
This very unique installation will remain in Balboa Park all summer long. It will then be relocated to Tijuana in the fall. I was told it will be completed and will open this Saturday, August 10!
I suppose I’ll have to swing by this weekend to check it out!
UPDATE!
I walked through the Plaza de Panama on Friday afternoon and saw that construction of the pavilion is still underway. The narrow digital displays appear to be functioning.
I was told by someone at the site that the Exchange Pavilion will now open on Wednesday!
ANOTHER UPDATE!
I walked by again on Sunday. I learned the pavilion will now open next Saturday 17, 2024.
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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.
Motionless figures confront pedestrians on a downtown San Diego sidewalk. Three life-size transparent “silhouettes” stand beside UC San Diego Park & Market. For those who pause and wish to understand, the figures will freely speak, telling true stories of people in our city who are homeless.
What Does Home Mean to You is the name of this public art installation. It’s just one temporary installation of many along the Bay to Park Paseo. The Bay to Park Paseo is a unique walking experience that leads from San Diego Bay to Balboa Park. Learn all about it by clicking here.
Earlier this year I participated in the inaugural walk up the Bay to Park Paseo. One of these three silhouettes was on display. Last weekend, when I walked up Park Boulevard again, all three were arranged on the sidewalk.
The UC San Diego Design Lab created this thought-provoking installation. An explanation of the public art includes: Visitors will see life-size silhouettes of people who will share their perspectives on housing at the push of a button. Throughout the installation, passersby can use their mobile devices to scan QR codes to dive deeper into other housing experiences from the greater San Diego community or share their own stories through voice or text.
I noticed words by the feet of these silhouettes. The stories are real, but names have been changed.
I took photos for you to see…
“Like my dad said, ‘It’s not over till it’s over.’ That’s his motto. I gotta live by that, no matter what.” A foster youth shares his family story, hopes and dreams with maturity and grit…“Don’t wait for things to come to you. Chase it.” A single mother of three was unhoused, despite having a steady job…“I…turned toward survival mode–a mode that most of society isn’t aware of in themselves, but, you know, I think is in all of us.” During his darkest days, he found resurrection through his community, who gave him a hand when he was at his worst…
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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.
Did you know that San Diego Padres star pitcher Joe Musgrove has a family connection to Little Italy?
His grandmother, Lucy Papitto, resided in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood for 30 years!
I didn’t know this until I saw a relatively new mural and plaque today. The beautiful mural can be found on India Street a little south of Grape Street. I’ve read that it was unveiled several months ago during Mother’s Day weekend.
When I walked by this morning, the San Diego sunshine was shining through nearby tree branches, perfectly framing Lucy Papitto’s smile.
IN HONOR OF PADRES PITCHER JOE MUSGROVE’S GRANDMOTHER LUCY PAPITTO, 1ST GENERATION SAN DIEGO NATIVE OF ITALIAN DESCENT WHO CALLED LITTLE ITALY HOME FROM 1928 TO 1958 RESIDING AT 1936 STATE STREET.
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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.
Some trolley riders smiled. Others slept. Some unabashedly sang along. Others stared at the unexpected spectacle with suspicion or disbelief. We all were riding a San Diego trolley to Destination JOY!
A special event was held today in San Diego. Trolley passengers could experience bright smiles and joy at certain stations and, perhaps unexpectedly, while riding the Blue or Orange lines! Destination JOY was the name of this first time event, and I experienced a bit of it myself!
Sustainable transportation, climate change mitigation, health and well-being, and civic engagement were the central themes of the event, which was presented by Way Outside the Lines in partnership with many community organizations and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). The mood of the event was happy and optimistic–full of good vibes!
At the Iris Avenue Transit Center, both registered participants and ordinary transit users could listen to poetry readings about human love in a sometimes difficult world, see colorful artwork, listen to live music, and even learn how to beat the summer heat. The theme at this station was the Sound of Joy…
Anyone could walk up and try their hand at painting. This is local artist David Gomez, who also had a small gallery of his artwork on display.
Institute for Public Strategies was at the Iris Avenue Transit Center educating people about how to beat the summer heat.
These musicians weren’t playing when I happened by, but they gave me the thumbs up!
A group that signed up for the full 4 hour Destination JOY experience prepare to board a random Blue Line trolley. They and surprised passengers would be entertained by a musical trolley show!
At the E Street Transit Center in Chula Vista, the roving group would enjoy more outdoor activations. The theme here was Art of Motion. Anyone who happened to come by the trolley station could participate in yoga and other healthy activities.
Smiles from the Yoga Lab!
I then headed off on my own to check out the activations at the 24th Avenue Transit Center in National City. Expression of Color was the theme at this station, and much of what I saw, including more colorful artwork, concerned protecting our natural environment.
I learned that a new project called Mundo Gardens is planned for National City. The Interstate 805 ramps for 43rd Street will be coming down creating an open space for the community.
From the 24th Street Transit Center I rode a Blue Line trolley back into downtown San Diego, missing the final Orange Line activations at the Euclid Avenue Station & Jacobs Center.
I did find friendly folks from the Urban Collaborative Project inside UC San Diego Park & Market near the trolley station of the same name. They aim to make Southeast San Diego a more vibrant, informed, connected, and empowered community!
The following stone was painted by Elie Kennedy, who had a table nearby. Visit my blog post concerning her work spreading love in San Diego 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.
Destination JOY was a wonderful, very unique event held today in San Diego. San Diego Trolley riders could enjoy diverse entertainment and activations while on the trolley or at select stations!
The event included music, art, poetry readings and more at the Iris Avenue Transit Center. Inside a dark trailer, a makeshift art gallery presented The Goldie Collection by local artist David Gomez (@the_art_of_controversy).
Check out some photographs of his shining mixed media artwork. As a sign explained: The paintings in this collection tell a story of innocence lost, betrayal, hope and a friendship that spans generations… While the story and images might appear a bit exotic, the themes are universally human. Cool art, right?
David was also painting outdoors for the Destination JOY trolley event. I’ll be blogging about this fun San Diego event in my next post!
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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.
I met Elie Kennedy today. She was at a table painting small, smooth stones inside the UC San Diego Park & Market building. She was participating in today’s Destination JOY event, which would bring San Diego Trolley riders into her smiling presence.
Elie makes lives in San Diego better. She does this by spreading hope and love with positive, affirming messages painted beautifully on stones. Perhaps you’ve seen Elie at art and craft events around the city. I also met her seven years ago in Balboa Park.
Elie has helped sick kids at Rady Children’s Hospital paint happy, hopeful stones. Above all, she’s an advocate for Suicide Prevention and Awareness. Her own family experience, and a day of painting stones on the beach for a loving memorial, propelled her down this road. The selling of her stones raises funds to bring awareness to the issue of suicide prevention.
Today, seeing the stones arranged on that table and her smile lighted my day. Chased away dark thoughts. Reminded me of important things.
Cool San Diego Sights! 