Singing Patterns brighten Southeast San Diego!

A two-part mural titled Singing Patterns brightens a corner of Valencia Park in Southeast San Diego. The colorful public art decorates the west side of the Southeastern Live Well Center, which opened last year. Travel along Euclid Avenue near Market Street and you’ll see it!

Singing Patterns was created by artist, writer and activist Doris Bittar. Here’s her Instagram page where you’ll see photos of the mural panels being installed.

You can read about this installation and all the art inside and outside the Southeastern Live Well Center by clicking here. You’ll learn this outdoor mural honors the culture of San Diego’s dynamic and historic neighborhoods… The artwork metaphorically bridges regions, history and time together using patterns from all over the world.

The patterns are derived from Black, Latin, Syrian, Somali and Filipino culture.

Earlier this year, while walking in Valencia Park, I took photographs of other public art outside this large new San Diego County complex. See those photos here and here!

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

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Cool mural at Fish Pit on College Avenue!

If you driven up College Avenue a block north of El Cajon Boulevard you’ve possibly seen this cool mural. It’s painted on the south side of a sushi restaurant called Fish Pit (I don’t know if they are still operating–their website no longer exists.)

The art is by graffiti artist Unity. It appears that a toothy octopus is enjoying a bowl of rice!

Unity is San Diego artist Jonathan Wenner. You can check out another mural that he painted here. He has a very distinctive style.

The Fish Pit mural was painted in 2021. I really like it!

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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)!

A painted memorial to Tibor in City Heights.

There’s a beautiful memorial to a cat named Tibor in City Heights. I noticed this painted rock beside the sidewalk as I walked with my camera last weekend. I was photographing the parade that preceded the Festival of Love.

The colorful stone honors the life of Tibor aka TT, a cat that was loved by the neighborhood.

I thought you might be touched by this small memorial.

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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)!

New public art appears at RaDD in San Diego!

New public art has appeared at the RaDD (Research and Development District) complex that now rises on San Diego’s waterfront!

Sculptures and murals can be viewed by those walking along the Embarcadero among the five gleaming RaDD buildings where some construction fences have recently come down.

I was able to photograph the above sculpture and a long mural today during my walk near the USS Midway, the Greatest Generation Walk and Ruocco Park. I also spotted a water feature among plants and trees between the two southernmost buildings.

Another large red sculpture and another mural have also appeared among the buildings to the north, but construction fences still obstruct photography. I’ll try to provide more photos when those fences are removed.

I know nothing about the artists. If you have any interesting information, please leave a comment. If I learn anything further about this new public art in San Diego, I’ll post an update!

(Last November, I spotted a new mural at the north end of RaDD. See those photos 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)!

Chinese New Year Festival in Balboa Park!

A big Chinese New Year event is taking place this weekend in San Diego!

The Year of the Dragon, 2024, is being celebrated at the Chinese New Year Festival in Balboa Park. Hosted by the House of China, plenty of fun, cultural entertainment and ethnic food awaits families at the International Cottages!

I visited today and took a bunch of colorful photos that you might like.

The annual Chinese New Year event in Balboa Park always attracts a huge crowd. The list of performers is long–there is music, fan dancing, theater, and a traditional, crowd-pleasing Chinese New Year’s lion dance, of course!

Unique gifts, crafts and Chinese calligraphy lessons can be found among the many booths. There’s enough going on to keep the family occupied for much of the afternoon. Grab a dumpling, a boba tea, a good seat on the lawn, and enjoy!

The event continues tomorrow, Sunday, February 18, from 11 am to 5 pm.

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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)!

4th Annual City Heights Multi-Cultural Festival of Love!

These photographs are from today’s 4th Annual City Heights Multi-Cultural Festival of Love. The event, which celebrates community unity and diversity around Valentine’s Day, was held in Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park.

I arrived as the festival began, having followed a small but heart-filled parade down several streets in City Heights. See those fun photographs here!

Neighbors were gathering around 11 am to gaze at cool lowriders along Fairmount Avenue and enjoy multicultural entertainment that would include ballet, lion dances, drummers and the Fern Street Circus.

There was plenty of great food on hand. Community organizations caught the attention of visitors at booths around the grass. (See my photos of several flyers with really great information.) Odi the Coyote from the San Diego Library was greeting young and old. The Rad Hatter was there to help everyone create radical hats from paper bags. And there were other craft activities for families, including making puppet masks!

I lingered for a bit and listened to Mariachi Victoria performing on the outdoor stage.

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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)!

Parade in City Heights before Festival of Love!

There was a parade through City Heights in San Diego this morning!

The parade started at Joyner Elementary School, wound through several residential streets, and ended up at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park where the 4th Annual City Heights Multi-Cultural Festival of Love would be held! (Photos of that fun event coming up!)

No floats or marching bands? No problem! The parade featured a bunch of cool lowriders and even more awesome smiles! It might not have been the biggest parade in the world, but all the hearts moving down the sidewalk more than made up for it!

The banner leading the community parade read: Diversity, Solidarity and Love in City Heights. That pretty much summed up the positive vibe. Neighbors smiled as we passed! (Or blinked with astonishment.)

I arrived at the staging parking lot before the parade began, then followed along on foot for the 1.3 mile route.

Enjoy some photos!

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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)!

Beautiful new mural debuts in Rolando!

A beautiful new mural has debuted in San Diego’s Rolando neighborhood!

Depictions of homes in the community, nearby San Diego State University, and familiar plants and animals enliven a wall on 62nd Avenue, a block south of El Cajon Boulevard. The mural was created in partnership with SDG&E, whose substation is located here.

This colorful public art debuted earlier this week and is the work of ArtReach. The lead muralist was Katy Yeaw.

(While visiting Katy’s website, I learned she painted a fun electrical box that I photographed years ago in Little Italy!)

Late this afternoon I checked out the three sides of this great new mural…

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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)!

Downloadable maps of Balboa Park’s Australian Garden.

Three years ago I posted a blog titled Balboa Park’s hidden Australian Garden. You can read it here.

I’ve learned the San Diego Floral Association has downloadable maps of this large, little-known garden. The two maps show where different species of plants and trees (that were donated by the government of Australia for the United States Bicentennial) are planted.

Click here for a .pdf map of the Australian Garden’s lower area, which stretches along Paseo del Oro in Gold Gulch. There are different species of Acacia, Brachychiton, Eucalyptus, Grevillea, Melaleuca, and many others.

For a map of the upper area, where you can observe more beautiful plants below Presidents Way, 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)!

Oceanside plaque for transportation visionary.

Byron Nordberg — In recognition of his many contributions to the development of passenger rail in Oceanside, San Diego County, California and the United States.

A plaque honoring Byron Nordberg is embedded in a boulder near the train platforms at the Oceanside Transit Center. It recognizes a visionary mover and shaker, who is largely responsible for the creation of this regional transportation center, where Amtrak, Metrolink, the Coaster, the Sprinter, plus Greyhound buses and several North County Transit District bus routes conveniently come together.

Here’s a great article that concerns the work of Byron Nordberg. And here’s a press release regarding his death in 1997. If you ride the San Diego trolley or the aforementioned trains, you might appreciate his early advocacy of rail in Southern California, as well as innovations that allow passengers to easily board trains without stepping up, safe tunnels and overpasses under and over tracks, and double tracks at stations that prevent unnecessary delays in the system.

From his childhood he was a lover a trains. I am, too. So I thank him.

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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)!