If you’ve driven through the intersection of Palomar Street and Broadway in Chula Vista you’ve no doubt seen it. A long, very colorful mural painted on the wall by nearby Orange Avenue, between a small city park and the El Mirador Trailer Court.
I believe the wall was painted fairly recently–that’s what a gentleman who works at Jack in the Box across the street told me.
I love the bright, cheerful designs! It appears that many refer to aspects of our region’s unique cultural and natural heritage.
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A few weeks ago, during my adventure in El Cajon, I walked around the Knox House Museum, which was closed at the time. I took a number of photographs of the historic structure, and the gazebo in small, grassy Judson Park to the north.
The Knox House Museum is operated by the El Cajon Historical Society. The building is a restoration of Amaziah Lord Knox’s original two-story, seven room El Cajon Hotel, which was built in 1876 near the present day corner of Main Street and Magnolia Avenue. The building also served as the Knox residence. In later years the hotel was altered in various ways and greatly enlarged. In 1972 the City of El Cajon purchased the original building and moved it to its present location, at the corner of Magnolia and Park Avenue.
To learn much, much more about the old hotel, the present day museum, and the history of El Cajon, which began in earnest with the discovery of gold in Julian in 1870, visit the El Cajon Historical Society’s website here! Among other things, you’ll learn why the Knox House Museum is painted in such unusual colors!
I spotted this old gazebo in Judson Park, across Park Avenue…
The plaque on the gazebo includes: In 1875 the bustling commerce of ore wagons, stage coaches and other traffic of the times passed this spot on route to and from San Diego and the gold mines of Julian. This land was later granted to the City of El Cajon by the C.S. Judson family…The gazebo was constructed by the El Cajon Historical Society…Dedicated July 26, 1992…This rose garden was presented to the people of El Cajon by the East County Rose Society…Dedicated November 2002…
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
I walk past this sculpture at the corner of University Avenue and Bancroft Street every so often, and when I do I always search for a plaque or other indication of when it was created and by whom. To me it’s a complete mystery.
For many years this flame-like sculpture with patterned tiles at its base has welcomed people driving west into North Park from City Heights. I have no doubt someone out there knows its story–but I sure don’t!
If you know anything, I’d be very curious to read your comment!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
An outdoor sculpture gallery is now springing up in the heart of City Heights!
Today I paused near the intersection of University Avenue and Interstate 15 to feast my eyes on all the colorful artwork!
This very cool outdoor sculpture garden is sponsored by the City Heights Community Development Corporation, the City Heights Business Association and Synergy Arts Foundation. The character sculptures, which might represent a person that is real or imagined, are all created by members of the community, under the curation of local artist Jim Bliesner.
The sculptures have personalities that are funny, or sad, or hopeful, or simply whimsical–and all are super creative! I noticed some refer to the difficult COVID-19 pandemic we are all experiencing.
You can view this unique installation in the vacant lot north of University Avenue just east of Interstate 15. The mixed media sculptures stand behind a fence that is already decorated with hand painted murals that I blogged about here.
The sculptures will be on display in the lot for a year and a variety of community events will be held among them.
I’ll return at a later time to photograph additional sculptures. Stay tuned for an update!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
This morning I spotted five more utility boxes that are being painted for the San Diego Museum of Art’s project Young Art: Outside the Frame!
These five boxes are all in downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood, along Park Boulevard between E Street and Market Street. Other boxes I’ve previously spotted are also along Park Boulevard, but to the north. To see those colorful utility boxes, click here and here and here!
The unique outdoor exhibition Young Art: Outside the Frame is a collaboration between the San Diego Museum of Art, SDG&E, and Mindful Murals who is coordinating the many artists.
Environmental artwork that has been selected from the museum’s upcoming biennial exhibition of local student art (this year titled Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet) is being reproduced by professional artists on 25 SDG&E utility boxes. A map of the box locations is forthcoming, and I will post it!
The five boxes I spied today are in various stages of completion. I can identify one of the artists so far. The black box with the blue sea life is by Shelly S. (@fairywulf).
I’ll post updates as I learn and discover more in the days ahead!
(The upcoming photo is of a mural directly across Park Boulevard from the above box. It’s titled The Strength of the Women. It was painted by renowned artist Rafael Lopez years ago. I blogged about it in 2014. You can see those photos here.)
Now back to the boxes…
UPDATE!
The following weekend I took photos that show some of the above boxes are now finished.
I see the utility box with the flowers and the face on top is by Donovan Diaz (@drawntworks). The now completed black and white box with the wildlife is by Amanda Kazemi (@grayfractal). And the box with the wind turbines is by Sean Hnedak.
ANOTHER UPDATE!
The last box in this group is finished. I see the artwork is by Carlos Quezada and Melody De Los Cobos (@chicanalilly)!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Baby Yoda with a cup of coffee, by artist Gerardo Meza.
I have all sorts of random images saved on my computer from various walks in the past month or so. The photos I’m posting now were taken in San Ysidro, a little north of the Mexican border.
I discovered these colorful bits of street art as I wandered about.
Enjoy!
Funny dog-like critter on an electrical box by artist Gerardo Meza.A colorful peacock mural, incorporating the planet Earth and word Unidad (unity), painted near the front door of Express Pawn-Empeño in San Ysidro.Flowers, a camera and San Ysidro map pin. Painted on one side of Express Pawn-Empeño by artist Mariana M||C (@marianamcart).Día de los Muertos artwork. La Catrina skull and fancy hat painted on a fence by artist Gerardo Meza.Dedicated to our loved ones from San Ysidro. Dedicado a nuestros muertitos de San Ysidro.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
If you’ve ever entered or departed downtown Escondido via West Valley Parkway, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a large, quite interesting sculpture a short distance east of Interstate 15. The sculpture stands at the intersection of Valley Parkway and Tulip Street, right next to the Gateway Shopping Center.
The cast bronze sculpture is titled Community. It was created by local artist Jeff Lindeneau in 1990.
The sun’s light forms dynamic human shapes that are “cut out” of the two triangular sections of Community.
According to a City of Escondido walking tour brochure: “This bronze, copper and locally mined granite sculpture celebrates people living and building together to achieve a common goal. The dramatic sculpture’s shape is reminiscent of the mountains surrounding Escondido with a central passageway depicting the valley.”
I like how you can see trees, hillsides, signs, buildings, light posts and electrical wires inside the human shapes. They, too, are part of Community.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
I’m not sure when the Cat Cult mural was painted in North Park, but it’s been on a parking lot wall off Ohio Street just north of University Avenue since at least 2013. The colors have faded and in places the paint has peeled away.
As far as I can determine, this cool mural is the creation of widely known artists Surge and Persue–I do recognize the latter’s Bunny Kitty character. I’ve also read Cat Cult is a graffiti/street art collective that operates primarily in Los Angeles.
Whatever it’s exact history might be, this mural is definitely awesome!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The nation of Australia presented the City of San Diego with many beautiful plants in 1976 for the United States Bicentennial. These plants can be found in Balboa Park’s seldom visited, little known Australian Garden.
Should you drive into the heart of Balboa Park by turning from Park Boulevard onto Presidents Way, you’ll glimpse the top of the Australian Garden to your right. To see most of the native Australian trees and shrubs, however, you must drive or carefully walk down winding, slightly steep Paseo de Oro, which motorists pass just before they reach the large parking lot behind the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Look for the Gold Gulch Remote Parking Lot sign. There’s no sidewalk!
You can also reach the Australian Garden by walking south down Gold Gulch Trail, which begins near El Prado at the Zoro Garden. The trail passes under the Space Theater Way bridge near the Fleet Science Center and continues along the east side of the Japanese Friendship Garden. Once you see a fenced area where the green Balboa Park shuttles are stored, you’re there!
Plants in the Australian Garden, according to this page, include: “Grevellia, Acacia, Callistemon, Banksia, Hakea, Stenocarpus, Leptospermum, Melaleuca, and Eucalyptus.” There are no signs in Gold Gulch Canyon at the garden, but apparently there are plans to create trails in this area of Balboa Park and erect an informational kiosk.
In 1935, this small canyon was the home of Gold Gulch, a popular attraction at Balboa Park’s California Pacific International Exposition. According to Wikipedia, Gold Gulch was an “Old West mining town-ghost town re-creation for fairgoers to experience the atmosphere of a mining boomtown… Gold Gulch inspired and influenced subsequent Western theme parks…Examples include the Calico Ghost Town…and the “Ghost Town” section of Knott’s Berry Farm… and Frontierland by Walt Disney.…”
The above photo of the “hidden” Australian Garden was taken from a point above the canyon, behind the WorldBeat Cultural Center and Centro Cultural de la Raza.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Cool San Diego Sights! 