Four more Museum of Art utility boxes!

Look what I spotted this morning!

Four more SDG&E utility boxes are now being painted just south of Balboa Park for the Young Art: Outside the Frame project of the San Diego Museum of Art!

These four boxes are clustered together near the intersection of Park Boulevard and Russ Boulevard, west of San Diego High School and City College.

Twenty five utility boxes are being painted by assorted San Diego artists, all coordinated by Mindful Murals. I blogged about this unique outdoor exhibition a couple days ago. You can read much more about it, and see the first box that I discovered a couple days ago, by clicking here!

I’ll post an update after these four boxes are completed, and I learn more about these particular artists!

UPDATE!

I walked past these boxes a little over a week later and noticed progress had been made in painting two of them. I also became excited to see a fifth box has been started!

I observed that the box with the light bulb on top is by Nhuy Reid. The box with the elongated neck is by Mensah Bey. The box with the turtle is by Brise Birdsong. (She has many works of street art around San Diego–I’ve photographed quite a few.) Finally, the new box with the beautiful red rose is by an artist named Jazmine, with whom I spoke very briefly one day just as she was getting started.

ANOTHER UPDATE!

And another week later…all five boxes appear to be completed!

I see the artist to whom I briefly spoke, who painted the box with the rose and animals, is Jazmine P. (@crystalizedbonez). The box painted like a jigsaw puzzle is by @cuatrovecesiete.

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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!

Two colorful murals on 43rd Street.

I spotted these two very colorful murals while walking down 43rd Street in southeast San Diego. Both contain symbolic elements.

The first, combining Aztec imagery with humor, I saw at 43rd Wash & Wax…

The second mural I discovered at the corner of 43rd Street and Boston Avenue. It includes an image of President Obama paired with what I believe is the Egyptian god Horus as a royal falcon…

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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!

Young Art: Outside the Frame at Balboa Park!

The San Diego Museum of Art, in partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric and Mindful Murals, will soon showcase an inspiring community project titled Young Art: Outside the Frame!

Twenty five SDG&E utility boxes near Balboa Park and along Park Boulevard into downtown are now being painted with artwork selected from the museum’s biennial exhibition of local student art.

The museum’s upcoming exhibition is titled Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet.

I was walking up Park Boulevard by Balboa Park’s Pepper Grove Playground this afternoon when I noticed one of the utility boxes is now being painted! San Diego artist Amanda Saint Claire was mentoring Katie Flores as the two created some beautiful new public artwork!

I was shown how the youth art that was selected for this particular box appears. You can get an idea with the following photo:

All the boxes are being painted by professional artists, under the coordination of Mindful Murals. (You might remember I saw some of Mindful Murals’ inspiring work at Edison Elementary School in City Heights a couple years ago and posted photos here.)

The 25 utility boxes should be finished by March 22. The San Diego Museum of Art’s exhibition Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet will be on view March 26 to May 9, 2021.

A map showing the location of each utility box will be provided!

Stay tuned for more!

UPDATE!

I walked past the box early the following morning and saw more progress has been made. I didn’t have a chance to go by later in the day, but I’ll visit it again in the next few days to see if it’s completed! Here are the photos…

As you can see, butterflies have appeared on top of the box!

SECOND UPDATE!

I went by the next morning, too, and this is what I saw! I’m not sure if the box is finished, but it looks great!

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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!

Four birds and an historic first flight!

I photographed several instances of great street art while walking along Coronado Avenue this weekend. As I headed west from Interstate 5 to Robert Egger, Sr. – South Bay Community Park, I discovered four birds and an historic first flight!

First up, two utility boxes just east of the freeway were painted with three raptors, including a bald eagle…

As I continued west down the sidewalk and passed in front of the City of San Diego’s Engine Co. 30 fire station, I noticed a unique box painted in honor of the world’s first controlled heavier-than-air flight, which took place about a mile east of where I stood.

I blogged about John J. Montgomery’s glider flights from a hilltop in Otay Mesa West and posted photos of the imposing wing monument that marks where aviation history was made here.

Finally, as I arrived at Robert Egger, Sr. – South Bay Community Park, I found a colorful work of street art featuring a beautiful nature scene and pink cockatoo!

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Photos outside the old Nestor Methodist Church.

This weekend I passed by a couple of old churches in San Diego’s South Bay.

I was walking along Coronado Avenue, just west of Interstate 5, when I saw a white church with an old-fashioned steeple up a low hill. My feet turned toward it for a closer look.

What I discovered was the Nestor United Methodist Church, built in 1896. A friendly gentleman who I believe might belong to the church showed me the building’s brick cornerstone, which I photographed.

Nestor is a community that lies between Imperial Beach and Otay Mesa West. I tried to do a little internet searching to find out more about this historic church, and came upon this South Bay Historical Society Bulletin from 2016, which states:

1896 – Nestor United Methodist Church at Coronado and Hollister was built on land donated by Captain John Folks. The first Methodist organization in the South Bay area was the Tia Juana Valley Methodist Sunday School in Oneonta, beginning in 1888.

Services were conducted in the upstairs room of the Oneonta School. The cornerstone of the present structure at 1120 22nd Street was laid on July 23, 1896. The National City and Otay Railway ran special trains to the ceremony from San Diego.

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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!

Maxx Moses mural at Jerry’s Market.

This is one of the coolest murals I’ve seen! It was painted in 2018 by local artist Maxx Moses.

You’ve might have seen photos of his distinctive, highly inventive murals previously. Click here and you’ll see a variety of blog posts that include Maxx Moses’ work around San Diego.

This really great mural can be found on the parking lot wall outside Jerry’s Market, in San Diego’s southeast community of Mountain View, at the corner of Logan Avenue and 45th Street.

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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!

Monument honors South Bay Issei Pioneers.

In Chula Vista, at the corner of Palomar Street and Broadway, you’ll find busy shopping malls in every direction. And thousands of passing cars.

What you won’t see, unless you are one of the few who walk down the sidewalk, is a bronze plaque on a stone set back among bushes. This small monument to South Bay Issei Pioneers marks the place where the Chula Vista Gakuen or Japanese School stood when it was dedicated in 1925.

I’ve transcribed what I read on the plaque. (Issei are immigrants born in Japan. Nisei are their children, born in the new country.)

SOUTH BAY ISSEI PIONEERS

Initially arriving in 1885, these immigrants from Japan, through their intellect, diligence, and tenacity made numerous major contributions to the agricultural development of this area. These accomplishments were achieved at the same time as the issei were fighting discrimination, unfair land laws, and ultimately, the mass removal of all person of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast of the United States during World War II. This site marks the final location of the Chula Vista Gakuen or Japanese School, which was originally dedicated on October 6, 1925. The school helped nisei children to better understand and honor their heritage.

Japanese American Citizens League San Diego Chapter

Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego
September 1996

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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!

Kobe Bryant mural in National City!

A big, amazing mural paying tribute to late Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant was painted last year on the side of La Casa Liquor in National City. The artwork was created by David Gane Feucht, who goes by the name GANE ONE.

To the right of a dynamic Kobe with basketball is his quote: “Heroes come and go but legends are forever.”

I really increased the contrast in the next photograph to make the brilliant colors pop.

If you’d like to see a cool mural in Normal Heights that also celebrates Kobe Bryant, check out one of my past blog posts by clicking here!

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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!

Huge boulder crushes car on L Street!

An enormous boulder dropped from the sky and crushed a car that was parked by the sidewalk on L Street!

I witnessed the strange, tragic aftermath with my own eyes, as I walked past Southwest Boulder & Stone in Chula Vista.

Because no one will believe me, I took several photographs!

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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!

El Rincon’s very colorful mural expands!

El Rincon Restaurant in San Ysidro already had an amazing mural on one side of their building. I posted photos of it here when I blogged last September about a international cross-border exhibition of urban art in both San Diego and Tijuana.

Today I noticed the mural has expanded and now covers three sides of the building!

As I took photos, a friendly young man came out and told me the same artist who painted the original artwork, Michelle Ruby, also known as Mrbbaby, returned about a month ago and added to it!

The side facing San Ysidro Boulevard now features bright, happy suns. The northwest side has a moon theme, and what appears to be the Tree of Life growing between night and day.

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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!