Do you ever blink your eyes at an oh-so-serious adult and wonder what they were like as a small child? Before growing up and becoming terribly sophisticated, did they love to draw simple things like hearts, flowers and smiles?
I saw this amazing tile wall in Escondido last weekend as I walked from the California Center for the Arts toward Grape Day Park. A plaque states it’s the 1994 Escondido Students’ Tile Mural. Hundreds of names from local schools appear on this happy, quilt-like mosaic.
The tiles were painted 26 years ago.
I have no doubt that many who painted their tile with small hands long ago still love hearts, flowers and smiles.
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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!
I’ve photographed many monuments that remember those who’ve fallen in war.
At the Veterans Memorial in Vista, California, the powerful monument to one particular soldier can easily bring you to tears.
Please look at the following images, read the two random letters that I photographed leading to the sculpture, then the plaque that describes the life and death of a young person who simply wanted to serve. Click those photos and they will enlarge for easier reading.
Veterans Memorial Park was created by the Pinamonti family to honor Ernie, son and brother, who was killed in the Vietnam War.
Sculpture at Veterans Memorial, by artist Rip Caswell, 2016.
Dear Family, Today we are starting our first day of training…Mail call is the best part of the day and I really look forward to it…I miss everyone a great deal and I read the letters over and over. Sincerely, ErnieDear Ernie…If there is anything you need, just ask and we will send it to you…Remember to write every couple days so I don’t worry about you. Be good and take care of yourself. I miss you. Love, Mother
Flag flies above Veterans Memorial Park in Vista, California.On May 15, 1969, our family was forever changed by the knock on the front door that brought news that our 19 year old brother, Ernie, had died of wounds received while assisting a fellow soldier…
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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 photographs.
There’s so much art to discover around downtown Vista it makes one’s head spin! I don’t think I’ve observed a greater concentration of public art anywhere else in San Diego County.
In addition to many murals (I’ll share photos of those shortly), there are fun, super creative sculptures almost everywhere one turns: on sidewalks, on street corners, on walls, rising from pedestals into the sky!
There are crazy steampunk sculptures, abstract sculptures, healing sculptures along Veterans Memorial Park, joyful sculptures based on the theme Kites Over Vista.
There are so many public sculptures that I only photographed a fraction of them last weekend as I enjoyed a semi-random walk around downtown Vista.
If you follow Cool San Diego Sights, you probably noticed I already posted photographs of two of these sculptures. Wild Horses here, and Love Locks here. (I’ll soon be sharing photos of one additional very special sculpture.)
To discover much more of this amazing public art, visit the City of Vista Public Art Map by clicking here.
Big Blue Kite, by artist Robert Rochin, 2008.Into the Current, by artist Janis Selby Jones, 2017. (Represents the swirling Great Pacific Garbage Patch.)Joy Figure, by artist Josh Bowman, 2008.Healing, by artist Vicki Leon, 2016.
Freedom, by artists Jaydon Sterling Randall and Rick Randall, 2016.Remembrance, by artist Buddy Smith, 2016.
Plaques set in the Paseo Santa Fe sidewalk contain sculpted avocados.Prima Vista, by artist Michael Angelo Venturello, 2016.A View in Bloom, by artists Thomas and Sylvia King, 2006.Carnival, by artist Rick Randall, 2019.
Alley Cat, by artists Rick and Jaydon Sterling Randall.
Tortuga de Mar, by artist John Meyer, 2018.Peace Arrow, by artist Alex Gall, 2019.
A Flock of Kites, by artist Robert Rochin, 2008.
Alley Art Man.
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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 piers and boardwalks of San Diego reopened yesterday. The coronavirus pandemic seems to be subsiding locally.
I got off work early this hot June day and decided to go to Ocean Beach. A fresh sea breeze would be so nice. I hadn’t been out on the OB Pier in a long while.
When I arrived, a good crowd was gathered on the beach. It seemed fewer people were on the pier.
Fishermen were leaning against the rail or sitting on benches hoping to catch the big one. Those strolling down the pier often paused to watch a group of surfers below.
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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!
I was walking down Cedar Street this morning when I noticed a worker had placed several large pots on the sidewalk at Third Avenue. In a trailer behind his truck were several beautiful plants.
The Downtown San Diego Partnership is adding even more beauty to the neighborhood!
UPDATE!
Here’s what it looked like when I walked past a few days later…
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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!
Plaza del Arroyo mural near North Broadway and Escondido Creek features a wading bird.
Lots of colorful art that celebrates nature can be spotted in Escondido when you walk along the east side of Broadway, between the Escondido Creek Trail and the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum.
These photographs were taken during a walk that headed south.
Enjoy!
Escondido Creek Trail mural behind flowers by the popular bike and pedestrian path.Nearby utility boxes with an elaborately painted owl and hummingbird.Another nearby electrical box reads BEE KIND.Mosaic on this post at the parking lot of the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum shows desert animal and plant life.A desert tortoise, I believe.A beautiful, very colorful abstract butterfly mural near the entrance to the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum.
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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!
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is now displaying some very unique abstract artwork inside the America Plaza office building. One America Plaza, the tallest building in San Diego, stands across Kettner Boulevard from the museum’s downtown location.
This small exhibition of art is titled Commonplace Abstractions. The pieces, on view behind glass, were selected from MCASD’s collection. Each work of art incorporates one or more ordinary objects from everyday human life.
Step into the front entrance of America Plaza, head down the corridor to the left that leads to the nearby trolley station, and you’ll see how contemporary artists can use creativity and ingenuity to rearrange elements in our familiar world, and make it even more mysterious, thought-provoking, and strangely wonderful!
My photos provide a few examples of what you’ll see.
Painting with Coat Hanger, John Armleder, 1984.Office Depot, Mónica Arreola, 2003.Day by day is good day, Peter Dreher, 1990, 2007.
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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!
Unusual public art stands in the middle of the Escondido Transit Center. The abstract concrete sculpture is surrounded by North County Transit District bus stops.
Tilted concrete slabs, like geometric planes, form a narrow passage. The title of the sculpture is Hekkilk, and it was created by Peter Mitten in 1989. According to a nearby plaque, Hekkilk is a Diegueño Indian word that means “a big dent, as in a pass through mountains.”
The abstract concrete sculpture is apparently a representation of local geography.
The passage is oriented north/south. Approximate distances from the sculpture to various geographic points in San Diego County are noted on the plaque.
For several decades, those travelling through Escondido have been able to take a few steps through this “big dent” and contemplate the larger world around them.
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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 northwest corner of Town and Country’s new river park is under construction. The public park will be directly across Riverwalk Drive from the Fashion Valley Transit Center.
A new linear river park is under construction near Fashion Valley!
An ugly old parking lot of the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center is being converted into park space. And the north side of the San Diego River, directly adjacent to the Fashion Valley Transit Center, will be part of this new public park, too!
The project, which includes almost 8 acres of restored natural habitat, and beautiful new pathways along the San Diego River, is part of the Town and Country hotel’s extensive property-wide renovation.
Today I found myself standing high up on the Fashion Valley trolley station platform. I looked down to see how the northwest corner of the new park is taking shape.
Because I frequently use this station, I’ll continue to monitor developments!
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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!
The Pier Cafe at Seaport Village is no longer brown. It has been painted dark blue!
Look what I noticed today during my evening walk along the Embarcadero. Seaport Village must have a brand new color scheme. Because many of its buildings along the water have recently been painted dark blue!
To me it all appeared very strange. Probably because I’m accustomed to Seaport Village’s old appearance.
Seaport Deli and Salad Bar has also been painted dark blue! But it still has the red tile roof.And the Harbor House restaurant has turned from brown to blue! Seaport Village must have a new color scheme.The Seaport Village lighthouse has always been light blue. For many years you could purchase cookies here. I see a new coffee shop called Spill the Beans is coming.And look! Buster’s Beach House is now painted dark blue, too! It all appears a bit peculiar to me, but I might change my mind.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 