As I walked around Escondido on Saturday, I happened upon some beautiful public art near City Hall.
My first photos show an installation called Circle of Music. The four sculptures, fitted with speakers that play soft music, are part of the larger Monuments to Time in the Corridor of Life, Art and Culture, a series of interactive pieces created in 1998 that extend from the Great Green near City Hall south into Escondido’s city core.
The bright, colorful Circle of Music sculptures were designed by artists Sandra Rowe and Nancy Mooslin. They stand beside the small parking lot directly west of the Escondido City Hall, east of the California Center for the Arts. Approach each sculpture and you’ll hear the unique music that was composed by Steven Stucky.
Two water-like columns are also part of Monuments to Time in the Corridor of Life, Art and Culture, and were created by the same artists. The columns stand like a gateway at the south edge of the Great Green.
A nearby plaque reads: From light flows the sustenance of life…creativity.
Finally, I came upon the Military Tribute.
This memorial completed in 2007 is located north of City Hall, in a spot between the Great Green and Grape Day Park.
A beautiful Wall of Courage, containing plaques that honor those who served, provides a backdrop to three life-size bronze sculptures created by artist Gale Pruitt. The statues are titled Past, Present, Future.
UPDATE!
I took more photos during a later visit…
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An amazing exhibition at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park just opened!
As I entered the garden’s Exhibit Hall this afternoon, I and other visitors were welcomed by the smile of accomplished Japanese fiber artist Maki Ishiwata. On display in the nearby glass cases were many of her stunning creations!
Take a look at these photos and you can see how exquisite this art is. Maki told me a little about her craft, and showed me briefly how she assembles washi–traditional Japanese handmade paper–into delicate, subtle pieces that resemble natural flowers and plants. I learned that some of the larger creations can take eight hours to complete.
According to the Japanese Friendship Garden’s website: “…like many crafts, washi is facing a decrease and disappearance of its makers. For washi culture to survive, greater appreciation for the durability, purity, beauty, and versatility of this paper is essential. Through Ishiwata’s art work, she hopes to be able to connect traditional washi and Japanese aesthetic sense to global context and provide a unique experience for people to see an amazing transformation of one sheet of paper through one person`s hands.”
In the following photographs you can see some of the materials that are used, and a poster describing the complex process used to make washi. Kozo (Paper Mulberry) is harvested, the bark is scraped, boiled, snow bleached, wind dried, then soaked and softened…
The beautiful calligraphy in one photo was produced by Maki’s grandmother. Another unusual photo includes a reflection from the glass display case of a tree outside the Exhibit Hall.
This fantastic exhibition at the Japanese Friendship Garden will continue through January 26, 2020.
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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!
Two female bronze sculptures welcome visitors to the Plaza Civic Center shopping mall in Escondido. I saw them yesterday as I walked to the California Center for the Arts. The sculptures can be found on North Escondido Boulevard, directly across from the regional cultural complex.
Both fine pieces of public art were created by local sculptor Gale Pruitt. Lorelei depicts a woman summoning with her outstretched arm as she lies on a rock, just as the siren-like figure in German lore. Elation depicts a girl with her head bent skyward in joyful ecstasy.
I took several photos!
Lorelei, Gale Pruitt, 2005.Lorelei, Gale Pruitt, 2005.Elation, Gale Pruitt, 2006.Elation, Gale Pruitt, 2006.Elation, Gale Pruitt, 2006.
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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!
A cool new mural has been painted on the east side of Humphrey Appliance in Normal Heights! I noticed it while walking down Adams Avenue yesterday.
The artist is Jonathan Wenner (Unity21). I did my best to get good photos, but various boxes and pieces of furniture in the small parking lot block the lower part of the artwork.
Enjoy!
UPDATE!
I got an unobstructed photo on a later walk…
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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!
Over the years, I’ve photographed many of the public art sculptures that can be found all around San Diego.
Because Cool San Diego Sights is now over six years old, and most readers have seen only a small fraction of my blog, I thought it would be fun to link to some old posts.
The following links don’t include all of the sculptures I’ve photographed, but they do provide a convenient starting point for a journey of discovery!
Facetime is a site-specific public art piece that offers three separate spaces for both interaction and contemplation, while providing temporary shelter.
Very cool new public art was installed at Liberty Station this summer. I saw it for the first time last weekend while I experienced the La Jolla Playhouse’s outdoor WOW festival.
The public art is titled Facetime. It was created by Ocean Beach artist Miki Iwasaki. Three angular sculptures made of corten steel contain seats, inviting face to face human interaction.
I watched a couple enter one shelter, promptly pull out phones and bow their heads.
At least they sat near one another.
Facetime on grass near walkways at Liberty Station.Instead of speaking face to face, two people stare silently down at their phones.Miki Iwasaki. Facetime. August 2019. Corten steel with seating elements. In partnership with Mingei International Museum.Materials will patinate over time, enhancing the visible connection to natural forces and site context.Three can sit near each other in this shady sculpture and share an experience.Facetime is public art located in Liberty Station’s ARTS DISTRICT.Cool public art invites human interaction.
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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 stumbled upon two different ikebana exhibitions while strolling about Balboa Park!
The first show I enjoyed was being held inside the Casa del Prado. Sogetsu San Diego Branch had filled a large room with many fantastic Japanese flower arrangements.
The Sogetsu School of ikebana originated in 1927. This school of floral arrangement allows for wider individual expression than traditional ikebana, which adheres to formal rules.
According to what I read in a brochure at the show: Sogetsu Ikebana can be created anytime, anywhere, by anyone in any part of the world, and with any kind of material.
You can see in a few of the upcoming photographs that some rather strange materials are indeed used!
The second show I enjoyed was being held inside the Exhibit Hall at the Japanese Friendship Garden. Fantastic arrangements had been created by the Ohara School of Ikebana, La Jolla Chapter.
A friendly artist explained that the Ohara School often creates a sense of natural landscape with flowers and common plants, like grasses, ferns, holly and even garden vegetables! Wide basins and water can enhance the sense the viewer is hovering above a wild garden or beautiful lake.
The careful design of each arrangement incorporates at least one triangle. You can see several of those triangles in my photos:
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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!
Stacks of old books contain important records in the cold vault of the San Diego City Clerk’s Archives Center.
Yesterday I stepped into City Hall to enjoy an educational event open to the public during the City Clerk’s 3rd Annual Archives Month. When I entered the Archives Center in the basement of the San Diego City Administration Building, I didn’t really know what I might experience.
I saw and learned more from this behind the scenes tour than I expected!
I and a few others were led into a small lecture room and introduced to City of San Diego Archivist Jerry Handfield. He’s an energetic historian and professional archivist who in the past has served as State Archivist for both Indiana and Washington.
Jerry Handfield presented an overview of his job and explained the critical importance of maintaining genuine, reliable, trustworthy public records.
We learned that good governance depends on maintaining accurate records. Trustworthy public records protect the rights of citizens and promotes public trust in government. A healthy democracy relies on trust in its institutions.
Archives play such an important role that in 1850, when San Diego was a tiny town with very limited resources, the city’s newly created common council directed that a very expensive iron safe be appropriated to the clerk for the safekeeping of city records.
As an archivist, Jerry Handfield provided a list of reasons why records matter: they protect life (medical records), protect the public from disasters (maps and floor plans), protect property rights (deeds), and include all sorts of other critical information. He mentioned insurance and bank records, marriage licenses, work licenses and business records.
We learned that for an archivist preservation is a constant war. It’s a war against time, negligence, disasters like floods and mold, decay caused by acids in paper, and other often unpredictable factors. Some media that store records, such as floppy disks and magnetic tape, degrade over time, become corrupted or technologically obsolete.
Some of the City Archive’s older paper documents are given a special chemical treatment to help preserve them. Many are placed in acid-free sleeves or boxes and placed in a temperature and humidity controlled cold vault.
The City Clerk Archives is continuously working to digitize its many hard copy records–to preserve them for all time and make them readily available to the public via the internet. But there remain thousands upon thousands of documents and photos to be scanned and classified.
After the lecture we stepped into the cold vault and saw shelves stacked high with archival material. Then we stepped into a room where photos and negatives are scanned and digitized.
Ranged all around the main room of the Archives Center are additional interesting displays. I saw many Mayoral Artifacts that were presented as gifts to the city from all over the globe. Among these are an assortment of beautiful decorative plates.
Enough of my inadequate written description. Let’s look at a few photos and you’ll get a better idea of what I experienced!
San Diego City Archivist Jerry Handfield describes the importance of accurately recording and carefully preserving critical information.Stacks of boxes containing official records fill the temperature and humidity controlled cold vault at the City Archives.Archivist Jerry Handfield shows visitors shelves of old canvas and leather-bound books, including many that contain past City Council Resolutions.In one room at the Archives Center, old photographs are scanned and categorized by trained volunteers, in order to be digitized for easy public access.Many cool historical photos of San Diego cover the walls of this room!Man and Children in Halloween costumes, circa 1960.First Official Map of San Diego, June 1867.A treasure trove of San Diego history at one’s fingertips!Mayoral artifacts displayed in the main room of the San Diego City Clerk’s Archives Center include gifts from other cities and people around the world.Armetale plate with Seal of City of San Diego.Paper mache oni mask from Mizusawa, Japan.Filner Mayoral Artifact RF-4. Ballast Point Whaling Station, San Diego, California (1820’s).While walking about the main room of the City Archives I spied this cover of an Official Views San Diego Panama-California Exposition souvenir book.Boxes upon boxes hold tons of paper records in the basement of City Hall!
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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 might say this blog is a sort of digital archive. 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!
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