Tag: art

Fun art outside The New Children’s Museum!

During my walk around downtown yesterday morning, I wandered past The New Children’s Museum. My camera immediately took aim at the 1950s Dodge pickup Flower Truck out on the Paint Patio. Kids have applied so many coats of paint to the museum’s current Painted Object that the vintage truck appears to be covered with dripped candle wax!

I also enjoyed looking at the long, rainbow-like SMILE mural on the museum’s entrance bridge, painted by street artist Paola Villaseñor, who signs her work PANCA. Her urban artwork, which is usually more “adult” and grotesque, can be found in both Tijuana and San Diego.

Those words on a low wall bordering the museum’s playground and The Garden Project are part of FOLLOWING THE WORDS, poetry by Quincy Troupe, professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego.

In late 2014 I posted photos of the small garden and other lines of the linguistically lip-lively poem here.

Perhaps one day I’ll photograph the entire long poem!

Section of SMILE, by artist PANCA. The fun 48-foot-long mural decorates the bridge leading to the entrance of The New Children's Museum.
Section of SMILE, by artist PANCA. The fun 48-foot-long mural decorates the bridge leading to the entrance of The New Children’s Museum.
YOU ARE YOUR OWN SONG
YOU ARE YOUR OWN SONG
HIP AS FLIP-FLOPS KIDS HAVE ON
HIP AS FLIP-FLOPS KIDS HAVE ON

…

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 mixture of the strange and delightful!

A purple cat on the wall of The Cat Cafe.
A purple cat on the wall of The Cat Cafe.

I went on a long walk through downtown this morning. My plan was to take some blog-worthy photographs before the rain begins in earnest tomorrow.

As I randomly wandered from block to block, my eyes found a variety of strange and delightful sights!

A clock wedged between a sidewalk and fence.
A clock wedged between a sidewalk and fence.
A wall of roses welcomes guests to Coffee 'N' Talk.
A wall of roses welcomes guests to Coffee ‘N’ Talk.
I must be a mermaid.
I must be a mermaid.
The PARKING is disappearing, and soon there will be none.
PARKING is disappearing, and soon there will be none.
A boy plays a flute up on someone's balcony.
A boy plays a flute up on someone’s balcony.
A frog plays the violin by somebody's front door!
A frog plays a violin by someone’s front door!

…

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!

More fun Comic-Con art at Simon’s Cafe!

The Joker's Smile by artist Suzka.
The Joker’s Smile by artist Suzka.

This morning I was walking down First Avenue, a couple blocks north of the San Diego Convention Center, when I made a cool discovery! Glancing through a window of Simon’s Cafe, I spied some new Comic-Con related artwork by local artist Suzka!

Back in 2017 I posted some of her fun Comic-Con themed paintings here!

I didn’t order anything at Simon’s Cafe this morning, having already eaten breakfast, but the friendly lady at the counter said I could take these photos.

If you want to learn more about Suzka, visit her website here!

Able To Leap... by artist Suzka.
Able To Leap… by artist Suzka.
Miz Apple by artist Suzka.
Miz Apple by artist Suzka.
Birdic-Con by artist Suzka.
Birdic-Con by artist Suzka.
Gaslamp-Kitty by artist Suzka.
Gaslamp-Kitty by artist Suzka.

UPDATE!

In late May I enjoyed a yummy breakfast plate at Simon’s Cafe. I noticed some new artwork on the walls…

IMG_8347z

IMG_8339z

IMG_8344z

…

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!

Utopian and dystopian Futures Past and Present.

Right half of MMCXVIII/MDCCC, 2018, Emma Laraby. Digital painting.
Right half of MMCXVIII/MDCCC, 2018, Emma Laraby. Digital painting.

A fascinating exhibition opened yesterday at the SDSU Downtown Gallery. It’s titled Futures Past and Present.

San Diego State University students and faculty from the School of Art + Design have creatively addressed human society and the passage of time. Unique works of art reflect how the future has been forecast in the past, and how our present informs what is yet to come.

Visions that are presented range from the utopian to the dystopian, and many aspects of human experience and its possibilities are mixed into the artwork. Technology, the environment, urban growth, cultural transformation, and philosophical points of view are some of the themes contained in four sections: Alternate Realities, Building the Future, Inventing the Future, and Personal Prophecies.

Curious minds will enjoy this exhibition. Those who love science fiction, art or futurism should definitely head downtown to check it out!

Futures Past and Present is an exhibition now showing at the SDSU Downtown Gallery in San Diego.
Futures Past and Present is a very cool exhibition now showing at the SDSU Downtown Gallery in San Diego.
Pulp magazines in a display case recall early visions from science fiction. As human life and technology evolve, the genre also evolves.
Pulp magazines in a display case recall early visions from science fiction. As human life and technology evolve, the genre also evolves.
CareLink: transmitting internal data, 2017, Kelly Temple. Archival digital print and other materials.
CareLink: transmitting internal data, 2017, Kelly Temple. Archival digital print and other materials.
K-bots (10 robots), 2019, Andrew Blackwell. Beech, brass, plastic.
K-bots (10 robots), 2019, Andrew Blackwell. Beech, brass, plastic.
BLDNG #6 two views 2008 (In and Out), 2018, David Fobes. Archival inkjet print.
BLDNG #6 two views 2008 (In and Out), 2018, David Fobes. Archival inkjet print.
Time Capsules Project. SDSU art students created small time capsules and messages that speak to the future.
Time Capsules Project. SDSU art students created small time capsules and messages that speak to the future.
Occupying one corner of the gallery are tools of the past and present. HARD_COPY - Unforgetting Futures Past - a temporary reading room and bindery.
Occupying one corner of the gallery are tools of the past and present. HARD_COPY – Unforgetting Futures Past – a temporary reading room and bindery.
Bubble, 2018, Brandie Maddalena. Copper, felt, paracord, steel, human interaction.
Bubble, 2018, Brandie Maddalena. Copper, felt, paracord, steel, human interaction.
Washington Marbles, 2018, Tyler Young. Oil paint, acrylic paint, cardboard, dirt and plaster on canvas.
Washington Marbles, 2018, Tyler Young. Oil paint, acrylic paint, cardboard, dirt and plaster on canvas.
The Same, 2018, Tamayo Muto. Archival digital print.
The Same, 2018, Tamayo Muto. Archival digital print.
The Drain, 2016, Vincent Cordelle. Cast bronze, steel, insulated pipe.
The Drain, 2016, Vincent Cordelle. Cast bronze, steel, insulated pipe.
Untitled (Potential 40 Units), 2018, Eleanor Greer. Oil and charcoal on canvas.
Untitled (Potential 40 Units), 2018, Eleanor Greer. Oil and charcoal on canvas.
Extravehicular Activity Kit #5, 2018, Zac Keane. Birch ply, hickory, steel, duct tape, nylon.
Extravehicular Activity Kit #5, 2018, Zac Keane. Birch ply, hickory, steel, duct tape, nylon.
Little Miss Sunshine, 2018, Melissa Salgado. Acrylic and oil on canvas.
Little Miss Sunshine, 2018, Melissa Salgado. Acrylic and oil on canvas.

…

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!

Printing words about immigration at MCASD.

As I waited for a trolley at America Plaza early this afternoon, I thought I’d peer into a window of the Museum of Contemporary Arts San Diego. A gentleman inside saw and motioned for me to come on in!

I was welcomed by Max, a super nice Gallery Educator, who was applying ink to a silk screen. He was using screen printing to create bold messages in the Sanctuary Print Shop!

The project titled Sanctuary Print Shop is the brainchild of artists Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari. The idea of this exhibition is to start conversations concerning the very topical and divisive issue of immigration. People are encouraged to write their thoughts about immigration, and messages are created to paper one wall.

Even though there’s a certain political bias to the exhibition, Max did agree that it’s a complex human issue. There are many different thoughts concerning it. And it’s an issue with many personal connections.

Human creativity and the written word fascinate me, so I enjoyed meeting Max, watching him at work, and reading what others have said!

…

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!

An amazing Sunset Seat on the cliffs of Del Mar.

At the southwest corner of Del Mar, high atop cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean north of Torrey Pines State Beach, you’ll find a special seat. It’s called the Sunset Seat.

The Sunset Seat is a work of public art that was carved in the stump of a dead Torrey pine. The tree had been killed by bark beetles.

In 2015 this amazing public art took form. Inspired designer David Arnold and wood carver Tim Richards created a seat where anybody can sit and look out toward the ocean horizon, with a red-tailed hawk perched near their shoulder.

You can find the Sunset Seat a few steps west of a small parking area beside Camino Del Mar, a short distance north of Carmel Valley Road.

One day I will sit beside the beautiful hawk and watch a sunset.

…

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!

Somebody lost their heads by the sidewalk!

A couple of heads are missing! I’ve discovered two strange, disembodied heads sitting on the ground by the sidewalk!

I observed that first rather fierce-looking head early this afternoon as I rode on a bus down Pacific Highway, just north of the Old Town Transit Center. (Why was I on the bus? I had several adventures this morning in North County! Stay tuned for more cool blog posts!)

The second head, which looks kind of like a painted Dia de los Muertos skull, was discovered beside a sidewalk about a week ago as I walked through Mission Valley on my way to work!

Has anyone out there lost their head? Or heads?

…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights (and have more fun) via Facebook or Twitter!

One very cool “San Diego” graffiti mural!

A very cool graffiti-style "San Diego" mural at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue painted by Dyse One.
The very cool “San Diego” mural at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue painted by Dyse One.

Check out this cool mural painted on the south side of the Universal Radiator building at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue. Local artist and clothing designer Dyse One spray painted an immense “San Diego” in an elegant graffiti style!

The west side of the same building was painted by Dyse One and Haslr, and contains elements that represent America’s Finest City. I see images of the Coronado Bridge, a trolley, and the Padres’ mascot, the Swinging Friar!

Very cool!

A mural on another side of the same building pays tribute to America's Finest City. By street artists Dyse One and Haslr.
A cool mural on the west side of the same building pays tribute to America’s Finest City. By street artists Dyse One and Haslr.

…

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 silvery, sparkling tree in Little Italy.

Stand in certain spots on the North Embarcadero, look east toward Little Italy, and your eyes might be dazzled by a sparkling tree on a large wall.

The glittery abstract tree decorates the west side of the Broadstone Little Italy building, near the corner of Grape Street and California Street. The branches of the mirror mosaic rise above train and trolley tracks. As the sun descends toward San Diego Bay, the silvery tree really shimmers and shines.

I’ve learned that the artist’s name is Stephanie Clair and that her piece is called The Shimmer Tree!

The Shimmer Tree, public art in San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood by Stephanie Clair.
The Shimmer Tree, public art in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood by Stephanie Clair.

UPDATE!

Here’s a pic I took a couple years later over the railroad tracks from a different angle…

IMG_7665z

…

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!

Artwork next to 25th and Commercial trolley station.

Metal artwork at the 25th and Commercial trolley station honors labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
Metal artwork at the 25th and Commercial trolley station honors labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

While riding the Orange Line of the San Diego Trolley, I noticed several works of cool art in and around the 25th and Commercial station. So I jumped off, walked around and took photos!

The metalwork that honors Cesar Chavez can be found at the westbound platform. The 25th and Commercial trolley station is dedicated to the civil rights leader.

You might recall that both platforms of the split station also feature amazing tile mosaic benches. I posted those photos here.

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. --Cesar E. Chavez
We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. –Cesar E. Chavez
A sign at the trolley station points to various locations of interest, including Villa Montezuma and Chicano Park.
A sign at the trolley station points to various locations of interest, including Villa Montezuma and Chicano Park.
A metal Don Quixote stands guard by a muffler shop.
A metal Don Quixote stands guard at a nearby muffler shop.
Colorful artwork on the back of the San Diego Police Department Central Division parking garage.
Colorful artwork on the back of the San Diego Police Department Central Division parking garage.
Cool street art on a corner utility box.
Mesoamerican iconography becomes street art on a corner utility box.
A fun heart in a mural on a neighborhood wall.
A fun heart in a mural on a nearby wall.
A cool car painted on a fence along Commercial Street in Logan Heights.
A cool car painted on a fence along Commercial Street in Logan Heights.

…

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!