Art on the food court level of Horton Plaza shopping mall.
Tasty artwork can be found on the food court level of downtown’s Horton Plaza mall!
This fun art was created by VISUAL, whose distinctive work you might recognize. Some of my street art blog posts include photos of utility boxes decorated by VISUAL. You can spot them throughout the city.
Walking through colorful Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego.Sign describes VISUAL, an art supply shop and gallery in North Park. Street art created by VISUAL artists can be spotted all around San Diego.Eating spaghetti.A cupcake and ice cream!
…
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 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has a special Extended School Partnership (ESP) program for local 6-12th-grade students. Teachers have the opportunity to expose their students to contemporary art in partnership with the museum.
Students are taught about art making, collaboration and, according to a new sign posted near MCASD’s downtown location, their own identity, solidarity and activism. (As someone who is passionate about writing, I hope there’s an emphasis on personal freedom, truth-seeking and authentic creativity–not politics or propaganda.)
Yesterday I took a photograph of this sign in the breezeway between downtown’s Santa Fe Depot and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. The two art panels were created by local students at Valhalla High School.
Read the sign if you’d like to learn more about this program.
(Click this photo to enlarge for easy reading.)
…
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!
Two humorous surfing signs in window of San Diego Trading Company.
I like to peek into shop windows whenever I walk through the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. Many of the windows are sure to have displays that are amusing or eye-catching.
Enjoy these fun photos from this morning!
T-shirt proclaims Being Normal is Boring in window of IT’SUGAR Candy Store.A wine bottle has been converted into a salty sea captain at the Michael J Wolf Fine Arts gallery.A dish towel at Bubbles Boutique reminds everyone to be nice to your kids–they choose your nursing home.Frida Kahlo socks in the window of Find Your Feet. Viva La Vida!Art by prolific local muralist Gloria Muriel in the window of Sparks Gallery.
…
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!
Images from the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego decorate a construction fence at their La Jolla campus.
During my walk through La Jolla last weekend, I noticed some graphics on a construction fence in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. As I approached the fence, I read signs that provided an explanation.
This cool, temporary Inside-Out Gallery features images of works that are in the museum’s permanent collection. An expansion of the museum’s La Jolla campus is underway. Please read to the photo captions to learn about MCASD’s very bright future!
The Inside-Out Gallery features images from the museum’s permanent collection. The La Jolla location is closed for new construction. The gallery space is being greatly increased.Red Blue Green, Ellsworth Kelly, 1963.An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Collar of Thorns), Yasumasa Morimura, 2001.Terms Most Useful in Describing Creative Works of Art, John Baldessari, 1966-1968.No Splash, Ramiro Gomez, 2013.Bottles, Philip Guston, 1977.Sinjerli 1, Frank Stella, 1967.Under the Table 2, Nicole Eisenman, 2014.Pool Party, John Valadez, 1986.The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is expanding its La Jolla campus. The gallery space will be quadrupled from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet.A rendering shows the future museum after expansion. The design by New York City-based Selldorf Architects will offer dramatic views of the nearby ocean and coast.Another rendering depicts a front corner of the museum after its expansion.The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla is currently closed due to the construction.A plaque near the museum’s entrance is In Memory of Ellen Browning Scripps. The original building whose facade is still visible was designed by famed architect Irving J. Gill and considered one of his masterworks. The building was commissioned by Scripps and became her La Jolla home.Flowers, Andy Warhol, 1967.
…
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!
World Map (Ptolemy), Johann Schnitzer, 1482 or 1486.
I was surprised to learn recently that a world-class map museum is located in San Diego. The Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla is considered to be one of the best dedicated map museums in the entire world!
Out of curiosity, I swung by the small museum yesterday and lingered for at least an hour. I could have spent the entire day looking at the amazing collection of historical maps that fill several themed galleries.
Many of the rare maps are antique, dating from centuries ago when the world’s outlines were unknown, and sea monsters inhabited the watery margins. Every map in the collection is original and authentic, including the first map ever printed!
As I stepped through the door I was greeted by Richard, the friendly director of the museum. I learned that this free museum was founded by Michael Stone, a local businessman and collector with a love for maps. In his youth he collected baseball cards, stamps and coins, before maps and cartography became his passion. At any given time, about ten percent of his vast collection is on display. I was told that Michael is one of the top half dozen map collectors in the world.
There are antique maps showing Earth as the center of Creation, maps from the Age of Exploration, maps from the Revolutionary War, Victorian maps, tourist maps, even maps showing early San Diego. There’s a woodcut map that was created by Benjamin Franklin! There are artistic maps, humorous maps, playing card maps, practically every variety of map or atlas ever conceived by the human mind. There are also historical instruments used by the old explorers and map makers.
For history lovers, the Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla is a jaw-dropping delight! Visitors might feel they’ve stepped into the vaults of the Smithsonian or National Archives. The collection is that extraordinary!
Richard wandered about the museum during my visit, greeting people and providing tidbits of fascinating information. He informed me many students come by the museum, where they can study history, cartography, design and art.
The museum contains such an abundance of cool stuff, I don’t know where to possibly begin. To provide an idea of what you will see, I offer a sampling of photos. I’ve roughly arranged these maps in chronological order. Read the captions!
In my opinion, this little-known attraction in San Diego is an absolute must see! You can find it in the lower courtyard level of the office building at 7825 Fay Avenue in La Jolla. Check out their website for hours and more info, including special exhibitions.
Visitors look at an amazing collection of historic maps at the Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla.I was shown the museum’s work room, containing a library of books that the public can access. A variety of museum projects like the scanning of maps and historical documents is also done here.
The following is a tiny sample of the many original, rare maps you’ll see when you visit the museum:
The world’s first printed map of a certain date, 1472. This woodcut T-O shaped world map is from Isidorus Hispalensis (Isidore of Seville).World Map, anonymous, 1491. This map was often hung in medieval monasteries or palaces. It first appeared in the Rudimentum Novitiorum of 1475.World Map (Ptolemy), Martin Waldseemuller, 1513. Even after the discovery of America, Ptolemaic maps devoid of a Western Hemisphere were still printed.North Atlantic, Jacob Ziegler, 1532. Information for this map was obtained from two Archbishops in Rome. Newfoundland is Terra Bacallaos, or land of codfish.America, Sebastian Munster, Basle, 1540. This depiction of North America came from reports by explorer Giovanni da Verrazano.Eastern North America, Girolamo Ruscelli, 1561. Little was known about the inland geography.North America, Paolo Forlani, 1565. A map that shows America and Asia separated with a strait.China, Japan and Korea, Jodocus Hondius, 1606. Copperplate engraving from the Mercator Atlas.View of Macao, Theodore de Bry, 1607. A stylized map, the first published image of Macao.The Low Countries in the Form of a Lion, Petrus Kaerius, 1617. A map of the Netherlands and Belgium.Northeast North America, Jan Jansson and Nicholas Visscher, 1655.Second Hemisphere with the Christianized firmament, Andreas Cellarius, 1660. The twelve apostles supplanted the old zodiacal constellations in this map.The Sizes of the Celestial Bodies, Andreas Cellarius, 1660. The heavenly bodies compared with Earth, according to Ptolemy.English colonies, Richard Daniel, ca. 1679. The first printed map of the colonies depicting roads.California on early maps was depicted as an island.Southern and Southeast Asia, Frederick de Wit, ca. 1680. A standard Dutch published map.Eastern North America, Hermann Moll, 1715. Beautiful illustration on what is commonly called the beaver map, which was copied from an earlier 1698 map by Nicolas de Fer.Nova Orbis Terraquei Tabula Accuratissime Delineata, Pieter Van Der Aa, 1713. I love the extensive Latin name given to this highly ornate copper-plate engraving Dutch map!A display case at the Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla includes geographic playing cards from the early 18th century.Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, Benjamin Franklin, 1733. Franklin likely cut the woodblock himself. The map shows the newly delineated boundaries of Maryland and Pennsylvania.Battle of Long Island, Samuel Holland, 1776. A section of a map that shows the plan of the first major battle in the American Revolution.New Jersey and Pennsylvania, William Faden, 1777. Plan of the Operations of General Washington, against the King’s Troops in New Jersey.Philadelphia, William Faden, 1777. Lower half of the map includes copy of the earliest known printed image of Independence Hall.The Wonderground Map of London Town, MacDonald Gill, 1915. This small section shows some of the delightful retail map’s humor.Mission Beach, San Diego, 1915. Map of the projected development of Mission Beach.San Diego, Joseph Jacinto Mora, 1928. Corner of a map containing illustrations of local history and important places, like the pictured Union Station (now Santa Fe Depot), Horton House (where the U.S. Grant Hotel stands today), Army and Navy YMCA, and Casa de Estudillo in Old Town, which was then called Ramona’s Marriage Place.Another section of the same map showing areas around San Diego Bay including downtown, National City, Coronado and Point Loma.A Map of Ceylon showing her Tea and Other Industries, MacDonald Gill, ca. 1934.Mail Steamship Routes, MacDonald Gill, 1937.The Time and Tide Map of the United Nations, MacDonald Gill, 1948.Southern California, Roads To Romance, a tourist map ca. 1958.Thomas Jefferys’ brass theodolite, part of the museum’s collection. Jefferys was geographer to King George III. The antique theodolite is pictured in the extraordinary book The Cartographical Collection of Michael R. Stone.The Location of the Earth, Encircled by the Celestial Circles, Andreas Cellarius, 1660.
…
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!
Expecting to Fly (for the Zeros), Fred Tomaselli, 2013.
You might remember I posted photos of street art and many of the Murals of La Jolla a couple years ago. You can see all of that fun artwork by clicking here. Sadly, a couple of those murals no longer exist.
My adventure today included passing by even more public art murals, plus some beautiful and inspirational stuff that I found while journeying down sidewalks.
I snapped a great map and legend of the Murals of La Jolla in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego on Prospect Street, which is undergoing a renovation. To see the location of all the current murals, which include some that I photographed in that earlier blog post, click the map below and it will enlarge.
Map and legend that you can use to locate the many amazing Murals of La Jolla.Playing La Jolla (for all it’s worth), Terry Allen, 2015.Suns, Victoria Fu and Byron Kim, 2016.Man, Myth and Magic, Steven Hull, 2017.Art near entrance of Le Chauvinist depicts three kids at the Lincoln Memorial.A fish etched in the concrete sidewalk near El Pescador Fish Market!Angel wings on a gate.One of the most stunning gates I’ve ever seen. Shining golden leaves and blooms seem to grow through it.By the sidewalk… Joan Goldstein Graf and Alan Goldstein. Their bench.Painted flowers near the roof of Salvage Salon.Come into my garden so my flowers can meet you.A very cool mural in the alley next to the Grater grilled cheese shop in La Jolla.It appears Mona Lisa has a taste for grilled cheese sandwiches!
…
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.
Washington Elementary students create abstract Mona Lisa chalk art during 2014 Festa in Little Italy. As you will see, it would later become the basis for a very cool public mural!
Students at Washington Elementary STEAM Magnet School in Little Italy have helped to produce a very cool public art mural! As motorists depart Little Italy, turning onto southbound Interstate 5 from Grape Street, they are greeted by a colorful Minecraft-style Mona Lisa along with the big word CIAO!
The abstract 20′ x 20′ Mona Lisa mural is based on chalk art that Washington Elementary School kids created for 2014 Festa, an annual Italian-themed festival in their very own Little Italy neighborhood.
I happened to blog about Festa that year, and took the above photo of the kids working on the original Mona Lisa chalk art. With the help of local artist Jayne Barnett, their completed work would eventually become a very large, very creative mural that thousands of delighted drivers pass every day!
Mine-A-Lisa’s Salutation. The Little Italy mural is a much larger recreation of chalk art created by students at 2014 Festa. The Italian art-themed piece was rendered using “bricks” of color in the Minecraft style.Mona Lisa says goodbye to everyone with a large CIAO as drivers head onto southbound I-5 from Grape Street!
If you’d like to see more chalk art created during 2014 Festa, including many amazing pieces produced by students from schools all around San Diego, click here!
…
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!
Early this morning, while it was still dark, I moved curiously around (and inside) the new Jaume Plensa sculpture Pacific Soul in downtown San Diego. Bright lights shining up from beneath the sculpture give its hollow but extremely complex form weird substance. Every angle fascinated my eyes.
If you’d like to learn more about this amazing public art, which now stands at the corner of Broadway and Pacific Highway near the Embarcadero, visit my original blog post, where several months ago, over the period of several days, I documented Pacific Soul’s installation. In that post I also provided some information about Jaume Plensa, who is a world-renowned artist from Spain.
…
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!
Anyone can create a beehouse for their garden. All you really need is a drill!
Before my hike through the Sweetwater Marsh on Saturday, I took a stroll through the Native Pollinator Garden just outside the Living Coast Discovery Center. After reading a variety of informative signs, I paused in the garden to look at some very cool beehouses!
As I read about the beehouses, it occurred to me these would be extremely easy to make.
I took photographs just in case anyone reading this blog would like to make a beehouse for their own garden! Read the captions to learn more about the habits of ground-dwelling solitary bees and the materials you can use to make them a beehouse!
The Native Pollinator Garden just outside the Living Coast Discovery Center includes a couple of very cool beehouses!Bees are extremely important. More than two thirds of the world’s crop species rely on pollinators.A large Feed a Bee Pollinator Habitat in the native garden provides shelter for solitary bees and information for the curious.The rear of this bee condo! Holes have been drilled in a variety of materials, including logs, lumber and bricks.Solitary bees don’t live in colonies. They often seek out hollows of fallen logs, bark and branches. They make up a majority of the 4000 bee species in the United States.A close look at the fun beehouse. I think even I could make one of these.Creating various hiding places attracts solitary bees, which can be as small as an eighth of an inch.Feeling inspired? Handy with a hammer and nails? Fashion your beehouse into a unique work of art!
…
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! 