School students create amazing chalk art on a Little Italy street for the 2014 Festa event.
2014 Festa takes place tomorrow! The extremely popular event, this year celebrating its 20th anniversary, will be held as usual on the streets of Little Italy, a neighborhood on the north side of downtown San Diego. I’m excited!
Why?
The Gesso Italiano chalk art! Several city blocks will be overflowing with absolutely fantastic artistic creations! Perhaps you remember my blogs posts about the astounding chalk art at 2013 Festa. You’ll find them here, here and here.
Today a small army of artists began to work on a several block stretch of bare asphalt in San Diego. Tomorrow over a hundred thousand people will crowd Date Street and admire the finished masterpieces.
One block of Date Street has been reserved just for school kids! They were hard at work when I walked past today mid-afternoon!
Stand by for loads more photos tomorrow! I’m heading out to Festa in the early morning wearing comfortable walking shoes!
Washington Elementary STEAM students attend school just up the street.This Italian chalk art will be admired by tens of thousands on Sunday.Roosevelt I.B. Middle School students work on a scene that includes a gondola.The many chalk artists usually use existing images as a guide.Gesso Italiano chalk art is extremely bold, bright and colorful.Santa Fe Christian High School students were creating some fun, inspired art!Grant Pecoff has a studio in Little Italy. His original artwork is being duplicated.Torrey Pines High School National Art Honor Society student works on asphalt canvas.Platt College had partially completed this, but no one was present when I walked past.13 year old Lidia F. Vasquez has been creating stunning chalk art for 4 years!Here’s what Lidia is working from. She attends High Tech Middle School.And this is the super cool, mind-blowing masterpiece young Lidia is producing. Wow!Teresa Elliot is almost finished with this abstract many-colored human face.The Mount Miguel High School design appears to contain a cherub with rainbow wings.Very talented young people are hard at work on a sunny day in San Diego.Team from Cathedral Catholic High School works to create some elaborate art.Chalk outlines of human figures that are slowly taking form.Torrey Hills Elementary kids are making something Italian that looks tasty!San Pasqual High School still has a bit or work to do. I can’t wait to see it finished!Lincoln Acres Art Program is creating a cool Mona Lisa optical illusion with chalk!I could take photos of this incredible stuff all day!One block of Date Street at Festa is dedicated to school students and their art!
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New public art being applied to building on San Diego’s waterfront.
Early yesterday morning, I strolled for a few minutes along San Diego’s beautiful Embarcadero. I wanted to get some photographs to update last year’s blog post about the Star of India’s tattered sails.
While heading back east on Beech Street, I noticed some gigantic public art is being applied to the west side of the relatively new Ariel Luxury Apartments building. This high-rise stands between Santa Fe Depot and the Little Italy trolley station.
I’ve found no info on the internet about this new artwork. Here are some pics!
A red San Diego trolley passes fishermen catching a huge fish!This new artwork is on the side of the Ariel Luxury Apartments in downtown San Diego.
Half a century ago, San Diego was home to the world’s largest tuna fishing fleet! This image of fishermen working together is very similar to a sculpture on Shelter Island, which I have yet to blog about!
Workers on platform mount a gigantic trophy fish to a high-rise building!
I’m not sure what the white stuff is running down the building’s side. I suppose that will be removed when all is done!
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Nikigator is a fun mosaic sculpture in front of the Mingei Museum.
It seems everybody loves these two colorful sculptures located near the entrance of Balboa Park’s Mingei Museum. They were created by world-famous Franco-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, whose fanciful works can be seen in a few different San Diego locations. Earlier this year I posted some pics of her Coming Together sculpture near the San Diego Convention Center.
These imaginative mosaic sculptures are made primarily of tile, glass and stones. The alligator-like Nikigator is an absolute favorite of kids, who ride the whimsical creature as if it were alive. The second artwork contains ancient symbolism and is titled Poet and Muse. A female muse emerges from the shoulders of a male poet as his poetry takes flight.
The nearby Mingei Museum contains a fascinating collection of international folk art, crafts and design. The museum was founded by American artist Martha Longenecker, who was a close friend of Niki.
Kids play on creature sculpture by Franco-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle.Someone photographs Le Poète et sa Muse–Poet and Muse.Famed sculptor was benefactor of Balboa Park’s Mingei Museum.
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San Diego Dance Theater performs Trolley Dances at City College.
The Trolley Dances, a unique event put on by the San Diego Dance Theater, is being held this year at downtown’s City College. I live a short walk away, so I figured I’d head that way this morning before it became too hot. (We’re experiencing mild but very toasty Santa Ana weather here in Southern California.) I thought that perhaps I could snap a few pics as a casual bystander.
The Trolley Dances involves a mobile audience, which walks from venue to venue. The dances are staged in some of the most unexpected public places. Every year the locations change.
I was successful! These photos are of the third “stage” of the 2014 Trolley Dances…
One unusual venue, at bottom of steps on the campus of San Diego City College.Here come people who are enjoying a variety of surprising performances.Audience gets ready to watch the third dance of the 2014 Trolley Dances.Dancers in flowing blue appear at the top of the broad steps!Graceful dancers descend the high stairs in a grand entrance!The free form dance twirls and floats before the eyes of onlookers.Rhythmic energy fills the unusual stage on a sunny, quite warm day.Dancers perform many athletic, amazing moves.Beautiful dance delights a host of San Diegans.This performance was a carefree, joyful, very cool sight to behold!The dancers return to the stairs for a final few moments.The dancers retreat to prepare for the next group in a few minutes.This Trolley Dances group heads off to the next surprising location!The Trolley Dances is a cool, very unique tradition in San Diego!
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Super cool mural in University Heights has colorful butterfly lady as centerpiece.
In the past I’ve glimpsed this super cool mural in University Heights, a neighborhood northeast of downtown San Diego. Finally I stopped to photograph it!
The psychedelic spray paint street art is splashed on a wall of a small, local grocery store on Park Boulevard. The images are extremely vivid and look almost brand new. After a close inspection, I noticed the mural is signed: DEXR EYEMAX PERSUE KUYA FIZSIX 2013.
A bit of research on the web uncovered an article about this awesome artwork. The grocery store owner had painted over a rather dull mural that had become very old, when the group of local street artists approached him. The artists asked if they could use his wall to give birth to a unique creation. He said yes!
And to his great delight, this awesome unplanned mural, painted in two days, is what he got!
Smiling sun or moon and other fantastic, psychedelic faces and cosmic images.This fierce two-faced tree seems ready to spring off the wall!Magical blue gnome and banjo-playing frog are fun elements in this awesome mural.Bold spray paint street art adds color to a small grocery store on Park Boulevard.
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Adventure is out there! Just attach a bunch of balloons!
Okay, here’s a quick pic of some rather simple street art. I saw this colorfully painted utility box while walking up Bankers Hill a few days ago.
I love the symbolism in the image. A riot of small uplifting balloons whisking one’s home and carefully controlled life away on a carefree, restoring breeze was a theme that I really enjoyed in the Pixar movie Up!
Tomorrow I’m planning on a long walk. No telling where my legs will take me!
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Nostalgic advertising signs recall the past in what is now trendy, modern East Village.
I always enjoy walking along J Street, between Park Boulevard and 13th Street, in downtown San Diego’s East Village. This where you’ll find the old Wheel Works Building, which is now a hip multi-media incubator and special events venue. What makes the place most interesting to me is all the cool and creative stuff that surrounds it! Take a look at these pics!
Turning a bit left, gazing over bright red bougainvillea at the new Central Library.Large gears on nearby sidewalk with words Art and Industry.I believe this old structure adjacent to Wheel Works is called the Broom Works Building.Rusted parts of machinery on sidewalk are brimming with potted plants.Front door of Wheel Works Building has lots of cogs and gears around it.I believe 21st Century Bob used to be an antique store here.Various industrial contraptions decorate the outside wall of the old Wheel Works Building. UPDATE! I’ve learned these machines belong to the Bob Sinclair Collection. Bob Sinclair was an entrepreneur and visionary who purchased historic properties in East Village for his business enterprises. He collected many fascinating artifacts. He owned both the Wheel Works and Broom Works buildings.South side of nostalgic old building seen from the San Diego Library.
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Public art at Lillian Place shows many facets of African-American history in San Diego.
Should you walk through downtown San Diego’s East Village in the vicinity of 14th and J Streets, you might be attracted to several large yellow panels along the sidewalk. This proud display of public art at Lillian Place was raised to commemorate how African-Americans have played an important role in building our diverse and beautiful city.
The artwork, created by Jihmye Collins and Nina Karavasiles, is titled “A San Diego African-American Legacy” and represents African-American contributions to San Diego’s development and rich history.
Cast metal parachute recalls 1943’s Top Black Owned Business in the United States.
Here’s a large portion of the text contained on the panels:
People of African decent were present in San Diego as early as the establishment of Presidio de San Diego in 1769, and played a role in settling the area now known as Old Town.
In the later decades of the 1800s, African-Americans began emigrating to Horton New Town, San Diego’s present-day downtown, relocating primarily from the southern US.
Religious institutions were, and continue to be a cornerstone of the African-American community. In 1887, the African Methodist Episcopal Church became the first organized African-American congregation in downtown San Diego, followed soon after by Calvary Baptist and Bethel AME. At the same time, African-American social and civic groups like the Violet Club, Acme Social Club and Fidelity Lodge #10 of the Prince Hall Masons became important organizations in the community.
San Diego was once the center of a thriving jazz, blues, and gospel music scene. The Creole Palace at the Douglas Hotel and the Crossroads Jazz Club were just two of the spots that hosted local and national talent playing to mixed audiences.
African-Americans have always played a major role in amateur and professional sports in San Diego. Local favorite Archie Moore fought at the city Coliseum as did other champions. San Diegan John Ritchey became the first black player in the Pacific Coast League when he was signed as a catcher to the then minor league padres in 1948.
The entrepreneurial spirit of the African-American community flourished through the 20th century with doctor’s offices, hotels and clubs, barbers and beauty parlors, cafes and restaurants, ice cream parlors, laundries, jewelers and pool halls that served the African American community as well as other San Diegans.
During World War II, African-American stunt pilot and businessman Howard Skippy Smith owned the Pacific parachute Company factory on 8th Avenue. Named the Top Black Owned Business in the United States in 1943, Mr. Smith operated an integrated work place that reflected the ethnic and racial diversity of wartime San Diego.
On this block of J Street, African-American Lillian Grant owned multiple buildings, offering rooms to an ethnically mixed clientele during the time of segregation. Next door at the corner of 14th and J Streets sat the Vine/Carter Hotels. Known as the colored hotels, it was owned and operated by African-Americans Alonzo and Katie Carter from the 1930s to the 1950s.
African-Americans helped to build religious institutions and community organizations.Exact duplicate of baseball catcher’s mitt from the 1940’s made of cast metal.Artwork shows San Diego as an important center of jazz, blues, and gospel music. Count Basie and Billie Holiday both played at the Creole Palace.Hair curling iron is a symbol of many thriving African-American entrepreneurs.
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More Bart Club street art shows up at SILO in Makers Quarter.
Today I randomly walked past SILO in Makers Quarter in East Village. This downtown San Diego special events venue is chock full of super cool street art murals, as you might have seen in this blog post. Well, I was just walking along, peering through the fence, and… WHAM! More crazy Bart Club street art! It seems to have popped up in various different locations!
Crazy, creative, funny renditions of Bart Simpson on a wall.Bart Simpson’s head seems to transform into anything the human mind can imagine!SILO in San Diego’s East Village is bursting with awesome, colorful street art.
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Sketch of female face and buildings, on Sixth Avenue bridge above Interstate 5.
Just before sundown yesterday I spotted these small unfinished works of art while I walked over the Sixth Avenue bridge that spans Interstate 5. They were down near the ground right next to the sidewalk, beneath the chain link fence overlooking the freeway.
I wonder who sketched these small scenes. Was it an art student? Are these works in progress? Are they the doodles of some inspired passerby, or a creative homeless person?
Had it not been for my blog and my endless quest for new material, I probably wouldn’t have noticed these faint drawings.
Mysterious unfinished street art of woman holding hamburger.Stylish figure on couch with vase seems the work of a practiced artist.A miniature horse runs along a sidewalk in downtown San Diego.
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