Do you love to create art? Are you a senior? Answer yes to both questions and you might want to enter a free art contest in San Diego!
I learned about this art contest by reading The Scroll, a quarterly newsletter for seniors published by San Diego Parks and Recreation AgeWell Services.
If you’d like to read the Spring 2024 edition of The Scroll, and discover all sorts of activities and opportunities for seniors, click here! You can find information concerning the art contest on page 7. Or check out the graphic I’ve posted above.
Art submitted for the contest will be on public display for an entire month at the Cathy Hopper Clairemont Friendship Center. Media include acrylic, drawing, pastel, mixed media, oil and watercolor. Time to get inspired!
My friend Mark greeted me last Saturday when I poked my nose into the Balboa Park Senior Lounge while walking around. Folks had just finished playing bingo that morning in the lounge.
Mark reminded me that seniors 65 years or better get free admission to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park during this month of February! If you want to learn more about that amazing offer, click here!
Spread the word!
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A two-part mural titled Singing Patterns brightens a corner of Valencia Park in Southeast San Diego. The colorful public art decorates the west side of the Southeastern Live Well Center, which opened last year. Travel along Euclid Avenue near Market Street and you’ll see it!
Singing Patterns was created by artist, writer and activist Doris Bittar. Here’s her Instagram page where you’ll see photos of the mural panels being installed.
You can read about this installation and all the art inside and outside the Southeastern Live Well Center by clicking here. You’ll learn this outdoor mural honors the culture of San Diego’s dynamic and historic neighborhoods… The artwork metaphorically bridges regions, history and time together using patterns from all over the world.
The patterns are derived from Black, Latin, Syrian, Somali and Filipino culture.
Earlier this year, while walking in Valencia Park, I took photographs of other public art outside this large new San Diego County complex. See those photos here and here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
If you driven up College Avenue a block north of El Cajon Boulevard you’ve possibly seen this cool mural. It’s painted on the south side of a sushi restaurant called Fish Pit (I don’t know if they are still operating–their website no longer exists.)
The art is by graffiti artist Unity. It appears that a toothy octopus is enjoying a bowl of rice!
Unity is San Diego artist Jonathan Wenner. You can check out another mural that he painted here. He has a very distinctive style.
The Fish Pit mural was painted in 2021. I really like it!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
New public art has appeared at the RaDD (Research and Development District) complex that now rises on San Diego’s waterfront!
Sculptures and murals can be viewed by those walking along the Embarcadero among the five gleaming RaDD buildings where some construction fences have recently come down.
I was able to photograph the above sculpture and a long mural today during my walk near the USS Midway, the Greatest Generation Walk and Ruocco Park. I also spotted a water feature among plants and trees between the two southernmost buildings.
Another large red sculpture and another mural have also appeared among the buildings to the north, but construction fences still obstruct photography. I’ll try to provide more photos when those fences are removed.
I know nothing about the artists. If you have any interesting information, please leave a comment. If I learn anything further about this new public art in San Diego, I’ll post an update!
(Last November, I spotted a new mural at the north end of RaDD. See those photos here.)
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A beautiful new mural has debuted in San Diego’s Rolando neighborhood!
Depictions of homes in the community, nearby San Diego State University, and familiar plants and animals enliven a wall on 62nd Avenue, a block south of El Cajon Boulevard. The mural was created in partnership with SDG&E, whose substation is located here.
This colorful public art debuted earlier this week and is the work of ArtReach. The lead muralist was Katy Yeaw.
(While visiting Katy’s website, I learned she painted a fun electrical box that I photographed years ago in Little Italy!)
Late this afternoon I checked out the three sides of this great new mural…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
These very beautiful murals were painted a month ago in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood. I saw the murals last weekend as I walked down Fairmount Avenue, just north of University Avenue. They decorate the Plaza del Sol affordable housing building.
I’ve learned the colorful artwork was created by ArtReach during a Community Paint Day!
ArtReach is a program in San Diego that inspires and educates youth with art. You can see their website’s Mural Programs page here. ArtReach’s mission is: Igniting youth creativity through visual arts expression and community connection.
Check out these fantastic murals! The images reflect cultural diversity in the community and regional flora and fauna.
Many hands held paintbrushes. The lead artist was @thisisntjosue.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
This beautiful Anti Slavery Quilt is in the collection of the Women’s Museum of California. The quilt is now on display at the San Diego History Center, in celebration of Black History Month.
I was surprised to learn yesterday that the Women’s Museum, located for many years at Liberty Station, moved. It now makes the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park its home!
The quilt is by D’Andrea Davis Mitchell. A nearby sign explains how in the 1970s quilting experienced a revival and became considered work of both craft and art. Inspired artists have used quilting to challenge perceptions of gender roles and the African-American experience in US history.
The Anti Slavery Quilt is part of a larger exhibition inside the San Diego History Center that can be viewed all this month.
My next blog post will show a bit more of what you’ll experience should you walk through the History Center’s door in February!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Should you walk down Fairmount Avenue, a block and a half north of University Avenue, you’ll find this beautiful mural. It was painted outside the La Maestra Community Health Center’s HOPE Clinic, which provides health care for the homeless.
There’s a face gazing up at the stars. And a plaque…
The Art of Healing, Sheena Rae Dowling, 2017-2018
This work of art is one of a series of murals commissioned by Covered California in collaboration with La Maestra Community Health Centers as part of the “Covered in Art” project to promote health and wellness in communities across California and attract attention to locations across the state where individuals can enroll in health insurance, get care or participate in activities that foster better health. Sheena Rae Dowling said The Art of Healing was designed to showcase the holistic approach to healing mentally, spiritually and physically. The “Covered in Art” project is a living demonstration of the fact that health care is local and that Covered California is woven into the fabric of local communities.
Sheena Rae Dowling is a San Diego artist whose work has been shown at exhibitions around Southern California. See her website here.
I’ve observed a couple of her great pieces at exhibitions years ago. If you’d like to see them, too, click here and here and read the photo captions.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
An absolutely fantastic dragon has landed in San Diego’s Little Saigon neighborhood!
Today, February 10, 2024, is the Lunar New Year. We’ve entered a Year of the Dragon, so this recently completed mural near the corner of El Cajon Boulevard and Menlo Avenue is just perfect.
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2024 is the year of the Green Wooden Dragon. The green means renewal and rebirth are portended!
I noticed a couple weeks ago that Thao Huynh French had begun creating this spray-painted street art. See those photos here.
Her murals are awesome! I’ve photographed a few them over the years around San Diego, particularly in Little Saigon. Last time I saw her, she was painting giant pandas in North Park!
Thao Huynh French is an accomplished Vietnamese American artist, cofounder of Mindful Murals.
You can learn much more about her by reading this article!
Is this one of the coolest murals you’ll ever see?
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Comic book artists and writers of African decent gathered in Balboa Park at the WorldBeat Cultural Center. They greeted fans and sold their work during a very cool Black History Month event!
So many creators arrived from Southern California and across the United States that the WorldBeat Center was packed wall to wall, with exhibitor tables spilling outside onto the patio. I was amazed at the size of this event, and excited by the unbounded creativity.
Black Comix Day is organized by local artist Keithan Jones, the writer and artist behind KID Comics. His philosophy is the Kid In you never Dies. He conceived of The Power Knights when he was himself a kid, and has gone on to publish mind-blowing professional art.
Yesterday I walked past the exhibitor tables and spoke to many of the comic book and graphic novel creators. You can see the positive energy and enthusiasm simply from my photos!
Check it out!
Poster for Black Comix Day at front door of the WorldBeat Center in San Diego.Marcus D. Newsome is a comic book artist, animator, illustrator and creator of Lightning Strike. Check out his website here.Eugene Randolph Young is an artist, illustrator, graphic designer and educator. He is inspired by indigenous lore, cyberpunk and Afrofuturism. He’s fascinated by artificial intelligence, too! Check out his website here.Some cool comic artwork by Eugene Randolph Young!The Surge Series is full of great Afrofuturistic cyberpunk artwork by Mike Haynes-Pitts. Check out his Instagram here.JSPR BLVK Entertainment’s table at Black Comix Day. Lil Red is a cool coloring book for kids that teaches safety! The website is http://www.jsprblvk.comJamaal A. Harley is the writer/creator of Royal Oak Comics. Check out his website here!Cool artwork displayed at the Royal Oak Comics table.A look inside the colorful WorldBeat Center during Black Comix Day 2024.Andre Owens is a creator/writer who produced Force Galaxia–Cosmic Tales of Adventure! See his Hiro Unlimited website here.Andre Owens told me that creating The Bovine League has been a lot of fun. Super-powered cows from Switzerland, The Bovine League, must go on a global quest to find the stolen Cosmic Udder and the Four Teats of Matter.KolaNut Productions has produced all sorts of cool content, including animation, that is filled with African magic, ancient folklore, and the NeoAfrican Universe. Check out their website here.Cool artwork everywhere you turn at Black Comix Day 2024!These three friends are bursting with smiles and creativity. They represent Thingamajig Studios! I love their groovy artwork. Check out their website here!UjuBeam displayed by creator Jared Lipscomb. amateur entomologist and founder of Hud Bug Comics. Super-powered insects! Check out his website here!The awesome smile of an artist creating her first comic book! I learned of her page on Facebook: mind of madness art, but could not find it! I wish I had asked more questions! (If anyone has more info, leave a comment!)Fun artwork at Black Comix Day 2024.David Phillips is the creator of Agents of S.O.U.L. As a kid, David was inspired by his Mom! Why don’t you draw some superheroes that look like you? Check out his website here!In Agents of S.O.U.L, non-super-powered heroes battle super-powered villains! Technology and science provide Black and Brown empowerment.Jason Reeves of 133art has produced many comic book titles full of Black heroes. There are comics for both kids and adults! Check out the website here!Keithan Jones works on commissioned artwork during Black Comix Day 2024.Creativity unites lovers of life and art.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 