A huge craft sale with over 50 vendors will take place tomorrow, Saturday, November 5th, in San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park! I saw a huge canopy set up this afternoon in one of the Casa del Prado’s outdoor courtyards!
The sale supports local senior crafters and artists who are over 55 years old.
Yes, the City of San Diego’s annual AgeWell Services Craft Sale has finally returned after a couple of missed years due to COVID.
The big event tomorrow takes place from 9 am to 4 pm and is free to the public. Simply head through Balboa Park and watch for the many signs.
Bring the family! There will be a fun Kids Corner, too!
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I absolutely love this firefighter street art in front of Point Loma Fire Station 22!
Whenever I drive down Catalina Boulevard past San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Station 22, I catch a glimpse of this artwork. I finally stopped to take some photographs.
There are nostalgic old images of a fire engine, a fireman, and an image of the Point Loma peninsula with the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, with the words: The Community We Serve.
The front of this fire station building is also decorated with beautiful public art. I’ll post those photos coming up!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Today San Diego is celebrating Día de los Muertos!
By mid-afternoon, people were streaming into Old Town. Many will participate in this evening’s candlelight procession down San Diego Avenue from the Immaculate Conception Church to El Campo Santo cemetery.
In preparation, some were having their faces traditionally painted as sugar skulls. Face painting artists had tables set up at several points along the sidewalk.
As I passed through Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, then down San Diego Avenue, this is what my camera encountered!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
It’s widely known that Coronado’s North Island is the birthplace of naval aviation. But did you know that shortly before World War I, Coronado was also home to a training school for submariners?
Camp Richardson, which was located on a block of First Street just north of the Ferry Landing, served as the homeport of the United States’ very first Pacific Submarine Fleet. This is one of many interesting facts you’ll learn should you enjoy A View from the Periscope, which is the current exhibit at the Coronado Historical Association‘s museum.
A View from the Periscope focuses primarily on twenty-eight works of art. The Coronado Historical Association’s website explains how these pieces of artwork from the Naval History & Heritage Command’s Navy Art Collection are on loan for the exhibition. Throughout the museum gallery visitors can view paintings of submarines in different settings and their working crews. The website further explains that many of the artists featured are affiliated with the Navy’s Combat Art Program, which places artists on board navy ships on duty and in combat.
But there’s much more to discover in this exhibition! When I walked through it a few days ago, what interested me most were displays that concern local history.
Not only did I learn about short-lived Camp Richardson, but I was surprised to read how the submariners in training, as they practiced diving and firing torpedoes, would put on pre-announced shows in San Diego Bay for tourists staying at Coronado’s Tent City!
I was also surprised to learn that a Coronado artist, a member of the San Diego Fine Arts Guild, was instrumental in successfully camouflaging naval vessels during World War II.
His name was Dayton Brown. His novel approach to camouflage involved mimicking the natural environment, eventually utilizing only two color shades like Haze Grey or Ocean Gray.
Until I visited this exhibition, I had no idea!
A View from the Periscope continues through January 2023.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
A giant space squid has attacked several flying saucers on a street in North Park!
Don’t believe me? I offer evidence!
It seems every time I walk around North Park I see some new street art. I saw these newly painted electrical boxes on 30th Street south of University Avenue and I absolutely had to take photos.
Sometimes street art can seem a bit tired, presenting identical styles or themes.
At other times street art can be wildly different and imaginative! Like this!
I see the rampaging space squid emerged from the mind of @DuderDesigns. It was finished a couple of weeks ago!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Tierra Central in City Heights is a special place filled with life.
Outdoor sculptures abound, created by community members and local artists. The Fern Street Circus performs and teaches students under their big tent. Fun events can be enjoyed here throughout the year.
I’ve been to several such events in the past. Here and here and here.
It had been a while since I walked past Tierra Central. Last time I don’t believe it had that name. But it did have many sculptures.
Yesterday I noticed at least three new sculptures have appeared, and there was artwork on the surrounding fence that I hadn’t seen previously. The dynamism in this creative space is unstoppable!
Please enjoy a few photographs taken from the sidewalk.
Tierra Central is located on University Avenue just east of Interstate 15. I’ve been told that one day this lot will be developed into affordable housing, situated right next to the City Heights Transit Plaza.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Several inspired San Diego artists have painted two fences on Evans Street in Barrio Logan, just north of National Avenue. Together these community murals are called the Mint House Project.
The Mint House Project is described as a public mural project in Barrio Logan presenting local artists responding to themes of social justice. Equality, beauty, life and compassion are themes of the diverse, colorful artwork.
The last time I took photos of these two fences, the murals were quite different. At the time they were called The Nest Murals. You can see that old blog post from almost six years ago here.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
The symbolic artwork was painted on a wooden fence on Logan Avenue south of Evans Street. I spotted it yesterday.
The local artist is Jessica Petrikowski (@artbypetrikowski). Very colorful Aztec imagery is accompanied by two hummingbirds. I believe that’s Quetzalcoatl on the left and his rival “opposite” Tezcatlipoca. The pair of touching hummingbirds are of the same two colors. Throughout the mural, sprouting green life rises from the earth.
This mural was painted a little over year ago. The spray paint art that previously decorated this same fence was also by Jessica. You can see a photo of that old mural among others in this blog post.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
When I stepped into the La Jolla Recreation Center’s small auditorium the other day, I barely noticed the game of ping pong that was in progress. That’s because my eyes were immediately drawn to a large, incredible mural on one wall above some vending machines.
The mural, painted in 1929 by renowned artist Hugo Ballin, is titled Progress of California.
I found this article. It explains how the mural was originally located at First National Bank, which opened in La Jolla in 1930 on the corner of Silverado Street and Girard Avenue. The mural was placed on the wall above the vault door. When the bank was demolished, a decision was made to move the mural to the La Jolla Recreation Center, where the public could freely see it.
Hugo Ballin is best know for his work in Los Angeles, including murals at Burbank City Hall, Griffith Observatory, LA County General Hospital, and the Los Angeles Times Building. During the era of silent movies, he was art director for Goldwyn Pictures.
As you can see, his Progress of California mural depicts people from different periods of history, including Native Americans, Spanish explorers and missionaries, 49ers during the Gold Rush, and pioneers.
Rising at the right end of the mural is Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower, which was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego.
I did my best to take good photos without interrupting the game of ping pong…
Restoration of the historic Progress of California mural was performed in 2000.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
A group of plein air painters were at work today in and near Balboa Park’s rose garden.
As I wandered through the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, I peered over a couple of shoulders to see how different eyes might interpret the nearby beauty, including Balboa Park’s Desert Garden and Florida Canyon. A couple of the artists kindly let me take photos close up.
I learned these are students enjoying the Plein Air Painting: A Working Method workshop offered by the UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies. Perhaps one day I’ll sign up.
Plein air artists have endless material in beautiful Balboa Park. Set up your easel anywhere!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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! 