Senna Osawa, Tamayo Watermelon, mixed media, Second Grade, Kumeyaay Elementary.
Look what I discovered!
The San Diego Museum of Art has a free exhibition of art that was created by local school students. It’s called Young Art 2017: Beyond the Ordinary. You can find it in Gallery 15, which leads from the museum’s outdoor sculpture court to the restrooms that are often used by diners at Panama 66.
Every two years, a new exhibition of Young Art is presented by the museum. All I can say is once you step through the door your jaw will drop! Dozens of outstanding, truly amazing works of art line the walls and fill a few display cases.
Inspired students from Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade, from schools throughout San Diego County, have created all sorts of fantastic still life artwork, including paintings, drawings, mixed media, photography and ceramic sculptures. Some of the students have written a sentence or two explaining their thoughts and creative process.
My quick photos of these few examples barely scratch the surface. I just chose some of the art that I personally like. Funny–perhaps my favorite piece was created by a talented young artist in Kindergarten!
If you visit Balboa Park, you must take a look!
Beyond the Ordinary. Young Art 2017. Amazing, inspired artwork in a free exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park!Catherine Zhao, Message in a Bottle, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.The Great Fruit Bowl, a drawing by many Christ Church Day School Second Grade student artists.Fizzah Arshad, Tea, drawing, Ninth Grade, Otay Ranch High School.Arissa Diaz-Lelevier, Multi-media Still Life, mixed media, Eighth Grade, Stella Maris Academy.Mirabella Komniey, Pitcher, mixed media, Fifth Grade, Vista Grande Elementary.Emma Cecil, Enticement, painting, Twelfth Grade, Torrey Pines High School.Camryn Melendez, Apricot Sunrise, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Eric Pak, Flora and Skull, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.Karina Spinazzola, Lemons and Lilies, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Anh Huynh, Distilled, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.Caden Glazner, Time for Tea, painting, Third Grade, Del Sur Elementary.Joy Zou, Tea Time, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Bella Anderson and Cate Hunsberger, Medieval Lunch, painting, Seventh Grade, Coronado Middle School.Skylar Britt, O’Keeffe Flower, mixed media, Kindergarten, Kumeyaay Elementary.Jenna Vo, Magritte Floating Still Life, mixed media, Fourth Grade, Kumeyaay Elementary.
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Ion Theatre artist Kate Schott paints a cool mural on a wall in Hillcrest.
A mural is being painted on a wall next to the entrance of the Ion Theatre in Hillcrest. I first saw the new artwork a few days ago, so I snapped several photos. Today I swung by again after work to see what progress had been made.
By comparing photos, you can get a glimpse of the creative process. Kate Schott, the muralist, is a multi-talented Ion Theatre artist who is bringing this cool vision to life.
I hope to swing by on a later day to see the finished work! I’ll post photos!
A few days later, a human figure in the mural is coming to life. I look forward to seeing the finished work!
UPDATE!
On June 7th I walked by the Ion Theatre again. More painting has been completed! The mural is gradually coming to life!
Detail has been added to the first figure. And a second figure has now been painted in the forest of green trees.A third figure on the left side of the developing mural. Many colors outline the form of a sitting woman.I don’t know what this is. We’ll have to wait a little longer and find out!Finally, a singing face has emerged in the lower right corner of the new Ion Theatre mural!
ANOTHER UPDATE!
I took this photo on June 19:
The left side of the new Ion Theatre mural is taking form!
FINAL UPDATE!
The mural is finished! Here are a few elements that have come to life:
Declaration of Independence on a wall, altered to condemn instances where power is abused.A seeing eye in hand.Standing across water from a fiery skyline.Lady Liberty shines light from atop a piano keyboard. Ignite.
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Visitor to the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park journeys through a dream.
Stepping into the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park is like entering a world of dreams. Weird, unexpected dreams hover around corners, dangle overhead, emerge mysteriously from the floor and walls.
A journey through this dreamworld opens one’s eyes to the possibilities of human creativity. During my recent visit I felt as though I were floating through some sort of Twilight Zone. The unearthly sounds, the psychedelic whirls of video, the explosions of imagination, the seemingly sublime and inexplicable visions.
If you’re in San Diego and love provocative art, head over to Balboa Park! The San Diego Art Institute is more gallery than museum, with exhibits that change every couple of months.
One can wander through a maze of rampant human creativity The current exhibit focuses on mixed media.Upside down, strange and sudden.Through alleys of dazzling images.Aaron Garretson, Sunday Morning Cocktails. Threat, yarn, cloth, found materials. 2016.Weird visions on a wall include spinning blobs of video.Elise Amour, Untitled. Mixed media with vintage photo. 2017.Surrounded by art. Slow feet meander from dream to dream.Eight pieces by Jodi Hays. Gouache, ink and collage on paper. 2015.
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Do you like to read original, thought-provoking fiction? To read a few stories I’ve written (and something that resembles a poem), click Short Stories by Richard.
A small part of a large, dynamic painting of San Diego’s working waterfront.
Yesterday I enjoyed a visit to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. In addition to checking out various fascinating exhibits, I paused for a moment to gaze upon two large murals on display that were painted in 1936 by Charles Reiffel.
Charles Reiffel was a renowned Post-Impressionist landscape painter who was sometimes referred to as the American Van Gogh. Looking at these truly impressive paintings, one can understand why! The viewer enters his color-splashed, dreamy world and simply wants to linger.
Two more wonderful Reiffel paintings can be seen in Balboa Park inside the Casa de Balboa. I have photos of them here!
Charles Reiffel, San Diego Harbor, 1936. Oil on canvas. WPA mural inside the San Diego History Center that was originally commissioned for San Diego High School.This part of the fantastic oil painting depicts a pier and activity on San Diego Bay.Boats and buildings along San Diego’s colorful harbor.Charles Reiffel, San Diego Backcountry, 1936. Oil on canvas. WPA mural inside the San Diego History Center that was originally commissioned for San Diego High School.This part of the oil painting shows homes in the hills of San Diego.First introduced by Spanish explorers and missionaries, horse riding has become a popular activity in the country surrounding San Diego.A farmer plows a field somewhere in beautiful San Diego.
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A fiberglass rabbit named Willabee painted by artist Matt Forderer contains images from San Diego’s history.
As I walked about the Jacaranda Spring Thing festival on Cortez Hill this afternoon, I noticed an unusual critter hanging out near the Tweet Street park. Turns out it was a Rabbitville bunny!
Rabbitville is a public art project of the Gaslamp Quarter Association. Fifteen fiberglass rabbits are being painted creatively by local artists to represent the Gaslamp Quarter’s colorful history. The area in the mid 19th century was jokingly called Rabbitville because there seemed to be more rabbits than people.
New Town, established by Alonzo Horton, would ultimately become the location of today’s dynamic downtown. The revitalized Gaslamp, which includes an area that was once a red-light district called the Stingaree, is now a modern entertainment hub.
The rabbit I spotted is called Willabee and was created by artist Matt Forderer. It is the first rabbit of the Rabbitville Public Art project! Images painted on it include Horton Plaza’s historic Jessop’s Street Clock and the Gaslamp’s famous Louis Bank of Commerce Building, location of Wyatt Earp’s notorious Oyster Bar.
These Rabbitville rabbits were spotted today at the Jacaranda Spring Thing festival on Cortez Hill. One has yet to be painted.A bunny with a fascinating story to tell.In this photo I see the Jessop’s Street Clock and the Louis Bank of Commerce Building!
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Artist in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village tells visitors about her very unique work of art.
I discovered something very cool during my walk through Balboa Park this evening. Bonnie Chance, an artist in Spanish Village Art Center, was applying paint to a life size fiberglass racehorse!
This artfully painted horse will be displayed prominently in San Diego with various others during the upcoming Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. The project is called Art of the Horse. The painted and decorated horses will be part of a dinner and auction prior to the Breeders’ Cup. Money raised will assist various local charities.
I believe the artist said her creation’s name is Biscuit.
Spanish Village Art Center is hosting two life size race horses being painted for the 2017 Breeders Cup at Del Mar.This impressive, lifelike horse sculpture is painted with images of underwater ocean life.A large seahorse on a horse named Biscuit. The legendary Sea Biscuit won a famous race at Del Mar in 1938.
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The south side of the historic U.S. Grant Hotel, as seen from an upper level of Horton Plaza. The 1910 Broadway Fountain is visible in Horton Plaza Park.
During last weekend’s San Diego Architectural Foundation’s OPEN HOUSE 2017, I ventured into one of the event’s featured downtown locations: the historic U.S. Grant Hotel. I was able to get some photos of the hotel’s elegant interior!
The U.S. Grant was built by Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., the son of American President Ulysses S. Grant. The building was designed by architect Harrison Albright and built in the same spot where Alonzo Horton had his 1870 Horton House Hotel, which was demolished.
The U.S. Grant Hotel opened in 1910. It featured a steel and reinforced concrete framework to counter the threats of fire and California earthquakes. For over a hundred years the grand old hotel has stood prominently at the center of downtown San Diego. Notable guests have included 15 United States Presidents (there are 3 different presidential suites), Albert Einstein and Charles Lindbergh.
It’s also interesting to note the very first San Diego Comic-Con was held in the U.S. Grant, back in 1970.
The east side entrance of the elegant U.S. Grant Hotel on Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego.I entered the hotel from the east entrance, where many guests arrive.The elegant interior just inside the east entrance.Large glittering chandeliers add a glamorous touch throughout the posh hotel.Some beautiful artwork above stairs descending to the Crystal Ballroom.Standing in the grand lobby, looking south toward the U.S. Grant Hotel’s entrance on Broadway.The U.S. Grant Hotel’s front desk.The beautiful lobby, fit for royalty.A small sculpture near the Broadway entrance is titled Sweet Dreams, by artist David A. Montour.Even the hotel elevators are beautiful.A sitting area near the bank of elevators.Portraits along this wall include Native Americans. The U.S. Grant Hotel was bought by the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in 2003. It is operated by Starwood Hotels and Resorts.North of the elevators is this large Presidential Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant.Old photo of the Horton House, which stood at this downtown San Diego location before its demolition.Headline of The Evening Tribune announces the opening of the U.S. Grant Hotel on October 15, 1910.On display is a 1910 US Grant Hotel door knob.A look across the U.S. Grant Hotel lobby from the mezzanine level. Pure elegance.
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People walk along Broadway near the entrance of the SDSU Downtown Gallery.
One of the sites that I visited this weekend during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s OPEN HOUSE 2017 was the SDSU Downtown Gallery. I’d never stepped into the small art gallery before. Rotating exhibits feature the work of faculty and students at SDSU.
The building in which the gallery is housed, located at the corner of Kettner Boulevard and Broadway, served as the 1911 Station B power plant of the San Diego Electric Railway. The historic railway, which served a large area of early San Diego, was established by John D. Spreckels.
According to a short tour and handout I was given, a circa 1900 building at this location served as an earlier San Diego Electric Railway power house, railcar barn and paint shop. Some enormous doors still exist in the building today where train cars would enter and exit. I also learned the extravagant 1897 Los Banos bathhouse stood at the building’s northwest corner–but there remains no trace of that historic old structure.
In 1921, San Diego Consolidated Gas and Electric Company purchased Station B, and two additions to the building were subsequently made. The additions were designed by famed architect William Templeton Johnson.
Today the original Station B power plant contains powerful works of art, and forms a section of the base of the skyscraping Electra Building, a modern residential development built in 2008.
Please enjoy some photos of the gallery and the historic building.
If you love art and find yourself downtown while the gallery is open, swing on by!
Now part of the high-rise Electra Building, this originally was the 1911 Station B power plant of the San Diego Electric Railway.Historical ornamentation above the front entrance of the SDSU Downtown Gallery.Walk through these beads to enjoy a small but dynamic art gallery in downtown San Diego.Works on the gallery walls were produced by faculty and students at San Diego State University. Exhibits change every few months.Description of current gallery exhibit by faculty and students of San Diego State University. Every Which Way investigates artistic experience and human movement.Visitor to the gallery checks out thought-provoking artwork.Fear/Less, 2016, by Troy Guard.Works of human imagination along one wall.The serigraphs on this wall were made by students in the SDSU Graphic Design program. Imagery depicts ocean and desert ecosystems as migratory environments.More eye-catching works of art.Some of the pieces are quite unusual and creative.A short tour begins in the SDSU Downtown Gallery–Just one fascinating tour during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s OPEN HOUSE 2017.We are shown various photos, including Station B behind Santa Fe Depot in the 1960s. The smokestacks were removed in the 1980s.Old photo of Los Banos, a bathhouse which was located just south of Santa Fe Depot. The neo-Moorish structure designed by William S. Hebbard and Irving J. Gill opened in 1897.One of the enormous, heavy doors is opened from inside the historic building. I was told these were used for a railcar barn.Our small tour group walks down the sidewalk along the Broadway side of the SDSU Downtown Gallery building.Now we are at the southeast corner of the large Electra Building, which rises above the historic San Diego Gas and Electric building.A symbolic painting inside the SDSU Downtown Gallery. Waves Inside, 2016, by Alison Zuniga.
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A beautiful mural in Hillcrest behind Artist and Craftsman Supply depicts flowers and sea life.
Walk around to the rear parking lot at Artist and Craftsman Supply on Fourth Avenue in Hillcrest and you’ll discover a very colorful mural. It was painted in 2016 by Jet Martinez during the Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans festival in San Diego, an environmental street art project organized by the PangeaSeed Foundation.
This beautiful spray paint mural concerns the impact of floriculture on ocean ecosystems. Many flowers are grown in San Diego’s North County. In floriculture, pesticide runoff into the ocean can be a problem. Fertilizer runoff into the ocean can also cause harmful effects, including massive algae blooms and hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas.
Environmental street art created by Jet Martinez during the 2016 Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans festival.The left part of the mural. Like an underwater garden.A fish in the ocean needs clean water to live.A bright orange fish swims past jewel-like flowers.
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
Lots of tiles painted with happy environmental themes. Together they form a mosaic that decorates this trash can in downtown San Diego’s Pantoja Park.
I love mosaics that are composed of ceramic tiles painted by ordinary people–young people in particular. It’s like a patchwork of inner visions, expressed from many hearts.
The Envirocan in downtown San Diego’s Pantoja Park is a special trashcan that is decorated with tiles that were hand-painted by young artists. Most of the colorful images express environmental themes. Clean air, clean water . . . plus lots of smiles. Smiles are good for the environment, right? Of course they are.
ESI Art Corps San Diego. Envirocan – Donated by Dick Butler. “One Who Cares”One side of the Envirocan features a female face. Perhaps it is Mother Earth.Colorful tiles painted by many creative hands form a mosaic on the Envirocan’s other three sides. Here’s a happy face in a tree, and some flowers.Keep our Earth clean!A house in a beautiful pristine landscape.Flower PowerA human eye. A smudge of something looks like a tear.Fish enjoy a clean blue ocean.I’m not sure what this is, but it looks pretty cool!Someone is poking their nose over a fence.One tile on the Envirocan features the Enviro-can!A happy face of many colors.Another lively underwater scene.And another beautiful face!A clean river flows down from green hills between trees.Wisdom is often found in a balance. Yin and yang. All things are connected.Looks like a weird underwater scene. Not sure about the cube with tentacles.Birds in a clear blue sky under a golden sun.Lots more smiley faces! They almost look like leaves to me.A red heart on patchwork colors. Love.
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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 Twitter!
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