Tag: artists

Local artists at new downtown Courthouse Gallery!

Wolf in the Storm by Laura Green.

A new art gallery recently opened in downtown San Diego. Juried works by diverse artists can be freely viewed from the sidewalk in front the Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse!

From behind several large windows, works by local artists greet the curious eyes of those walking down Broadway. This new Courthouse Gallery of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California is now displaying The Art of Freedom.

The courthouse website describing the project and a call for submissions explains: The inspirations for this on-going, rotating art display are: making art more accessible to the public, enhancing civic engagement through the arts, and creating an opportunity for local artists to increase exposure to their work. The gallery will be featuring emerging and established artists 18 and older residing in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

It’s difficult to photograph through these windows with the reflections. Enjoy several pieces…

Woman Charging I by Cathy Deibler.
Forest Dance, by Leah Schaperow.
Remember When We Were Free by Cynthia Sue Kelly.

Years ago, these same windows displayed artwork created by students for San Diego County Bar Association’s Law Week Poster and Video Contest. See three years of those displays here and here and here.

Over the years, my photos of those Law Week posters have been viewed thousands of times through Google search–quite possibly by teachers and students around the nation and world. Amazing.

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The River of Giving at Coronado High School.

Here’s another sensational work of mosaic art that I discovered during my most recent visit to Coronado High School. A step-like installation filling a corner between two walls seems to flow with water and the life it sustains. Mosaics in three dimensions have created the appearance of a blue waterfall among greenery, flowers and small native animals.

The mosaic, completed in 2011, is titled The River of Giving. According to the webpage of mosaicist Kirstin Green, the project is a recognition wall for individuals and businesses who have donated money to the Coronado Schools Foundation over the past 3 decades.

The elements were all hand made by students. You can watch a time lapse video of this amazing art being made here.

The River of Giving – Mosaicist Kirstin Green – Visual Arts Laura Hill – Ceramics Eric Rempe – Created through the collaborative work of CHS students and teachers.
THE RIVER OF GIVING – Coronado Schools Foundation – Dedicated to honor our most generous and consistent donors, and to inspire others to give vital support for learning that helps our students thrive. 2011

What about the other fantastic mosaic that I photographed at Coronado High School? Check that out here!

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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.

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The eye-opening Art of Autism in Oceanside.

The Art of Autism: A Different Lens is an exhibition now showing at the Oceanside Museum of Art. More than a dozen neurodiverse artists have pieces in the museum, and their work is truly eye-opening. The brilliant creativity of special artists who possibly see the world differently than you or me is off the charts.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Oceanside Museum of Art and The Art of Autism, a non-profit whose mission is to empower and connect individuals within the autism community through participation in the Arts.

By viewing these works of art, visitors to the museum will appreciate how people on the autism spectrum and others who are neurodivergent have the ability to depict the world in uniquely insightful ways. Of course, interpreting our world in very different ways is what art is all about.

I enjoyed my experience of the exhibition last weekend. Here are a few photos to give you an idea of the fine work you’ll discover.

If you’d like to expand your own understanding of this world we all share, visit The Art of Autism: A Different Lens by August 3, 2025.

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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.

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The Universe mosaic at Coronado High School!

The Universe at Coronado High School is so awesome. I’m speaking of the mosaic archway that shines with our Earth, planets, moons, comets, nebulae, stars and galaxies.

As students move through the cosmos, they are reminded that “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known…”

I saw this incredible, extraordinary work of mosaic art during my visit to the San Diego Writers Festival earlier this month. The Universe was created on the Coronado High School campus in 2009 by student artists, under the direction of award-winning Visual Arts teacher Laura Hill.

“THE UNIVERSE”

WE DEDICATE THE UNIVERSE TO KARL MUELLER WHOSE SUPPORT SHINES ON, LIKE THE MOON, AND THE STARS, AND THE SUN — 2010

STUDENT ARTISTS – THEY’RE OUT OF THIS WORLD

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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.

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Jaguars and wolves in Chula Vista!

I discovered two very cool murals during my latest walk through Chula Vista!

The first mural promotes Southwestern College and features the stylized head of a Jaguar–the name of Southwestern’s sports teams. A stack of books, a flask, paintbrushes, a drone, and other objects useful in career education also appear in the mural.

The colorful artwork can be spotted on the side of State Farm Insurance at 460 3rd Avenue. Artist signatures and a year indicate the mural was created by Nick McPherson (Nicholas Danger) and Eddy Berducido (@Beavster) in 2024.

The next mural appears to show wolves. The artwork was painted at the north end of a construction fence in front of Chula Vista’s old, closed Vogue Theater.

You might recall other images previously painted on the same fence: the Padres’ Swinging Friar and Chula Vista’s own celebrity superstar Mario Lopez!

I don’t know who painted these two wolves, or when. Within the past year, if I had to guess. Leave a comment if you know more than me!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Billowing Bait comes alive on Shelter Island!

Billowing Bait is a kinetic sculpture on Shelter Island, mounted near the entrance of Nielson Beaumont Marine. I spotted it during a recent walk in Point Loma.

The sculptor is Jon Koehler. His shimmering work of art features over 300 small stainless steel elements that move together but independently with the wind. Created in 2013 according to its webpage (2012 according to the nearby plaque), the sculpture is part of the Port of San Diego Public Art Collection.

The shining sculpture is meant to resemble a school of small bait fish . . . or a billowing spinnaker sail. You can learn more about it here.

If you ever walk past 2420 Shelter Island Drive on a breezy day, pause to watch Billowing Bait come alive!

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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.

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Everything in Its Place in Escondido.

Self-Portraits with Underwear Pulled Too High, Matthew Freedman, 1995. Acrylic on plaster.

Today a new exhibition opened at the museum of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Everything in Its Place: Selections from the Permanent Collection features a surprising variety of pieces.

The museum’s webpage explains how these works explore the shifting relationships between abstraction, the human form, and the environments we inhabit. In other words, the art explores just about everything and anything.

I found myself pausing before certain complex pieces, enthralled. And so many different materials! One unusual sculpture is made almost entirely of glass. There are creations on cardboard and on linen. One piece, created during the museum’s inaugural artist-in-residence program, is a ten-foot wall of open wooden boxes containing found objects–like thoughts or memories in the compartments of one’s mind.

I took photos of a few examples.

There’s humor, too. Look closely at my first photograph!

Untitled, Mark Jackson, 1983. Oil on cardboard.
In the Sun’s Blood, Doris Bittar, 1997. Oil on linen.

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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.

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Free live glassblowing event in Escondido!

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 19, 2025, a free, live glassblowing extravaganza continues at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido! The special event is being held outdoors in the Cal Club Courtyard between noon and 6 pm. Look for the signs! You can check out the event webpage by clicking here.

The two day event began today. I swung by as everything got underway. In addition to a very cool glassblowing demonstration, various San Diego County glass artists have tables with some of their fantastic creations for sale.

The artists have also created a bunch of beautiful glasses (see my final photograph) which are for sale for $25 each. Funds raised through the sale of these stunning glasses (and the sale of beer, too) benefit the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.

I sat and watched as expert glassblower James Stone created an elegant wine glass. He has years and years of practice, and you can see the excellence of his work. He’s a friendly guy who likes to explain what he’s doing.

James Stone demonstrates glassblowing work in progress. The glass changes color when it is heated.
An amazing iridescent bowl created by James Stone.
These extraordinary glass cubes were created by Tom Marosz.
These fantastic glass sea shells were created by Mariah Armstrong Conner.

Amazing blacksmithing work was displayed as well! A representative from Vista Forge showed me some cool creations.

Blacksmithing and Glass Art classes can be found here. They’re held on the grounds of the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista.

Purchase one of these colorful glasses, blown by a local artist, and you benefit the California Center for the Arts, Escondido!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Working on mosaics at Water Conservation Garden!

Very beautiful mosaics decorate the Tool Wall at the Water Conservation Garden in Rancho San Diego!

As I walked through the garden today, I noticed someone working on this incredible wall. Rosalie, a friendly garden volunteer and artist, took a moment to show me what she was up to. She explained that her Tool Wall is nearing completion!

Some grouting, painting and a bit of other work, and the artistic wall will be finally completed. She been working on it for months.

The wall stands by a path in an area of the educational Water Conservation Garden that is devoted to the use of garden tools. Appropriately, decorated garden tools project from the top of the wall!

Rosalie explained the words on the wall: A garden is a grand teacher. It’s a quote by a very famous British horticulturist and garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll. Yes, tending a garden teaches patience, nurturing, a love for nature and the outdoors…

I’ll soon be blogging more about the amazing Water Conservation Garden, a hidden gem in San Diego’s East County, so stay tuned!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Rigors of Flight at new Sweetwater Park!

The new 39-acre Sweetwater Park opened earlier this month in Chula Vista. It’s located on the edge of San Diego Bay, adjacent to Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. It you’ve had a chance to visit the public park and walk its nature trails, you’ve no doubt seen a towering 25-foot tall sculpture that looks exactly like a wishbone!

The steel sculpture, created by artist Roberto Salas, is titled Rigors of Flight.

Why the wishbone shape? The wishbone is a forked bone found in most birds. It strengthens the bird’s skeleton, helping it to withstand the rigors of flight. Birds are plentiful in the park!

I walked through Sweetwater Park yesterday and approached the sculpture. I took these photographs.

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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.

Feel free to share!