Tag: artwork

Use Your Voice murals in North Park!

A wall in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood encourages creative people to Use Your Voice. Four small murals dedicated to artivism can be viewed on the west side of Nomad Donuts. Look north up Illinois Street from University Avenue and you’ll spot these artworks.

Use Your Voice is a project of Sounding Boards. Learn more about their past projects and mission by clicking here.

This special wall will host rotating murals. The first artists, whose work you see above, are Josue Baltezar, Kenda Francis, Mary Jhun, and Jon Pucci.

Previously, a very different mural decorated this space! See it here!

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A secret, magic bench in Balboa Park!

There’s a secret bench in Balboa Park that works magic. Very few visitors to the park ever see it.

Sit on this bench, look down, and suddenly before your feet colorful stars, planets and creatures appear!

This magic bench is in an out-of-the-way corner of Balboa Park, just north of Spanish Village Art Center, at the east edge of the small parking lot. In the above photo you can see the green grass of the nearby Balboa Park Miniature Railroad.

Should you sit on this magic bench, what might you 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 Twitter!

Beautiful tile murals at Vons in Coronado.

I love these three tile mosaic murals decorating the front of Vons in Coronado! You can spot them as you head down Orange Avenue.

I believe this artwork appeared in conjunction with the recent Vons remodel. The grocery store expanded into the old Cora Mart building space next door.

Several colorful scenes include an abstract Hotel del Coronado and kites in the blue sky, presumably pulling unseen kiteboarders across the ocean.

Who out there knows more about these murals?

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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 Twitter!

Flowers along Secret Stairs in Valencia Park!

Did you know there are Secret Stairs in Valencia Park, a community in southeast San Diego?

The neighborhood stairs span two blocks, from Churchward Street to Las Alturas Terrace. (Google the stairs and you’ll see their location on Google Maps.)

A year ago four artists came together to beautify the somewhat neglected stairs. They embellished them with colorfully painted flowers and insects, plus a mural!

This article explains all about the Secret Stairs of Valencia Park and their new artwork. Herbert Delong, Shannon White, Isabel Garcia and Shirish Villaseñor were the artists. You’ve seen the work of Isabel and Shirish elsewhere on my blog. Together they call themselves Arte Atolondrada.

In the upcoming photos, I walked the Secret Stairs from south to north. If the steps seem a bit dirty and leafy, keep in mind San Diego has been experiencing winter storms.

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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 Twitter!

Big shark mural in University Heights!

This large shark mural in University Heights was painted many years ago. But every time I’ve walked by it in the past, taking photographs was problematic. (Here’s one instance.)

A couple days ago I finally captured the entire mural! (Well, almost all of it.)

The artist is Cinzah, who hails from New Zealand. He painted this wall for the 2016 Sea Walls Festival organized by PangeaSeed Foundation. He wanted to increase awareness of a severe threat to shark populations: the act of finning. Around 100,000,000 sharks are killed every year for their fins, sharply reducing their numbers. The mural is titled 100 Million.

You can see this cool mural from the Park Boulevard sidewalk, to the east, half a block south of Monroe Avenue.

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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 Twitter!

The colorful birds of PB’s Wild Side!

Black-crowned Night Heron by David Krimmel.

A flock of wild birds has descended on Garnet Avenue’s trashcans in Pacific Beach!

The colorful artwork, created by professional and student artists, allows those walking down the sidewalk to explore PB’s Wild Side!

My visit to Pacific Beach yesterday happened to involve a leisurely walk down Garnet Avenue. I found eight different birds on trashcans. If there are more of these plaques out there, I didn’t see them.

The birds that are depicted can all be spotted in the wild here in San Diego.

You can learn more about this project of beautifulPB (who’ve also provided a mural map of Pacific Beach) at this website!

Common Loon by Hilary Dufour.

Ridgway’s Rail by Makena Seiler.

Belding’s Savannah Sparrow by Kyla Yu-Swanson.

Brown Pelican by Makena Seiler.

Double-crested Cormorant by Makena Seiler.

Least Tern by Makena Seiler.

Great Blue Heron and Anna’s Hummingbird by Hilary Dufour.

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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 Twitter!

Fine exhibition by the La Jolla Art Association!

Old Town Candle Shop, by Ernest Alvarez.

As we step into another year, a free exhibition of fine art can be enjoyed by those who step into the La Jolla Community Center.

Celebrate the Old Year, Welcome in the New Year features the work of La Jolla Art Association members.

I had never visited the La Jolla Community Center before, and I was glad that I finally did! Wall after wall of really great art attracted my eyes.

I saw a variety of styles and subject matter. Many of the pieces made me pause for a long moment, just to drink in the artistry. I also noticed the pieces are for sale, in case you’re looking for some ready-to-hang art.

I was told the La Jolla Community Center regularly hosts new exhibitions. I guess I’ll have to visit again! Meanwhile, Celebrate the Old Year, Welcome in the New Year will continue through January 27, 2023.

Just a few examples…

Sandpiper Bold, Psalm 139, by Julie A. Sanderson.
Clear Waters, by Hooshang Yashar.
The Farm House, by Victoria Gist-Towner.

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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 Twitter!

Huge graffiti mural completed at UC San Diego!

A huge 10,000-square-foot mural has just been completed at UC San Diego! You can’t possibly miss the super colorful artwork on the east side of the UCSD Visual Arts Facility, facing the new Epstein Family Amphitheater.

I spied the giant mural from the San Diego Trolley as it pulled into the UC San Diego Central Campus station. I rapidly jumped off!

A gentleman on a cherry picker informed me the mural is now finished. I couldn’t distinguish his name above the roar of nearby machinery, but this web page explains much about its creation, and how the artwork depicts authentic wild-style and contemporary graffiti styles that are rooted in Southern California, and was developed with the guidance of a committee comprised of Department of Visual Arts faculty and representatives of the campus community...

(The other mural referred to in the article can be found here. A bit of it is visible in the next photo, taken from the elevated trolley station.)

Construction fences limited what I could see. But still, check it out!

UPDATE!

Here are pics of the mural’s right half. I took these during a later visit to UCSD…

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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 Twitter!

Mural painted at New Village Arts in Carlsbad!

A large new mural was recently painted on the back wall of the New Village Arts Theater in Carlsbad!

New Village Arts is a professional theatre group whose building is presently undergoing a major renovation. It will be reopening early next year.

The amazing mural is titled Reflection. It’s by CLYDE (@clyde_0000), a graffiti artist out of Tempe, Arizona.

I happened to spy this new mural yesterday as I walked near the roundabout east of the Carlsbad Village train station. Of course, I had to go check it out!

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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 Twitter!

Painting at Carlsbad’s new Alley Art Wall!

During my walk in Carlsbad today, I stumbled upon a friendly gentleman painting a swath of the new Alley Art Wall!

The Alley Art Wall features a large composite mural featuring the permanent work of 17 artists. You can find it on the side of Village Kabob, at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Tyler Street.

The Alley Art Wall debuted early this year. It is a project of Carlsbad artist Bryan Snyder. (Years ago he started a different Carlsbad Art Wall with rotating artists at nearby Señor Grubby’s.)

A rectangular area within this new Alley Art Wall is called the Recreation Mural Space. It’s an ever-changing designated creative space where any inspired muralist can paint as they please!

The gentleman I ran across today, painting the rectangular Recreation Mural Space in my photos, is Lee. He envisions kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Carlsbad adding their own artwork to the space!

Very cool!

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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 Twitter!