Many outdoor sculptures are being introduced into Balboa Park. The exhibit is titled Art of the Open Air. It’s a unique project of the San Diego Museum of Art.
During the past week, a number of sculptures in the San Diego Museum of Art’s collection have been carefully moved into the Plaza de Panama, a large outdoor gathering place in Balboa Park. For the next two years, anyone in San Diego will be able to freely enjoy the sculptures, and see them in changing light, beneath different skies. Moving such large pieces has taken a lot of work, but I noticed today that the installation, titled Art of the Open Air, is approaching completion.
Included in the unique outdoor exhibition are works by world-famous artists Joan Miró, Auguste Rodin and Tony Rosenthal. I wasn’t able to approach the artwork too closely–right now, while the sculptures are being readied, they’re still roped off. The same goes for a new piece in the museum’s May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden, which I also photographed from a bit of a distance. I put some identifying information in the photo captions.
Art of the Open Air is set to run from February 11, 2016 through February 13, 2018. I can already see that Balboa Park is going to be more lively and interesting than ever!
Alexander Calder. Spinal Column, 1968. Steel. A sculpture being installed in the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden.Lynn Russell Chadwick. The Watchers, 1960. Bronze. Now stands in Balboa Park’s beautiful Plaza de Panama, part of the Art of the Open Air exhibition.Auguste Rodin. The Prodigal Son, 1905. Bronze. Installed in the northwest corner of the Plaza de Panama, where the sculpture Youth Taming the Wild (Horse Trainer) used to stand.I can’t find anything about this piece, but it seems strangely familiar. If you know what it is, leave a comment! UPDATE: I learned the bronze sculpture is called Mother and Daughter Seated, by Francisco Zuniga, 1971Two very fine sculptures that will soon will be approachable in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama.Joan Miró. Solar Bird, 1966. Bronze. Standing guard near the entrance to the San Diego Museum of Art.Tony Rosenthal. Odyssey III, 1967. Aluminum.Photo across front of the San Diego Museum of Art, the north end of Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama. Outdoor art is being installed.Luis Jiménez. Border Crossing/Cruzando el Rio Bravo, 1989. Fiberglass with acrylic urethane finish. Stands outside the May S. Marcy Sculpture Court and Panama 66.Monumental totem-like sculpture depicts artist’s immigrant grandfather carrying wife and son, crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico.A large sculpture seems to stride into the life-filled Plaza de Panama in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park.
Walking from the Embarcadero east down Broadway just moments after sunset.
I got off work early today. So I enjoyed some magical time on the Embarcadero.
Moments after the sun set, thinking of home, I walked from the Broadway Pier east a short distance into the heart of downtown. My lifted eyes were fascinated by the changing light.
High buildings in downtown San Diego change color with every passing minute as my feet and twilight steadily progress.People walking a couple blocks east of the Broadway Pier cross railroad tracks in softening light.The lights inside two tall office buildings in downtown San Diego begin to make interesting patterns.Looking upward across Broadway as I near the America Plaza trolley station, where I’ll catch a short ride toward home. It soon will be night.
Flags, palm trees and early morning fog on Cortez Hill in San Diego.
My walk early this morning was a real treat. Magical, mysterious fog had crept during the night into the very heart of downtown San Diego, where I live. High skyscrapers disappeared into the gray. Please enjoy a few photos…
The historic El Cortez Hotel building seems to vanish into the gray morning fog.Many seagulls were enjoying the fog, and were circling over the city streets everywhere I walked.Skyscrapers aren’t scraping so much this morning. They are being softly engulfed by the elements!Looking up into the unusually thick fog past a San Diego Symphony banner downtown.An Orange Line trolley heads down a quiet C Street.Cranes and construction next to several high towers, in a San Diego fog.The magical, mysterious fog made the forms of buildings appear like abstract shapes emerging from some other world.Looking down Kettner Boulevard past Santa Fe Depot and America Plaza into the distant fog.An unusual fog made downtown San Diego appear very atmospheric and mysterious this morning. I loved walking through it!
Here are a few sights that make pedestrians walking down the sidewalk look twice! I know they attracted the attention of my camera! I took all of these photos in downtown San Diego. A couple of the images I captured recently; others are old pics I’ve been holding onto for several months.
Bold painting on a building of someone singing the “blues”.This door might tempt people walking down the sidewalk. A nearby sign reads: WELCOME You Love Happy Fun.A cool dragon mural in the small Chinatown section of downtown San Diego. By artist Mirto Golino.This freaky alien seems to leap from a weathered street art utility box.What appear to be three sacred geometry mandalas decorate a sidewalk. These and others can be seen in various locations around San Diego.Funky, eye-catching urban art brightens the entrance to a dance studio. I believe it was painted by artist Fizix.A guy hanging out in front of the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp made these three dimensional origami stars using scraps of paper. I was told each one takes about two hours to make.
A group of young skateboarders cruises down C Street.
Here are a few scenes from my walk (and trolley ride) today around downtown San Diego. There is beauty, there is color, there is grit, there is life. My fascination with the dynamic city that I call home is never-ending.
Graffiti on a truck, an old blue house, and a modern high-rise, together in one photo.Colorful art by a downtown San Diego doorway.Someone out for a walk passes a window of the Smart Corner building.A truck waits to haul pianos away at the backstage door of Copley Symphony Hall.Clean and Safe equipment in the foreground, as a Silver Line vintage trolley approaches the Fifth Avenue station.Passengers will take a ride on this restored PCC streetcar of the San Diego Trolley. I joined them!Looking out the vintage trolley window at people walking through the City College station.Heading down Park Boulevard, and people camped on the sidewalk. San Diego, unfortunately, contains many homeless.Looking out the trolley window at the Park and Market station.A crane above construction near Petco Park holds a POW/MIA flag. Banners along Imperial Avenue show Monster Energy Supercross stars. The event is happening this weekend.Supercross Party in the Pits is taking place in a parking lot adjacent to Petco Park.Sign near Downtown Johnny Brown’s at Civic Center Plaza reads Eat Drink See Dinosaurs if you drink enough.Someone looks up at inflatable dinosaur arch outside the entrance to T. Rex Planet at the Community Concourse.
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Gentleman who saw this fun piano in the middle of Horton Plaza sat down and started playing. The San Diego Symphony is spreading music around the city!
Ten pianos have been placed around San Diego for the public to play! Any ordinary person passing by can just sit down and perform music to their heart’s content!
This very cool and unique “event” is being put on by the San Diego Symphony. Their PLAY ME: Pianos In Public Spaces installation is part of this month’s Upright and Grand Piano Festival, and will continue through February 8.
Feeling inspired? Feeling musical? Feeling like a maestro? Would you like to play some wonderful piano selections for your admiring fans? Then head on over to one of the ten public locations! They are: the Symphony Towers lobby, the Quartyard, the downtown Central Library, Horton Plaza, The Headquarters, the Coronado Ferry Landing, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (downtown location), Liberty Station, Balboa Park (by the Old Globe Theatre) and the California Center for the Arts Escondido!
The San Diego Symphony’s PLAY ME: Pianos In Public Spaces program has placed ten pianos around the city for ordinary people to enjoy!A colorfully painted piano in the lobby of Symphony Towers in downtown San Diego. I swung by here in the very early morning when few people were around.A cool guy plays this public piano at the Central Public Library in downtown San Diego. He heard about this very unique event and came on down to tickle the ivories.One of ten pianos placed around San Diego for the public to enjoy. Many library patrons coming through the front door were treated to unexpected music!This piano has a big cyclops eye. It sits outside in the Quartyard in San Diego’s East Village.Few people were about the Quartyard on Saturday morning. It’s a cool eating and event venue that’s fairly new in this hip neighborhood.Amazing talent takes a seat in Horton Plaza. This gentleman was walking through the shopping mall and saw the piano. He sounded like a professional musician!This fellow enjoyed playing another public piano, which has been placed at The Headquarters, near Seaport Village.All ten pianos have unique artwork, painted by various local organizations. The instruments were tuned by experts at the San Diego Symphony–and they sound amazing!Kids twirl to piano music in the wide courtyard of The Headquarters, which is located in San Diego’s old police headquarters.Finally, I saw this piano in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s downtown location, which is next to the Santa Fe Depot.Sign says that we are proud to present this piano painted by Combat Arts as part of the San Diego Symphony’s Upright and Grand Piano Festival’s city-wide installation. We invite you to play!Piano in public for any random passerby to enjoy. Veterans who painted this instrument are part of an art-based museum program to help combat troops recover from PTSD.
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Early Wednesday morning in downtown San Diego, and men are hard at work collecting the city’s trash.
It’s very early Wednesday morning. That means a small fleet of garbage trucks will soon be rumbling throughout downtown San Diego. Dumpsters will be hauled, pushed, lifted and emptied. Clank! Crash! Bang! It’s trash collection day!
I took some photos last Wednesday of all the activity. I delayed posting these pictures, however, because stinky, messy trash collection didn’t seem to convey the proper Christmas spirit. (Some would probably say that it does!) Now that New Year’s Day is approaching, these photographs seem more fitting. What’s old vanishes, making way for the new!
A building’s dumpsters are ready to be hauled out and emptied.Plastic garbage cans overflow near the House of Blues. Life in the big city.Few people are about this early in the morning. One gentleman was slowly walking down Broadway.Rows of garbage receptacles in the Gaslamp. The remnants of good times.While garbage is collected, early morning deliveries are also being made, including kegs of beer on pallets.Several garbage trucks converged at once on this block and I paused to watch for a moment.Collecting garbage in downtown San Diego while many still sleep.Blue recycle bins are lifted, banging and clattering, and contents are dumped.A truck heads up to Cortez Hill. Perhaps my own trash will soon be transported away.
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Architectural details on several of the Egyptian Quarter’s buildings include pharaohs, scarabs and other exotic designs. This photo was taken at the Pharaoh’s Court Apartments.
Last weekend I took a long looping walk through North Park. Many cool images are coming soon!
To reach North Park from downtown, I walked through a corner of Hillcrest called the Egyptian Quarter. When you take a look at the following photos, you’ll understand the origin of the unusual name.
These several blocks in San Diego were heavily influenced by the Egyptian Revival and Art Nouveau styles, which where very popular back in the 1920s. In recent years, businesses in the area have banded together to re-emphasize this neighborhood’s exotic identity. Walk anywhere near the corner of Park Boulevard and University Avenue, and you’re bound to think you’ve traveled back in time to ancient Egypt!
An ancient pharaoh seems to look over the Egyptian Quarter. One almost expects to see a pyramid nearby!One of several trashcans on Park Boulevard and University Avenue painted with colorful Egyptian motifs.Cool Egyptian-themed street mural recently painted by local graffiti artist Fizix.A stylish stained glass door at the Nile Apartments in San Diego’s unique Egyptian Quarter.Unexpected cool sights abound in the Egyptian Quarter, located in Hillcrest at the geographic edge of North Park.
Santa and a happy kid enjoy a special Deck the Halls neighborhood block party in downtown San Diego!
I was walking home from the Fifth Avenue trolley station this evening when I stumbled upon downtown San Diego’s fun Deck the Halls holiday block party! I’d forgotten it was taking place today!
Lots of folks were out among bright Christmas lights, greeting one another, tasting food served up by various local eateries, and listening to holiday music provided by the San Diego Symphony. The special event, I learned, was put together by Clean and Safe, which is a service of the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
It appeared to me that everyone was having a great time!
It’s the Deck the Halls Brass Quintet performing holiday music! Good times were had by local residents and businesses on one block of B Street in San Diego’s financial district.A number of nearby restaurants were serving up yummy treats for all comers. Christmas lights lit up the night!These smiling folks told me the event was put together by Clean and Safe, a service of the Downtown San Diego Partnership. Thank you guys!
Two gulls take a nap in the San Diego sunshine the day after Thanksgiving. Many people were enjoying a pleasant, easy stroll along the waterfront.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I just took a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero. If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 12,000 words that hint at why I’m thankful every day to live in this beautiful city. I could write volumes and volumes.
A sleepy sea lion doesn’t care what sort of crazy, wild-eyed antics his buddy is engaged in.The Maritime Museum of San Diego’s historic Pilot boat crosses the bay as white clouds glow gloriously in a blue sky.This seagull was watching me taking a walk around Tuna Harbor. I wonder what she thought I was up to?A couple snuggled on the rocks by Seaport Village watch a gull take flight from the nearby wall.A busker magician comedian mime guy gets tied up in inescapable rope during his funny routine at Seaport Village.Mrs. Claus greets a child and mother at the Seaport Village’s East Plaza Gazebo.A guy carrying a skateboard ambles past outdoor diners at Sally’s Seafood on the Water.A helpful tot picks up a photographer’s tripod after a photo shoot at Embarcadero Marina Park North.A snowy egret checks out a small stone in the Marriott Marina on San Diego’s waterfront.Magnificent clouds the day after Thanksgiving on San Diego’s Embarcadero. Visible is a Dole cargo ship at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.Taking flight in the sunshine.
Cool San Diego Sights! 