Tag: creativity

Muralists celebrated at Chicano Park Day!

Paintings by many muralists on display during Chicano Park Day.

The Chicano Park Mural Restoration Project is currently underway, and many of the artists contributing to the massive effort were celebrated yesterday at the 54th Annual Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan.

A section of the Chicano Park Day event was dedicated to these talented creators, many of whom had their own canopies along Logan Avenue. They were showing and selling artwork, and even painting new work as people watched!

One long wall was filled with paintings by many of the participating muralists, exhibiting their diverse styles. A coloring book filled with art by fourteen of the artists was also available for creative kids.

I met a few of the muralists…

Roberto R. Pozos shows art that honors his Mexican-American heritage at 2024 Chicano Park Day.

Shirish Villaseñor smiles and creates a new painting at Chicano Park Day. (You might recall seeing her artwork in front of the Hilton on the new Bay to Park Paseo.)

Some of Shirish’s art.

Carmen Linares-Kalo is surrounded by her spiritual art at Chicano Park Day. Her work includes a mural that honors the Kumeyaay people.

Mario Torero, renowned muralist and a co-founder of Chicano Park, with a big smile. He contributed to more than 20 of the original murals and leads other artists during the restoration project.

Mario Torero created this poster art over 30 years ago for 1993 Chicano Park Day. Peace in Our World. Struggle for Justice.

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Murals at world’s first vegan drive-thru!

Evolution Fast Food, located in San Diego’s Bankers Hill neighborhood, bills itself as the world’s first fully vegan drive-thru restaurant.

A sign near Evolution’s drive-thru window invites hungry customers to enjoy their 100% plant-based “housemade sauces, softserve, burger patties, cashew cheese, bacon, and soft drinks.”

Sadly, I must admit I haven’t eaten there yet. But when I walk or drive down Fifth Avenue, I always find myself gazing at their very colorful murals!

Enjoy these photographs, which I took yesterday.

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Art created from destructive Cedar Fire.

Some unusual art was recently moved onto the second floor of San Diego’s Central Library. Cedar Fire was created by local artist Timothy Murdoch in 2019.

The work is composed of collected burnt wood and house paint. Many communities throughout San Diego were affected by the historic, incredibly destructive Cedar Fire in 2003. The fire destroyed 2,820 buildings including 2,232 homes.

I still remember how all of San Diego County was disrupted as people coped with the fast moving, Santa Ana wind driven fire. I had to drive up Interstate 15 under a dark orange sky during the fire, and it seemed I was the only one on the freeway. It’s hard for me to believe that was over twenty years ago. Seems like yesterday.

Does this sculpture look familiar? Cedar Fire, part of the City of San Diego Art Collection, was previously displayed in the lobby of San Diego’s City Administration Building.

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Window to an imagined future in Balboa Park!

What might the future look like? Can science and technology, guided by human compassion, intelligence and imagination, bring forth a better world?

These questions might enter your mind as you peer at works of art created by UC San Diego professor Dr. Pinar Yoldas, now on display in Balboa Park at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Pinar Yoldas: Synaptic Sculpture is an exhibition that challenges the world that we presently know. It offers a window to a future that is possible. And some of the ideas are a little weird!

I visited the exhibition last weekend and loved the boundless creativity. Biology, artificial intelligence, psychology, environmental science and more–even mythology–are combined in unique ways by the speculative mind of Dr. Yoldas.

Imagine works of art in your home that grow environmentally beneficial algae! Imagine sitting on enormous molecules while having your mind calmed by an aroma-wafting sensory pendulum! Imagine having your life ruled by a cute kitten AI overlord! (Oh, wait. Would we really want that future?)

The free exhibition definitely stimulates a sense if wonder. It encourages open minds to speculate where all us human types might be headed.

If you choose, head to the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego in Balboa Park before June 23, 2024 when the exhibition closes!

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

An invasion of dragons in Balboa Park!

Numerous dragons invaded Balboa Park this weekend! As did tigers and elephants and hummingbirds and panda bears, and almost every sort of creature, great or small.

All were the subjects of amazing works of art, displayed in the Casa del Prado during the Friends of Sumi-E 21st Annual Art Exhibition!

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, we’re now in the Year of the Dragon. So it’s not surprising that many of the brush paintings I saw today depict dragons.

Friends of Sumi-E is a group of San Diego artists who practice traditional Japanese brush painting, which is called sumi-e or suiboku-ga. They also provided classes for those interested in learning the art.

One cool aspect of sumi-e exhibitions in Balboa Park is the public can watch skilled artists at work. And anyone can try their own hand at creating a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of art!

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Yoda and space ship graffiti in San Diego!

The building at 2905 Commercial Street in San Diego was recently spray painted with a huge, very cool mural by graffiti artist Qvo (@qvo_one). The graphics depict various space ships and Yoda from Star Wars using The Force!

Check it out! Do you see the upside down Darth Vader helmet?

The proximity of cars parked by the narrow sidewalk made photography awkward, resulting in some odd angles. I took the photos into the sun, which explains the less than ideal lighting. Contrast was increased for most of the photos to bring out the colors.

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Creativity at Old Fashioned Lumber in Barrio Logan!

Reclaiming wood from demolished structures or trees whose life had ended, then transforming the once-living wood into furniture, art and other uniquely beautiful products, is inspired. That’s what Old Fashioned Lumber in Barrio Logan does!

I visited Old Fashioned Lumber a couple weekends ago during the San Diego Architectural Foundation Open House event. The public was allowed to peek into the inner workings of the place. These photographs represent much of what I saw.

Old Fashioned Lumber sells their handcrafted furniture and other artistic objects directly to the public. They also work with hotels, restaurants, and businesses of all types, producing conference tables, benches, bars–you name it!

They even created a set of furniture out of reclaimed avocado wood for the studio of San Diego music legend Jason Mraz!

During my visit I was shown a big heap of wood salvaged during the Hotel del Coronado renovation. If you’d like to have them design something with this historic Hotel Del wood, make a request! I also noted they have wood reclaimed from the 1887 Grand Pacific Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter!

Converting used wood that might have been tossed into a landfill into something completely new is also environmentally friendly. Brilliant!

Learn more about Old Fashioned Lumber and its founders by clicking here.

The following stack of wood is from the Hotel del Coronado…

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Butterflies mosaic installed in Normal Heights!

An exceptionally beautiful work of public art was installed today in Normal Heights. Kaleidoscope of Butterflies now takes wing on a corner of the City of San Diego Adams Recreation Center!

The artwork, consisting of eleven interlocking mosaic panels, features combined elements of very different butterflies. It was created by artist Kim Emerson, who lives a few blocks away. She and her husband, Dennis Reiter, are founding members of Normal Heights Urban Arts (NHUA).

Kim Emerson’s mosaics and sculptures have already been enjoyed by many San Diegans. You can see a couple examples of her fantastic public art here and here.

Kim’s website has a description of her Kaleidoscope of Butterflies and the history of its creation. Read her words, and see photos of the mosaics being pieced together, then installed on the Adams Recreation Center here.

Here’s an inspirational article about the artist, her work with renowned artist James Hubbell, and her calling to create. As we each can do in life, she picks up broken pieces and combines them into new beauty. But that’s not all. When this project is finished, Kim has decided that it’s time to pass on her knowledge to other artists and agencies seeking qualified artists, to help elevate the awareness of contemporary mosaic art. She plans to mentor other artists, teach mosaic from her home studio and experiment more with her personal mosaic work.

If you drive east on Adams Avenue near 35th Street, you can’t miss the Kaleidoscope of Butterflies. Plus many other butterflies that have been painted on nearby electrical boxes by Normal Heights Urban Arts.

I arrived this afternoon after installation of the eleven panels had been completed. I took the following photos under overcast, drizzly conditions.

The art is like sunshine for the soul.

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Transmutation mural behind Bread & Salt.

In 2023, a long mural was created in the alley behind Bread & Salt in Logan Heights. Transmutation – Exploring art & Healing is the title in English. It’s by San Diego artist May-ling Martinez.

The artwork combines various elements, including geometry, anatomy, natural forms and design. It seems that creativity is in our human DNA.

I saw this mural for the first time a few days ago when I explored the old Weber’s bread bakery, the historic building in which the Bread & Salt cultural center is located.

In late 2020 I walked around the same building and through the same alley, taking photos of different murals, many of which remain today. See those here.

Looking at the artist’s website, I see she created fun art that I photographed almost ten years ago in East Village. It’s the closet-like mural titled Inside Outside that you can see here!

Here are more photos of Transmutation, taken along the alley as I walked from left to right…

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Hubbell art exhibition at San Diego libraries!

San Diego area artist James Hubbell is beloved by many. He has achieved international renown. His beautiful, uniquely organic sculptures can be found all around the city. I’ve photographed much of his public art over the years.

Starting today, his visually stunning artwork can be enjoyed inside four different San Diego Public Libraries!

The exhibition James Hubbell: Architecture of Jubilation can now be viewed at the Central Library Art Gallery, the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library, the Mission Valley Library, and the Otay Mesa-Nestor Library. The citywide event will continue through August 4, 2024. To discover what you might find at each of the four libraries, click here!

I was granted a quick sneak peek inside the Central Library’s Ninth Floor Art Gallery this afternoon. The following photographs provide a taste of what you will experience…

Several special programs at the Central Library coincide with this exhibition.

On Tuesday, March 19, there is a film screening of James Hubbell: Between Heaven & Earth.

On Monday, April 22, there is a Dave Hampton lecture titled “James Hubbell at Midcentury: His Early Years in the San Diego Art Community.”

On Tuesday, May 21, there is a Keith York lecture titled “James Hubbell & Sim Bruce Richards: Collaborations.”

On Friday, May 17, there’s a stained glass workshop taught by ArtReach San Diego.

For more information about these programs, and to register, click here!

Finally, enjoy a photograph I took near the Central Library’s front desk. The beautiful sculpture is by James Hubbell. Opus, made of bronze, was created in 1970. It belongs to the City of San Diego Civic Art Collection:

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!