Mosaic scenes of Hispanic life, culture and history decorate benches and seats at a San Diego Trolley station.
In Logan Heights, the 25th and Commercial Street station of the San Diego Trolley’s Orange Line features public art at both it’s east and west platforms. A week or so ago, I enjoyed looking at colorful mosaics made of tiles on the base of various concrete seats and curving benches. The small mosaics depict Hispanic life, culture and history. There are abstract scenes of immigrants working in fields or in construction, of family at home, and of organized activism.
I took these photos at the eastbound platform. The mosaics are part of a project titled Achievement / Progress / Community: In the Spirit of Cesar E. Chavez that was completed in 2006. The mosaics were created by artist John Hiemstra. The trolley stop is dedicated to civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.
Photo along length of 25th and Commercial Street trolley station of the Orange Line. This is the eastbound platform.A small tile mosaic scene features a red trolley in front of downtown’s Santa Fe Depot.A family at home around a table laden with food.Migrant workers planting seeds in a field.Mosaic shows what appears to be a ranch in a Southern California landscape.Farm worker is harvesting tomatoes or strawberries.Saguaro cacti in a Southwestern scene.Beautiful abstract mosaic. Tiles of different colors, sizes and shapes.Hispanic workers build a wall.A laborer hard at work.Two figures stand near automobiles on a highway.A diverse group appears to hold up signs in a protest.A priest and an activist.Hispanic youth together, perhaps students. Another scene of life, learning, hope, struggle.
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My art is the way I reestablish the bonds that tie me to the universe.
This morning I saw a bunch of cool zines dangling in the windows of downtown’s Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. I was peering at the many imaginative covers and unexpected titles when I noticed this window display concerns the annual Tijuana Zine Fest, a regional festival that celebrates independent publishing and art.
I always love to bathe in individual, uninhibited creativity. Many of the zines appear to be subversive; others are humorous, or philosophical, or inspiring.
Best of luck to all the authors!
Keep on pushing to new horizons!
Keep on writing!
Tijuana Zine Fest is an annual festival that celebrates self-publishing and independent art in the culturally fertile Tijuana-San Diego border region.A bunch of creative zines hang inside the windows of the downtown Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, in their building at America Plaza.Why are you dumping me? Snap out of it.Tarantella Zine.Pabdia – Cine Enmascarado.Tijuana. Deep Affection. Xicanita. Self Care – Self Love.Fetish Witch. Beast County.One Punk’s Guide to African Politics. Accomplices Not Allies.Transitory Existence.Abandon everything again. Pobre Bebé. La Playa. A Manifesto for Discomfortable Writing.
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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!
Someone in downtown San Diego’s Horton Plaza Park peers through a spy hole into a tiny Model Home.
The La Jolla Playhouse has invaded Horton Plaza Park! Several red houses have been placed inside the downtown San Diego park, and inside these tiny houses professional actors and actresses perform. A public audience can freely watch through spy holes!
Model Home is the name of this improvisational performance art concept, and anyone can check it out through Sunday. It’s a part of the La Jolla Playhouse’s annual Without Walls Festival which this year takes place in venues around downtown.
The genius behind Model Home is Mimi Lien, and I believe the idea is to inspire thought about what makes a home, and about those things in a home that individuals deem to be important.
A home is like an enclosed stage where humans act out much of their lives. As one nearby sign says, houses aren’t just structures, but contain human identity, memory and experience. Peering through the various spy holes in these Model Homes is like secretly peering into the mind of another person. It’s an inner life that the observer can never truly know.
I spoke to a couple of friendly La Jolla Playhouse folks and learned the actors and actresses inside the houses perform all day long, with periodic breaks. They are aware that eyeballs are staring in at them, but as trained acting professionals they aren’t fazed at all.
I also learned that at certain times the tiny house that is dangling from a crane is swung around through the air in a Crane Ballet! Perhaps I’ll “swing” by again this weekend and “crane” my neck at what must certainly be an unusual sight!
If you’re in downtown this weekend, you really should check it out!
Inside one tiny house I saw an actor in a small kitchen baking bread!Model Home, in downtown San Diego’s Horton Plaza Park, is part of the La Jolla Playhouse Without Walls WOW festival! (Click image to enlarge.)Several tiny red houses stand in Horton Plaza Park–and one is dangling high in the sky from a crane!People pause to read a sign that describes some very unique and thought-provoking performance art that can be enjoyed freely by anyone passing by.Peering through one of the spy holes…Inside this very bare Model Home an actor seemed to be sleeping in poverty. But every small “stage” and improvised performance invites the viewer’s personal interpretation.Inside another Model Home were the abandoned remnants of a birthday party. I didn’t see an actor. (Perhaps the kids ran outside to play…)And inside this Model Home an actress was studying a feather, holding it up and turning it about in the soft light. She seemed to be quietly thinking.
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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!
Donations were collected during the House of Puerto Rico’s lawn program in Balboa Park to assist with disaster relief.
Here’s an opportunity to help the people of Puerto Rico who’ve been thrown into a terrible crisis by Hurricane Maria. The devastation brought by this natural disaster is unprecedented. Every bit of help is vitally important.
By sheer coincidence, the House of Puerto Rico had their International Cottages lawn program today in Balboa Park. A collection jar was there for donations, and proceeds from food sales went to hurricane relief.
I also learned that there’s a donation button on the House of Puerto Rico website, which you’ll find here.
Please consider providing these good people with a bit of support.
Puerto Rican food at the special event included arroz con gandules, pastel de masa and alcapurrias.If you missed the event, click the link I’ve included to visit the House of Puerto Rico website. There you will see a Hurricane Maria donation button.Among the many displays inside the House of Puerto Rico cottage are panderetas, cencerros and other musical instruments.Students inside the Balboa Park cottage learn about the special economic challenges of Puerto Rico, which is an unincorporated U.S. territory in the Caribbean.Many people have loved ones in Puerto Rico. Heroic efforts are underway to help those affected by Hurricane Maria.
Every year, Fiestas Patrias, which celebrates Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, includes traditional entertainment for the entire family.
This morning I missed a bus to Ocean Beach at the Old Town Transit Center, so to pass the time I walked the short distance over to the State Park to see if anything was going on. And I discovered that Fiestas Patrias was being celebrated today!
I lingered for a few minutes and took some photos, headed over to OB (as you will see), then returned to Old Town a couple hours later to really soak in the event. Fiestas Patrias is a yearly celebration of Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. San Diego, a small town founded near a Spanish presidio in Alta California, thereafter became a part of Mexico until 1848.
Many diverse traditions have intermingled during San Diego’s history to make our city what it is today. The rich and colorful culture of Mexico has remained an essential part of life in San Diego!
A mariachi welcomes visitors to the historic Casa de Estudillo in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.A friendly horse came for a visit as I took some photos outside the Casa de Estudillo during Fiestas Patrias.Traditional dances were being performed on the central plaza’s main stage. Las damas y los caballeros took turns being el toro and el matador!The annual event features authentic costumes from a time when San Diego was a small Mexican town in Alta California.Kids were decorating traditional cascarones eggshells.A demonstration inside the Casa de Estudillo of yarn being spun. During the Spanish period, sheep were first introduced along with cattle and horses at the Mission San Diego de Alcalá.Nearby, ladies were demonstrating Colcha Spanish Colonial embroidery, which was typical in San Diego in the early 1800s.At the same table, another lady was cutting out festive Mexican papel picado.The historically authentic musical group Los Californios wait for their turn on the stage at Fiestas Patrias in Old Town San Diego!
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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!
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!
A friendly hello at the 2017 San Diego Brazilian Day Festival!
My walking adventure today included a stop at the San Diego Brazilian Day Festival in Mission Beach. Lots of people were arriving late in the morning, and banners were being raised, and parade floats were being prepared for later in the afternoon, and a band had begun playing Latin beats, and dancers were dancing, and people were joining in with smiles and uninhibited energy.
And so I took some photos!
People hang a banner as the San Diego Brazilian Day Festival gets started late Sunday morning.Nearby, on the Mission Beach boardwalk, people are walking, biking and skating by the beautiful blue ocean.Brazilian culture was celebrated today, so naturally some vendors were selling crispy pastel.The music was playing as soon as the festival got started. The Brazilian Institute for Arts and Culture was bringing the spirit of Brazil to San Diego!Lots of Brazilian flags at this t-shirt booth.Later in the afternoon there would be a carnival-like parade around Belmont Park, and some people were decorating a colorful float.A group promoting Latin American and Latino art had a cool truck plastered with word magnets. Visitors were creating poems. There will be a thousand LATIN rainbows…There will also be stacks of cool hats!It didn’t take long before festival visitors were dancing in front of the main stage.More people join in, and now they’re really kicking it up!Smiling ladies commenced an energetic dance routine on the stage to the delight of the growing crowd.A funny photo of two people in the crowd. Can you spot them?Brazilian culture was celebrated today in San Diego’s sunny Mission Beach!
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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!
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!
Anyone could add their own creative touch to this cool Imperial Street Festival spray paint mural!
This afternoon I checked out a cool neighborhood event. I headed into Logan Heights to experience the Third Annual Imperial Avenue Street Festival!
I had never been to this festival before. What did I discover? Lots of culture, live music, tasty food, dance, art . . . and smiles!
Here are some photos!
Live music could be enjoyed at multiple stages.Cool graffiti art at the Logan Heights neighborhood festival by Dehvzer Artworks.The VivaLife Health Hub had energetic dancers and upbeat music!
The VivaLife Health Hub at 2754 Imperial Avenue is a project of BAME Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that strengthens the residents and businesses in Greater Logan Heights.
BAME puts on this awesome festival. And they are looking for neighborhood volunteers! Click the above link to learn more!
Here are two of many smiles that I saw!Guys eating at Dulceria Coty on Imperial Avenue had good seats to watch the event.Now that looks yummy.Calamity!Lots of vendors and some prize wheels.Poster shows student achievers from the local King-Chavez Primary Academy sports and athletics programs!The local Turf Klub had some custom cars out for the public to admire.At the East Stage a San Diego youth band called the Main Stage Maniacs rocked the house!
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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!
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!
The Commodores do a sound check before their evening performance at Bayside Summer Nights.
Adventures all over today, including walks in La Mesa and Logan Heights.
The best came near the end. I just happened to arrive at Embarcadero Marina Park South as the legendary Motown group Commodores began their sound check for this evening’s Bayside Summer Nights concert. It was like a free “concert” for myself and a few lucky others.
The Commodores have provided so many good moments and memories in my life. Their stirring music has such strong rhythm and heart. Soul, defined. When you listen, you smile, then you start singing too.
Night Shift. Lady (You Bring Me Up). Easy.
I heard bits and pieces of them all.
And in the near distance, sailboats and sunshine on San Diego Bay.
Yes, life is good.
Getting the chairs ready for an outdoor concert on San Diego Bay.A sailboat tacks. I could hear the sails flapping.The Commodores on stage produce their legendary magic.Sunshine and sails. Easy like Saturday afternoon.Life is good.
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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!
Two vaqueros chat during an event in Old Town San Diego that reenacts fascinating Californio history.
I enjoyed the Trades That Shaped the West event in Old Town San Diego last Saturday so much, I decided to return today to experience another Stagecoach Days event: Days of the Vaqueros!
Days of the Vaqueros invited curious visitors to experience what life was like when San Diego was a part of Spain, then Mexico. The emphasis was on the vaqueros–the first true cowboys. During the era of the Californios, wealthy ranch owners employed vaqueros to manage their stock.
For a couple of decades–from the early 1820s to the mid-1840s–cattle hides were the primary export of Alta California. Merchant ships from the East Coast (and other places about the Pacific Ocean) would trade the plentiful hides for finished goods that were in high demand in early, geographically isolated, sparsely populated towns like San Diego.
Someone checks out Days of the Vaqueros activities. The banner hangs on the Robinson Rose House in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Taking place during Old Town’s summer weekend Stagecoach Days, today’s event primarily celebrated life in San Diego when the small town and Alta California were part of Mexico.Ladies pass by in period dresses. One of many cool sights at the Days of the Vaqueros event in Old Town San Diego.Tables contained information about life during the era of huge Mexican land grant ranches worked by vaqueros. Vaqueros, the first true cowboys, were mostly indigenous people employed to manage cattle by the wealthy land owners.A vaquero shows a visitor to Old Town how to properly handle a rope.The visitor successfully lassoes his cow–the rear end, that is–first try!A gentleman who used to work for Buck Knives makes unique knife handles out of elk antlers. He has developed his own technique, which takes great skill and precision.A hat maker shows how beaver felt material was steamed then pushed over a hat-form block.What’s cooking on the campfire? Some tasty pozole, I was told!Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup or stew, made from hominy, meat and various vegetable seasonings.Decorating eggshell cascarones. Near the end of a fiesta, Californios flirted by cracking eggs filled with scented water or confetti over the startled head of someone they liked.A group called Los Californios played authentic early California music–tunes that were preserved over a century ago on wax cylinder sound recordings made by Charles Lummis.A couple dances to the happy, gentle music.Publications by a nonprofit project called San Diego Friends of Old Time Music. Author Vykki Mende Gray is helping to preserve the musical history of California.A display of braided ropes and rawhide, once commonly used by vaqueros as they worked on the large cattle ranches around San Diego.On this table I see more ropes, a canteen, iron brands and boot spurs.A gentleman who teaches school students visiting Old Town about history holds up an illustration of bear-baiting, which early Californians found entertaining.These guys were making adobe bricks. I learned earth and water are mixed, and straw or manure are often added for strength and cohesion.Authentic adobe bricks take weeks or months to properly dry. When hard, these bricks will possibly be used in new construction or to restore existing exhibits inside Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Traditional dancing in the courtyard of Casa de Estudillo of Los Camotes (which translates the sweet potatoes), a tune from old Mexican and Spanish California.
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Rabbits have been created to commemorate the history of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, which once was nicknamed Rabbitville.
A “hop-up” art gallery can be found in the Gaslamp during 2017 San Diego Comic-Con! This fun Rabbitville exhibition, located at 453 Fifth Avenue, features a roomful of large colorful rabbits created by local artists! Their artwork celebrates the rich, unique history of the Gaslamp Quarter and San Diego.
You might recall we saw the Willabee rabbit at the Jacaranda Spring Thing, when I blogged about it here. Well, now you can enjoy a whole warren of art bunnies!
Swing on by during Comic-Con (through Sunday) and check them out!
People attending 2017 San Diego Comic-Con look at an artfully painted rabbit outside the Rabbitville “Hop-Up” Gallery.Honoring the Disdained: Carp Jumping Dragon Gate, by artist Tasha Hobbs. Art that honors the contributions of Chinese immigrants in early San Diego.Alonzo Horton is the father of modern San Diego. He journeyed to San Diego in 1867, then purchased the area now known as downtown and called it New Town.The Stingaree was a red-light district filled with prostitutes and gamblers, including the famous Wyatt Earp, who would run three gambling halls in San Diego.
Steampunk author Jack Tyler is writing an exciting novel about San Diego’s infamous Stingaree. I blogged about it here!
It’s an exciting read. Check it out!
Mirrored Rabbit, by artist Mario Herbelin-Canelas.Ordinate, by artist Rebecca Nuvoletta. This rabbit celebrates the visions of a distant future in the founding of New Town.Willabee, by artist Matt Forderer. This rabbit has traveled through time to collect historical images of San Diego.Against All Odds, We Thrive! by artist Sarah Soward. Alonzo Horton’s passion and vision for San Diego is celebrated.Diego, by artist Monty Montgomery. The colors and shapes on this rabbit are visual impressions of experiences on the streets of San Diego.
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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!
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!
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