Tag: encanto

Coffee mural in Encanto at The Mental Bar!

Check out this very cool new mural, painted in Encanto just a couple months ago! It’s by artist Irieanna Sesma (@SD_IRIE).

The mural very effectively attracts attention to the newly opened The Mental Bar!

The Mental Bar- Coffee, Tea & Wellness, at 6325 Imperial Avenue, is a welcoming place run by two very nice people who greeted me with big smiles.

They offer all sorts of healthy things to eat and drink. I’m afraid all I asked for was a bottle of water. (Walking around in the San Diego sunshine is thirsty business!)

They asked what I liked about the mural. I said I really liked the cool neon vibe!

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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!

Let’s Live, Let’s Love in Encanto!

Words of wisdom can be found up and down Imperial Avenue in San Diego’s Encanto neighborhood.

LETS LIVE LETS LOVE has been painted on several different electrical boxes, along with a variety of beautiful designs.

I photographed one of these boxes a couple years ago when I posted great examples of street art in Encanto. (You can see all that street art here.)

Let’s Live. Let’s Love.

These words might seem simple, but you know what? The very peak of wisdom might be contained in those few small words.

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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!

Photos of colorful street art in Encanto!

Check out this batch of great street art! I recently walked along Imperial Avenue, starting a few blocks west of the Encanto trolley station and ending a few blocks to the east. Many of the electrical boxes along either sidewalk were painted by very creative artists.

Some of this street art is years old, but it’s still lively and fun! I did adjust my photos a little to make faded colors more vivid.

If the abstract style in the above photo looks familiar, that’s because it’s by local artist Maxx Moses (formerly named Daniel Hopkins), whose work can be seen elsewhere on my blog. A friendly guy at The World Famous Imperial Barber Shop said the front of the building was painted with this fantastic artwork a couple years ago.

The nearby Encanto trolley station also has a huge, amazing mural that Maxx Moses helped to create. See it here! You can see even more cool work by this San Diego-based graffiti artist and muralist here and here.

Now my walk continues east along Imperial Avenue…

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Art along Imperial Avenue celebrates Encanto.

Dance.
Dance.

Near the center of Encanto, along Imperial Avenue, colorful panels celebrating the culture, history and life of this diverse community have decorated lamp posts on the street’s median for almost 30 years. I took photos of seven panels during a recent walk near the Encanto trolley station.

Twenty four panels, by local artist Eddie L. Edwards, many of which appear to be dated 1992, were part of the “Streetscape Art Project” along Imperial Avenue, which was completed in 1993. The intention was to revitalize Encanto’s modest commercial center, from 62nd Street to 69th Street. As you might imagine, the panels, exposed to almost three decades of sun and weather, have cracked and faded. But to eyes that pause and look up they remain alive, and tell the story of a hilly urban community that still feels rural even as San Diego has grown.

I’ve radically altered the brightness and contrast of these photos to help revive the color of the old panels.

(During my walk I also photographed lots of great street art. I’ll share those photos in a bit.)

Education.
Education.

Transportation.
Transportation.

Nature.
Nature.

Work.
Work.

Play.
Play.

Music.
Music.

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Liquid Harmony mural at Encanto trolley station.

All sorts of public art can be enjoyed at trolley stations around San Diego. In my opinion, the most wonderful example is found at the 62nd Street/Encanto station.

Those who take the Orange Line trolley ride pass by a wildly imaginative, dreamlike vision. A 400 foot mural on the long wall of the south platform takes its inspiration from nearby Chollas Creak. The mural is titled Liquid Harmony.

In 2010 local artists Maxx Moses, Miguel Godoy and Todd Stands were commissioned by the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation to paint the mural. What resulted was completely amazing!

Last weekend I walked along the south platform of the 62nd Street/Encanto trolley station and took photos of the mural. Amid swirls of color I found many birds, insects and plants, and the flowing, ever-present, life-giving water.

I also saw the hands and heart of those who make this neighborhood in San Diego their home.

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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 photos for you to enjoy!