It seems every time I walk through downtown Escondido, I discover more street art! That includes last weekend!
I believe that some of the art in these photographs is fairly new. The above electrical box, for example.
The box in my last photo I’ve noticed in the past, but I walked right past it as I hurried down Valley Parkway to or from the Escondido Transit Center.
Enjoy!
This great street art is by Shirish Villaseñor. If you’ve walked around during Comic-Con and seen fun window graphics painted at Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt near the San Diego Convention Center–that’s her art, too!I believe this agricultural artwork is by Zane Kingcade. His amazing murals can be found all over Escondido.Passion Flower was painted for the City of Escondido by Cedar Covington in 2023.More beautiful flowers painted in Escondido, by artist Brenda Gunderson Townsend.
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An absolutely amazing mural is being painted in Escondido. It’s on the side of a building at Maple Street Plaza, and appears to be almost completed. I spotted the new mural behind a fence today as I walked down Grand Avenue. Information posted on the fence tells the story of this colorful artwork, which is titled Hummingbird Jubilee!
The artist is teacher and small business owner Brenda Gunderson Townsend. She operates Brilliant Spectrum Art. Here’s her Instagram page.
According to the posted info, she’s an Art Educator at the Center for the Arts Escondido, as well as the center’s lead Scenic Artist. The mural is her special gift to the entire Escondido community!
Brenda started painting Hummingbird Jubilee in late September. It’s in a stained glass style, in a nod to the Arts & Crafts movement. It measures 100 feet long by 14 feet tall. According to what I read, the City of Escondido will host a big unveiling event for the finished mural.
Wow!
I took photographs through the surrounding chain link fence…
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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.
Renowned artist and illustrator Rafael Lopez painted this very colorful mural in Escondido during the summer. You might recognize his abstract style. The inspirational mural greets students arriving at the Palomar College Escondido Education Center.
(I took a long walk through Escondido early this morning . . . then Oceanside around noontime! I discovered all sorts of great street art and public art during my adventures. Stay tuned!)
The story behind this beautiful Rafael Lopez mural can be found in this article. I didn’t know the school has a comet as its mascot!
I like how images of life, growth and reaching skyward are important elements of the design.
If you love this artwork, you might want to check out other Rafael Lopez murals around San Diego. You can find many of them documented in past blog posts by clicking here.
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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.
Bright, happy colors. PLAY MORE LEARN MORE. Painted Lady butterflies and flowers watered by a rainbow. A bird, a snail, a ladybug. Two kids perched on a mushroom, reading a book.
Mr. Rogers and his quote: Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.
The artwork is by Paige and Brenda Townsend (@BrilliantSpectrumArt).
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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.
An extraordinary mural officially debuted yesterday in downtown Escondido. Back in the Day was painted by local artist and prolific muralist Zane Kingcade on The Photographer’s Eye building, a few steps east of Heritage Park. The mural recalls Escondido as it appeared years ago. Look for this new public art near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Juniper Street.
On Saturday afternoon an enthusiastic group gathered to celebrate the new mural. Escondido’s Mayor White presented long-time resident and author Arlene Cook Shuster with a plaque in appreciation for her generous contribution to the project, then Arlene spoke at length about the historical places depicted in the mural.
We heard the history of the Escondido Lumber, Hay & Grain Company, Sunkist (founded in Escondido!), Shelby’s Grocery, the Times-Advocate, Havens’ Studio, Grape Day, Rube’s Fabulous Country Corner, Homer Heller Ford, The Wagon Wheel, and 15 cent Burgers! We learned that some of the places shown in the mural have vanished entirely, while a few of the old buildings, or remnants of buildings, remain to this day.
Zane Kingcaid then spoke about his creation of the mural–how in the dark of early morning over the course of a couple weeks he sketched images from old photos that were projected onto The Photographer’s Eye building.
Escondido artist Zane Kingcade gestures toward his newly created mural Back in the Day.Escondido Mayor Dane White introduces Arlene Shuster.Arlene Cook Shuster tells those who’ve gathered about the history of special places in Escondido.A special day in Escondido as history is painted into the present.
I also learned that Zane Kingcade recently finished another mural, one block north of Heritage Park on Valley Parkway. The artwork decorates the exterior of Joor Muffler & Complete Auto Service, not far from the big iconic Joor Muffler man! This mural is titled All Roads Lead to Esco.
I had to check it out!
Joor Muffler man.
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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!
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The premise for the exhibition is brilliant. Art students at colleges in the San Diego region are presented with instructions to find magic in everyday things.
What are some of these instructions? Create an artwork using alchemy or magic to correct a problem. Make a mural commemorating the best day of your life. Create an artwork to say “thank you” for something in your life for which you are grateful. Make a medal or a trophy for someone that you think deserves one. Think of the worst idea you can for an artwork and try to turn it into a good idea. Make a piece of art that attempts to be universally understood as if an alien from another planet would view it thousands of years in the future…
Following assigned instructions, students artistically transform familiar things, and the pieces that result can be very personal or surprising. Human creativity is akin to real magic!
When I visited the museum today I didn’t know what to expect. What you see in these photographs provides a taste of what I found.
A Practical Guide to Modest Magic continues for only one more week. It can be viewed in the museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido through August 17, 2024. Then–poof–a moment of rare magic ends.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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A number of local artists were displaying their work today at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. I happened to walk by their event, so I had to check it out.
A display of fun, super creative table lamps immediately caught my eye. I was looking at the multi-media artwork of Rainbow artist Clark Warren.
He’s been assembling these wonderful, whimsical lamps for thirty years, Clark told me. People he knows give him the figurines and other found objects that are incorporated into his wonderful “sculpture” lamps.
He turned one lamp on that looked like a steampunk contraption, and the light continuously changed color. I saw photos of other lamps, including one that rises strangely from a sewing machine. His creativity knows no limits! And he’s too nice!
I wasn’t surprised at all when I learned his work will be exhibited at the Oceanside Museum of Art sometime in 2025.
If you’re interested in the Light Expressions art of Clark Warren, I’ve posted a photo of his business card.
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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.
Seven positively enormous books stand along a sidewalk in Escondido as if they were filed on a library shelf. All concern the history of Escondido and nearby places.
It you’d like to have a look at these giant books, head to the corner of Kalmia Street and Grand Avenue!
These books, as you can see, are realistically painted in a big mural. The fun artwork was created earlier this year by local artist Zane Kingcade, whose murals can be found all over Escondido.
The titles of these books (which actually exist–and will fit in your hand) are: Yesterday in Escondido, Grape Day Festival 1908-1950, The History of the Hotel Charlotta, San Pasqual A Crack in the Hills, The Royal Highway, Palomar From Teepee to Telescope, and Early Escondido.
If you’re interested in reading any of these books, simply google the title.
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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)!
Should you walk down the alley that runs just south of Grand Avenue in Escondido, you might notice many of the murals that once graced the blocks between Maple and Broadway have vanished. These works of local artists, from the inaugural 2021 season of Esco Alley Art, had to be removed.
I explored Escondido’s cultural center last weekend and discovered familiar works of art mounted to several outdoor walls…
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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)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 