Escondido’s big Fall Grand Avenue Festival was held today.
Around midday I headed up to Escondido to experience the popular event.
Along the main stretch of Escondido’s historic downtown I saw a community gathered to enjoy a sunny, carefree Sunday. I saw neighbors and friends and food and entertainment and lots of vendors and fun.
There were local high school students demonstrating their competitive robots, which launched balls into the air.
Very creative artists showed their “Art In The Garden” at the Heritage Garden.
Diners along the sidewalks enjoyed lunch at their favorite eateries while engaged in people watching.
And, of course, there were many smiles.
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When one thinks of popular Mexican art, traditional images from Día de los Muertos quickly come to mind. The artist most responsible for this cultural identification, José Guadalupe Posada, was a printmaker in Mexico whose often used skeletons and skulls in his illustrations, to make satirical comments on society and the politics of his era.
Undoubtedly you recognize the image in the above photograph. It is Posada’s iconic La Calavera Catrina, a 1910–1913 zinc etching that was later popularized by Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Today La Calavera Catrina is a common sight during Day of the Dead.
According to this Wikipedia article, it’s estimated that during his long career, Posada produced 20,000 plus images for broadsheets, pamphlets and chapbooks… Examples of this material and a wide range of other artwork inspired by José Guadalupe Posada can be viewed at an exhibition now on display in Escondido.
The gallery walls in the Museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido are covered with Posada’s bones. There are political figures, and military scenes, and scenes from ordinary life printed in Mexico City by his partner, publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo.
I visited the museum this weekend and could plainly see how influential Posada has been in the art world, Mexican culture and world history. I also learned how Posada died a pauper and was buried in an unmarked grave.
The exhibition, José Guadalupe Posada: Legendary Printmaker of Mexico, continues at the Museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido through November 21, 2021.
Photograph of Posada’s Workshop, with Posada on the right.Museum visitor views works of political art inspired by Posada.
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Fearless people (and art lovers) have the rare opportunity to view Death and Monsters in Escondido!
Muerte y Monstruos (Death and Monsters) is an exhibition currently on view in the museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. The collection of traditional Mexican artwork, created by the Linares family of Mexico City, includes many papier-mâché sculptures depicting skeletons and skulls, or calaveras, engaged in living and death.
And there are fantastic monsters, or alebrijes, too! Pedro Linares is credited with inventing that form of very colorful folk art.
It’s fortunate many of the fragile pieces on display have survived. Their purpose was to be burned or broken during holiday festivals in Mexico. The sculptures in Death and Monsters were preserved by San Diego art collector Larry Kent.
Much of this art was inspired by legendary Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada. His iconic work is being concurrently displayed in the main gallery of the museum!
Would you enjoy a unique experience during the upcoming season of Día de los Muertos? The exhibition continues through November 21, 2021.
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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!
Numerous amazing murals now fill an alley in downtown Escondido. The multi-phase project is called Esco Alley Art, and I had to check it out last weekend!
Artists have painted all sorts of colorful images, which are displayed in an alley just south of Grand Avenue and east of Maple Street. Some of the murals depict Escondido attractions, such as Cruisin’ Grand and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This expanding outdoor gallery is presented by the Escondido Art Association and the Escondido Downtown Business Association.
Phase II of the project was unveiled a little over a week ago. The vision is to keep adding more art, eventually expanding the outdoor gallery into other alleys!
Learn all about Esco Alley Art on its website here. You can see each mural and read about the artists, many of whom live in Escondido.
I walked along the alley admiring the diverse artwork while snapping these photos…
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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!
A mural featuring all sorts of fantastic Time-related imagery can be found on a wall behind Timekeepers of Escondido, a watch and clock repair shop on Grand Avenue.
I was walking around downtown Escondido, making my way to one particular alley that is filled with art, when I saw this Time Flies mural. It was painted by Zandy Gilmaher in 2014.
Stay tuned for more Escondido art discoveries!
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An extraordinary exhibition of oil paintings by some of America’s finest artists opened at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido a couple weeks ago.
Yesterday I headed into the Center’s Museum to check out dozens of superb pieces that were created by members of the Oil Painters of America.
The Oil Painters of America has several thousand members who excel at representational oil painting, an art that has seen some decline in modern times. According to this page of their website: “Oil Painters of America was founded in 1991 by Shirl Smithson primarily to focus attention on the lasting value of fine drawing, color, composition and the appreciation of light…”
Think of those old masters in a fine art museum. Some of the exquisite works I saw yesterday appear to belong right beside them.
Contemporary art can be amazing, other mediums can be fantastic, but if you want to find a profound sense of humanity and subtle emotion in a canvas, this type of painting is hard to beat.
The exhibition is titled the 30th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils. The California Center for the Arts, Escondido is privileged to have these works on display. I noticed many of the pieces are for sale.
I loved so many of these fine paintings, it was hard to select a handful to give you an idea of what you’ll see when you enter the museum.
Whatever you do, be sure to pass through the California Center for the Arts’ Museum doors by May 16, 2021, when this fantastic exhibition of traditional oil painting draws to an end.
Taos Light, by artist Huihan Liu.Considerations, by artist John Michael Carter.Carpe Diem, by artist Jeff Legg.Mother, by artist Kathie Odom.Port Clyde Harbor, by artist Jim Carson.Saffron In Blue Ridge, by artist Brandon Gonzales.Into the Sun, by artist Sarah Kidner.
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If you’ve ever entered or departed downtown Escondido via West Valley Parkway, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a large, quite interesting sculpture a short distance east of Interstate 15. The sculpture stands at the intersection of Valley Parkway and Tulip Street, right next to the Gateway Shopping Center.
The cast bronze sculpture is titled Community. It was created by local artist Jeff Lindeneau in 1990.
The sun’s light forms dynamic human shapes that are “cut out” of the two triangular sections of Community.
According to a City of Escondido walking tour brochure: “This bronze, copper and locally mined granite sculpture celebrates people living and building together to achieve a common goal. The dramatic sculpture’s shape is reminiscent of the mountains surrounding Escondido with a central passageway depicting the valley.”
I like how you can see trees, hillsides, signs, buildings, light posts and electrical wires inside the human shapes. They, too, are part of Community.
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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!
I’ve seen people stomping on grapes. Now I’ve observed people happily sliding through them!
That’s because a while back I found myself near the Grape Day Park playground in Escondido. As I walked around taking photographs, I saw a couple of kids descending the Vinehenge slide!
Vinehenge was created by artists Valerie Salatino and Nancy Moran in 2004. It’s a very fun part of the City of Escondido’s public art collection!
According to a nearby information sign, city leaders launched the Grape Day Festival back in 1906. “Thousands of visitors, brought in by the Santa Fe Railroad, enjoyed free grapes, danced, socialized, and engaged in other festivities on these grounds.” Today a very wonderful Grape Day Park features the Escondido History Center Museum Complex, which I blogged about over a year ago here.
Check out these fun pics of Vinehenge and its unique grape slide!
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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!
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