Here are more photographs of fantastic art that I discovered during my recent adventure in Azalea Park.
This neighborhood on the south end of City Heights is full of surprises, with murals, sculptures and mosaics just about everywhere one turns!
If you’d like to see more public art in Azalea Park that I’ve already shared, you can click here or here or here or here.
Large mural at intersection of Poplar Street and Jamie’s Way by Gloria Muriel.Mural shows map of City Heights Urban Wilderness Trail.
If you’d like to see a detailed map of the City Heights Canyons Loop Trail, which connects four urban canyons, click here!
One of these days I’ll go hike it!
Natural beauty and wildlife one might see exploring the canyons of City Heights, including nearby Manzanita and Hollywood Canyons.Teach the Youth above graffiti and Mexican sweet bread, painted on the side of a bakery near the entrance to Azalea Park.I learned from local artist Jim Bliesner that these colorful palm trees on Poplar were originally located on University Avenue in City Heights.Murals on The Brown Building community center.Abstract mural with eyes by Isaias Crow.Mural on building’s southwest side by @SART95.A suspended leaf on a street corner. A common sight in Azalea Park, whose street names come from plants and trees.Amazing artwork on the fence of a very artistic resident of Azalea Park!Shipping containers by the playground at Azalea Community Park are covered with fantastic murals!Cool spray paint art by muralist Maxx Moses.A wall just east of the Azalea Park Water Conservation Garden has been decorated with beautiful murals. Gloria Muriel teamed with several other artists.Calla Ditos and Gloria Muriel, aka Glow.Amandalynn and Lady Mags together are known as Alynn-Mags.
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There’s an outdoor sculpture garden in San Diego that very few know about. It’s called the Azalea Park Water Conservation Garden. You can find this special place in Azalea Park, a neighborhood in south City Heights, at the east end of Azalea Community Park.
Last weekend I was given a tour of the sculptures by local artist Jim Bliesner and members of the Azalea Park Mosaic League!
As you can see in my photos, all of the garden’s imaginative artwork is made of recycled materials. What I really loved is the pieces were all created by people who live in the neighborhood!
Come wander with me through this peaceful garden, down several dirt paths through native drought tolerant vegetation, and let’s see what we might discover…
A tall sculpture attracts those who are nearby. Curious eyes will discover something special.
PEACE BEACON
INSTALLED ON JUNE 12, 2016
IN HONOR OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SHOOTING THAT OCCURRED ON THIS DATE IN ORLANDO, FL.
Donated to the Azalea Park neighborhood, where people of all faiths, cultures, and ethnicities proudly live together as one community. May we shine as a beacon to the rest of the country.
Artist: Vicki Leon, 2016
Installation team: Vicki Leon, Bonnie Brooks, Jennifer Lindsey, Brent Lindsey, Aiya Lindsey, Aiden Lindsey. Title by Aiden Lindsey (10 years old).
City Heights artist Jim Bliesner stands by his fun sculpture Joy Ride. It’s made of colorfully painted car hoods!A dreamcatcher made of recycled metal objects.A bull made of old car mufflers.
“The Bull”
By Karim Carlock
Welded by Jose Orozco
I.W.U. Local 229
All the sculptures in the Azalea Park Water Conservation Garden are wonderful. Take a look at this!
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I arrived at the Danza event in Chicano Park about an hour early on Sunday, so I walked randomly around the Barrio Logan neighborhood, curious to see what I might find.
What I discovered was a lot of cool art!
Some of the murals appeared fairly new; other time-faded artwork I hadn’t observed or photographed during previous walks…
Colorful mural spray painted on side of Corner Studios Barrio Logan.La Tortuga painted on the FamilyHealth-Youth Counseling Center.The amazing front of Farallon Design in Barrio Logan.Tiles with shell designs.Ocean waves in one swelling sculptural mosaic.Colors fill a beautiful seashell.Skater girl on one side of a utility box.Devilish second side of the same box.One happy and one stubborn character painted on a third side.Amazing huge mural painted by San Diego artist Michelle Ruby, aka Mrbbaby, on wall of U-Stor-It Barrio Logan.Fun graphic by entrance to Barrio Cuts Barbershop by @paradigmartworks.Pig on a box.Mexican dancers painted on ¡SALUD TACOS! by ShoLove.Aztec figures brighten the restaurant’s black exterior, again by ShoLove.Barrio Logan building on Logan Avenue painted by graffiti artist Dave “Persue” Ross.BunnyKitty among other fun characters.I’ve seen this fearsome simian in other Persue artwork. Don’t know his name.Big eyes above the door of Hola Swim.All sorts of murals on either side of a construction site on Logan Avenue.Young smiling face on tiles at the Chicano Federation of San Diego County Barrio Logan Child Development Center.A second face at left side of front entrance. I think this art might be by Mario Torero.Very colorful spray painted fence by local Chicana artist Jessica Petrikowski.Painted silhouettes of cacti and bird of prey.Painted skeletons on boards appear to be by Mexican artist Mizar Martin (MZR MRTN).Feline eyes by Ground Floor Murals.Feline mouth by Ground Floor Murals.Trashcan in front of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Station 7 painted with a firefighter skull!Family rides bike on a nearby electrical box.More street art with bright sunny abstract designs.Other side of the same box.Smiling mural in alley remembers a departed loved one.
UPDATE!
Here’s a couple more from a later walk…
By artist C. Castaneda, 2018.I believe this mural is by artist Sand One.
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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!
The first annual (hopefully) North Park Book Fair was held today!
Book lovers, authors, poets, artists, and everyone and anyone who loves reading, writing and creativity showed up for the two block long festival!
As you can see from the upcoming photos, North Park Way between 29th Street and Ray Street was absolutely alive!
At first I just wandered past the booths, trying to absorb it all, amazed by everything that I saw. Then I figured I’d blog about the event and began to record smiles!
Read the photo captions to learn more about what I discovered…
Not only was there live painting, local authors and small presses, but one could enjoy poetry readings, storytelling for kids, and perusing thousands of books for sale! And food, too!When I reported the street was packed, I wasn’t kidding!A friendly North Park Main Street volunteer smiles for a pic. Thanks for the great event!The San Diego Public Library had tables full of used books for sale.Friends of the San Diego Public Library smile! I’ve purchased oodles of used books at the Central Library over the years.I almost bought this book about San Diego. I have too much to read, already.Kids could draw fun comic panels at the Little Fish Comic Book Studio booth.Keithan Jones of KID Comics smiles. Look at all the cool independent comic book art he created!He did this great Wonder Woman sketch!I listened for a while as poets presented their words to the gathered crowd.Live poetry at the North Park Book Fair! This animated poet received big applause!A smile from an Accidental Aliens writer!Smiles from two Accidental Aliens artists!Beatrice Zamora wrote award-winning children’s book The Spirit of Chicano Park. She’ll be dancing at the big Danza event at Chicano Park tomorrow!Book, books, books everywhere!Armando Elizarraras created some very cool artwork based on portraits of famous authors. Check out his tattooed Edgar Allan Poe with The Tell-Tale Heart!MORE. LESS. etc. Three sequential books by artist, author and poet Ted Washington! Can poems include mathematical formulas?The folks of Write Out Loud were at the North Park Book Fair, presenting this fun, fishy Kamishibai street theatre story!Book fair goers could indicate with chalk the place where they most like to read…In bed, on the toilet, by the pool, at the beach, with a cat . . . or anyplace!The smile of superhero creator @boypoetic!Tamra L. Dempsey took photographs for the beautiful book A Journey Through Literary America! It includes literary passages by famous authors.One smile and one semi-smile. It’s all good. Keep on creating!Cynthia Diamond wrote all these Wyrd Love books. I remembered seeing her years ago at a big Liberty Station book event!Douglas W. Mengers wrote a book about San Diego Trolleys. I learned some interesting history when we chatted.This book contains lots of old images of rail transportation in San Diego.Lots to see and do at the North Park Book Fair!
There’s a special alley in Normal Heights that’s an outdoor gallery for many of San Diego’s most creative and known graffiti artists. It’s called Flash Alley. The alley is a few steps north of El Cajon Boulevard and City Heights, just east of 34th Street.
In my last blog post I shared photos of a very cool Junior Seau mural. It was painted a couple months ago at the south end of the alley.
After taking those photos, I walked north along Flash Alley and aimed my camera at lots of amazing, super colorful spray paint art. It all was painted in the last year or so.
I last visited Flash Alley in May 2020, and as you can see by comparing those old images here, all the current artwork is new. I recognized several artist signatures, including Sake, Persue and the Tortilla Crew.
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That is the message of a very cool mural I spotted in Barrio Logan at the corner of Logan Avenue and Sampson Street last weekend. The mural appears to be titled La Vida es un Sueño.
I’m not sure who created this rather unusual, dreamy street art. There’s a bit of stylish script near the bottom of the artwork, but whether it’s graffiti or a signature, I can’t tell. The mural seems a bit faded so it might be a few years old.
If you know who the artist is, please leave a comment!
UPDATE!
I later learned the lead artist was none other than Mario Torero.
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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!
Whenever I’ve driven down Nimitz Boulevard south of West Point Loma Boulevard I’ve wondered about a kinetic sculpture that rises from the street’s median.
Yesterday morning I headed to Point Loma for a better look.
The shining sculpture, titled Taiji, was created by Encinitas artist Jeffery Laudenslager. Like a silent living thing, the public art moves and changes its shape in even the slightest breeze.
Taiji was placed on the median by the Point Loma Association in 2017. Learn more about the association and their work to beautify Point Loma here.
According to the artist, Taiji is based on the Yin and Yang principle. You might say all of his kinetic pieces display a certain symmetry, considering how perfectly balanced they are.
You can see two more Jeffery Laudenslager pieces that I’ve photographed around San Diego here and here.
(It was early Saturday morning and traffic was extremely light. I was super careful that no cars were coming when I momentarily crossed the usually busy street to take a few 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!
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 didn’t know tape art was a “thing” until I happened to walk into the Exhibit Hall at the Japanese Friendship Garden this weekend. And what I discovered blew me away!
This unique exhibition, simply titled Tape Art, has been on display for some time now, so shame on me, as a JFG member, for not knowing about it!
The artist is Chiho Harazaki. She utilizes adhesive tape that is cut into fine shapes to create artwork that is detailed and quite amazing. I photographed a few of her pieces so you can get an idea of what you’ll see when you pay a visit.
Some of the works on display depict daily life in Japan. Some appear like colorful Hanafuda, a style of Japanese playing cards. A few of her works, including a piece that is quite large and striking, concern the horror of Hiroshima at the end of World War II, and make an appeal to the viewer for peace.
Should you visit Balboa Park before July 25, 2021, step into the Japanese Friendship Garden. That’s when the exhibition Tape Art concludes.
Then, after viewing this art, be sure to walk down into the Lower Garden. It’s one of the most beautiful places in 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!
In late spring and early summer the branches of a cottonwood tree can become very ghostly!
I walked under a Fremont cottonwood by the San Diego River this morning. My eyes were intrigued by the windblown white “cotton” that had collected on its own gray limbs and branches.
Check out the upcoming photos. Those drooping white puffs that resemble cotton candy are actually a fruit called achene. Seeds are dispersed by the wind.
I’m no botanist, so I don’t pretend to understand much about it.
I do know, however, that these seeds can plant themselves in a fertile imagination. The cottonwood’s fuzzed branches appear ethereal, like phantom forms from some unearthly world…
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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!
There’s a 7 story tall mural that was painted three years ago in East Village that practically nobody sees!
The mural, painted in a nook of Broadstone Makers Quarter, is titled Growing Harmony, and it was created by talented local artists Carly Ealey and Christopher Konecki.
If you’ve ever driven downtown east on E Street, to merge via that curving ramp onto southbound I-5, you might have barely glimpsed the hidden mural in your rear view mirror. From certain high spots in Golden Hill and Sherman Heights you might be able to see it in the distance. But the absolute best view is from the small, little-used 17th Street bridge that passes over the freeway onramp, just south of Broadway. I took these photos from that bridge.
A hand holds a hummingbird’s house made from many objects, some natural, some artificial. Human creativity can sustain and uphold life.
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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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