Some bold pop culture art inside a window. I spotted these on Ninth Avenue in East Village.
The past few days, while walking along sidewalks in downtown San Diego, I’ve photographed all sorts of cool artwork. Some of the art is relatively new. Some of it, as you’ll see, is derived from or influenced by the popular culture.
Which reminds me! This year I’ll be covering San Diego Comic-Con again! I’m taking a week off from work, and because I live downtown I should be able to get lots of photos of cosplay, special exhibitions, building and trolley wraps, fun offsite events . . . and hopefully some unexpected surprises!
I can’t wait!
More bold art on Ninth Avenue. A green fiendish creature awaits those who might venture into Suite 102.A face painted by VISUAL on a transformer box. I photographed this (and the following two boxes) while walking down A Street.Circle around these two utility boxes and you’ll read the words: Create Future.Beautiful glasswork above the entrance of Sidiropoulos Law Firm on Sixth Avenue depicts blind Justice holding her scales.Ornamentation above the front door of the historical McClintock Storage Warehouse building on Kettner Boulevard.All sorts of amusing graphics decorate the windows of the restaurant AAHARN by Koon Thai.William Dorsett near the USS Midway created some fun spray paint Pokémon artwork!Marvin the Martian inside the front door of Funko South. The office is located on Market Street, and has served as Funko’s Pop! Up Shop during San Diego Comic-Con.Colorful art by Kelsey Montague in the courtyard of The Headquarters. People can take photos of themselves wearing ocean-themed wings!A super cool mural on the east side of Pokez Mexican Restaurant. A few years back different spray paint art was on this wall, which I also photographed!
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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!
A small army of life-size Japanese kokeshi fill the James E. Watts Studio in downtown San Diego.
I had an utterly amazing experience today.
I was walking through downtown San Diego, along Seventh Avenue, when I noticed a small table saw out on the sidewalk. It was set up in front of an unmarked door–one that I’ve passed many times over the years. When I peered through the open door my eyes nearly popped out of my head!
Through that mysterious door I saw a wonderland!
A friendly person told me that I might step inside. That very cool, funny and interesting guy was James E. Watts, a local artist who has been creating unique works of imagination for decades in San Diego. His pieces have appeared in a variety of exhibitions and at important museums, including both the San Diego Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Why the table saw? James Watts was just beginning a new sculpture of Quasimodo, and wooden blocks would be used to form the interior structure. Thin aluminum sheets nailed to the surface would produce the sculpture’s skin.
As you can see from the above photograph, his studio is dominated by a series of these large sculptures. They are based upon Japanese kokeshi, and his fun, symbolic pieces represent all sorts of characters from literature and history. He showed me a female Atlas, Don Quixote (with two small horses), Prometheus, Pandora, Jonah and Leviathan, and Joan of Arc. The humorous, collage-like skins were originally lunchboxes, signs, cans and other bits of colorful aluminum.
Another cool piece he showed me appears to be a combination of the Shroud of Turin, a horizontal religious shrine, and that wacky game Operation. Human anatomy is partitioned. Old age is contemplated. Bones fill box-like compartments. Colorful foam dots and dashes spell out a message in Morse code around the perimeter. The word BEAUTIFUL appears beneath the skull. (If you decipher the Morse code message, please leave a comment!)
And so I found myself standing in the middle of a fantasy world turning my eyes every which way. Rampant creativity jammed every wall, crammed every corner, was stacked high upon the floor. I could have happily lingered in that extraordinary studio all day long.
Thanks to James Watts for showing me around his artistic playground! There’s a special, little-known nook in the heart of San Diego, where one man’s imagination produces great treasures, and now I recognize the door!
James Watts near some artwork in progress. The wood blocks will fill the interior of a hunchbacked Quasimodo. I was told a bell might be placed atop the literary character’s head!On the left a female Atlas holds up the world. To the right Don Quixote appears ready to tilt at windmills.Many nudes also decorate the walls of the art gallery. They are done in various styles, reflecting famous painters of the past.James Watts opens up a brain pan to reveal . . . a brain!So much amazing, cool artwork that I could barely take it all in.Like a playground for a creator whose imagination seems to have no limits.I was told this abstract piece represents that brave person who stood in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square.A playful piece that has emerged from the artist’s contemplation of aging. Those colorful dots and dashes form a mysterious Morse code message!
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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 sea lion greets people who walk down the sidewalk. Humorous street art on Fenton Parkway.
I’ve noticed an increase in the amount of street art along Fenton Parkway in Mission Valley. A variety of electrical boxes have been painted, and others appear to be works in progress.
There’s so much fun street art now, I figured I’d post some photos! These photographs were taken late today during a short walk between the trolley tracks and Friars Road.
Enjoy!
Another side of the same box, and another happy sea lion!This box appears to be a work in progress. One side has an elaborate moth completed.Surfer girl street art on another electrical box. She’s on her surfboard awaiting a perfect wave.A girl and dog overlooking the ocean at sunset.The ocean in this street art seems to be populated by all sorts of odd prehistoric creatures!This fun scene was created by imaginative art teacher Anna Farrell.Another colorful side and another toothy monster.A cool bird of prey painted by artist Rachel Dipasupil Alberto. I believe it might be an osprey.These prickly pears seem to be growing beneath the nearby shopping mall’s palm trees!A very cool eagle or hawk near the intersection of Fenton Parkway and Friars Road.A stunning image on another side of the same box. Thousands of motorists enjoy seeing this beautiful artwork as they drive east down busy Friars Road.
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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!
People gather around chalk art created on boards for the 2018 Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy.
Here come more cool photos that I promised you!
Half a dozen colorful works of chalk art were displayed at the 2018 Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy. Piazza della Famiglia isn’t the ideal place to create chalk art, so the pieces were rendered on boards.
Every work of art was great! See for yourself!
Gold and Yellow Roses, chalk art by Cecelia Linayao.A colorful chalk art Salvador Dalí, by artist Chris Brake.A chalk art lion representing the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, created by Lorna Prijoles.Young child kisses a happy wrinkled woman. Heartwarming chalk art by Brenda Mora and Jessie Reyes.A striking chalk art face by Meg Canilang.Another superb chalk art piece by young local phenom Lidia Vasquez.Half a dozen beautiful works of chalk art could be seen in Piazza della Famiglia at the 2018 Mission Federal ArtWalk!
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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!
Hundreds of artists had their work out on the streets of Little Italy at the 2018 Mission Federal ArtWalk.
Early this afternoon I walked down from Cortez Hill to enjoy the 2018 Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy. What fun!
Hundreds of artists had their colorful work out on display along several Little Italy streets. I enjoyed meandering about and letting my eyes feast on life wherever they happened to turn. I was happy to unexpectedly meet some people that I know. I also grabbed a tasty bratwurst with lots of onions and mustard!
Another perfect day in San Diego! Smiles, warm sunshine, an easy stretch of the legs, plus the treat of fantastic, inspiring art!
A crowd of art aficionados converge on San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood.The big annual Mission Federal ArtWalk is a time to relax, enjoy life, and feel some creative inspiration.Enjoying art, food and friendship.
Little Italy’s new Piazza della Famiglia featured a stage plus cool chalk art, which I’ll blog about shortly!Some of the artists were kicking back and talking to potential buyers. Others were concentrating at a canvas creating new work.Little Italy, in downtown San Diego, is a lively place where culture thrives.This guy broke a string as I walked up. He smiled for the camera anyway!People were invited to work on this interactive mural sponsored by Artist and Craftsman Supply.They also had a table nearby for anybody who’d like to create their own art!
More musical entertainment in Piazza Basilone.
Joy and creativity abound at the Mission Federal ArtWalk in Little Italy!
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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!
Some of the coolest posters you’re likely to ever see are now on display at the SDSU Downtown Gallery! Take a look at a few examples!
The exhibition is titled Give-and-Take: Poster Design by Nancy Skolos and Thomas Wedell. Thirty-four awesome posters by the husband and wife team leap out from the walls and make the viewer feel they’ve entered dazzling, conceptually complex three-dimensional puzzles.
In their posters the two artists have created a unique fusion of analog and digital technology. Skolos is a graphic designer and Wedell is a photographer. Many of the posters were brainstormed and carefully worked out by collaging bits of colored paper and images cut from magazines. The posters in the gallery were produced between 1980 (many years before the advent of high quality digital design) and 2017.
Skolos-Wedell posters have been collected by the likes of the Smithsonian Design Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.
This very special exhibition at the SDSU Downtown Gallery runs through July 22, 2018. Admission is free!
Give-and-Take: Poster Design by Nancy Skolds and Thomas Wedell.The SDSU Downtown Gallery now has a very cool exhibition concerning poster design.
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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 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has a special Extended School Partnership (ESP) program for local 6-12th-grade students. Teachers have the opportunity to expose their students to contemporary art in partnership with the museum.
Students are taught about art making, collaboration and, according to a new sign posted near MCASD’s downtown location, their own identity, solidarity and activism. (As someone who is passionate about writing, I hope there’s an emphasis on personal freedom, truth-seeking and authentic creativity–not politics or propaganda.)
Yesterday I took a photograph of this sign in the breezeway between downtown’s Santa Fe Depot and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. The two art panels were created by local students at Valhalla High School.
Read the sign if you’d like to learn more about this program.
(Click this photo to enlarge for easy reading.)
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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!
Visitors to the gallery on the 9th floor of the downtown San Diego Central Library look at some fascinating artwork.
A fantastic exhibition is now open free to the public in the 9th floor gallery at San Diego’s Central Library. You Are Here features work from art students and professors at 13 different institutions of higher education around San Diego County.
Not only is this exhibition an opportunity for talented artists to show their creative work in public, but visitors to the Central Library can learn a little about each school’s unique art program.
I took photos of some of the artwork. Please swing on by–you’ll be impressed by the quality of these imaginative, evocative pieces. You Are Here runs through May 6, 2018.
You Are Here, a special exhibition in the Central Library’s gallery, collects the work of 26 artists from 13 different higher education art departments across San Diego.Diverse examples of thought-inducing visual art attract curious eyes.Space Ships, Wendell M. Kling, Professor of Art, San Diego Mesa College, 2013-present.Hubcap Milagro for Chunky, David Avalos, Professor of Visual Arts, California State University San Marcos, 2011.Untitled, Monique Van Genderen, Associate Professor of Art, UC San Diego, 2017.Pink Cactus Moon Rock, Corina Bilandzija, Student, Palomar College, 2017.Warm Lights, Niki Ito, International Student, San Diego City College, 2017.Hair, Larissa Lopez, Past Student, Cuyamaca Community College, 2017.Ophelia, Hanna Hunter, Student, San Diego Miramar College, 2016.
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Do you enjoy discovering new things? I do! My camera is always ready during my long walks around San Diego!
Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are. Mason Cooley
It’s time to celebrate Read Across America Day!
Today many hands, young and old, will be picking up a book or their favorite e-book reader. Many eyes and minds will be enjoying that uniquely human activity: reading!
Why is March 2 designated National Read Across America Day? Because it’s the birthday of Dr. Seuss!
As many of you know, Dr. Seuss was the pen name of Theodor Geisel, who made his home in La Jolla, a beautiful community in the city of San Diego.
Months ago during a walk through La Mesa, a city in San Diego’s East County, I took photos of a chalkboard that was standing on the sidewalk in front of Maxwell’s House of Books.
Please enjoy two quotes about the magic of reading!
Books are a uniquely portable magic. Stephen King
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Would you like to read a few philosophical, very short stories?
Cool San Diego Sights! 