Remember California mural adds beauty to Leucadia.

This very beautiful mural was painted in Leucadia by local artist Skye Walker in 2023. It’s called Remember California.

The artwork, gracing the 101 Wine Company building at 1496 North Coast Highway 101, is the result of the Paint Encinitas Mural Arts Program.

The mural is absolutely gorgeous. Notice that even the posts near the wall were painted so they fit the image.

A plaque to one side provides description.

Skye Walker’s “Remember California” mural is a visual ode to the state and its natural surroundings, amongst them being the Pacific Ocean, endless sunsets, and golden poppies. The woman figure represents Mother Nature in all her beauty, reminding us that we are responsible for protecting and nurturing her delicate, life-giving abundance. Walker hopes people are inspired by the mural not just to appreciate the natural, but also to witness the need for humans to be in balance with nature, each other, and ourselves.

…The building, originally called Ruby’s Bar, was once part of Leucadia’s early, colorful business district. Owner Ruby Nelson was known for staging dancing girls without a license, selling hamburgers to Marines, and smoking cigars soaked in Cook’s Rum. The property where the mural is located las been owned by the Georges family since 1987…

You can see an earlier version of this mural on the same building by checking out a blog post from 2019 here. That older mural is very similar, but noticeably different.

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Lucha Fest kicks off Comic-Con Museum exhibit!

The Comic-Con Museum will be opening an exhibit celebrating Mexican lucha libre wrestling on May 22, 2025. The exhibition is titled Sangre, Sudor y Mito and will feature masks and costumes worn by legendary luchadores, collectibles, original art, video and much more.

To kick things off, Lucha Fest is being held in San Diego at the Soap Factory this afternoon.

The free, family-friendly event features food, music, art, lowriders and live lucha libre wrestling! Lucha Fest is supported by the Comic-Con Museum, Museo de Lucha Libre Tijuana Mexicana, and the Office of the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego.

I arrived as it opened, which turned out to be much too early. The wrestling, I learned wouldn’t begin for a couple hours, so I walked around checking things out for a short while.

A highlight of Lucha Fest is the official unveiling of a huge mural across the street, which features legendary luchadores, including Chula Vista’s own Rey Mysterio. It was created by prolific local artist Dentlok. I had photographed the mural in early April, not knowing anything about it. See those photographs here.

The Soap Factory is a mostly outdoor venue east of downtown San Diego. It has many cool murals. I’ve focused my few photos today on the fun event as it barely got started. (Yes, I neglected to photograph the ring–there was nothing going on at the time.)

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Street art on four blocks of Imperial Avenue!

Followers of Cool San Diego Sights know I love walking all over and taking photos of interesting things, including street art. My most recent walk through Logan Heights resulted in lots of great finds!

These photos were taken along Imperial Avenue, as I walked west from 29th Street to 25th Street. (The first two photos are actually a few steps east of the intersection.)

Enjoy!

I love the following artwork on a building at Imperial Avenue and 29th Street. If you know anything about it, please leave a comment!

Now I’ve reached more works of art painted on a fence. They appear to belong to Varrio Guetto Art Gallery. The eyes are similar to work done by renowned muralist Mario Torero…

As I continue my walk west…

The next cosmic mural features a robot with sunglasses. It’s signed Dentlok Tattoo Arts 2022.

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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 X.

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John Lennon returns to Pacific Beach.

I finally had a chance to get an unobstructed photo of this John Lennon mural in Pacific Beach. It was painted last summer at 1020 Garnet Avenue, replacing an earlier depiction of John Lennon on the same wall that had been vandalized beyond repair. You can see photographs of that first mural here.

This second John Lennon mural looks great! It was painted by Jon Hamrick. Check out his Instagram page by clicking here. I see he has helped Maxx Moses paint murals around the city. I photographed some of that work here and here!

Read an extensive article about the history of the two John Lennon murals in Pacific Beach here.

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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 X.

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Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson in Logan Heights!

The other day I took photos of a cool mural in Logan Heights that shows legendary boxers Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. It’s painted at the corner of Imperial Avenue and 27th Street.

Ali’s famous quote “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” is written above the boxers. Tyson’s quote “I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars…” appears, too, along with an image of one of his tigers.

I didn’t realize it until I did some searching on the internet, but San Diego’s own Archie Moore boxed Muhammad Ali (when he was known as Cassius Clay) back in 1962. You can read a Wikipedia article about the event here.

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Wild animals on a Logan Heights corner!

Ferocious wild animals have gathered in San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood!

It appears that a leopard, tiger, snake, wolf and gorilla now hang out at the corner of Imperial Avenue and 32nd Street!

Check out this cool artwork on a wall and building that is presently vacant. It was painted by Matt Spangler.

Love it!

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Cool murals near Encinitas train station!

These two cool murals can be found close to the train station in Encinitas.

One mural, in my first two photographs, is painted on a wall at the Moonlight Marketplace flea market venue, which, when not in use, appears like a dirt lot west of the station platform. The butterfly and face artwork was created by Chloe Becky (@elsiethecowww).

The second mural is in the alley one block directly south of the Encinitas train station. It’s on the back of a building near the corner of Founders Drive and E Street. The smiley face in swirled colors was spray painted by DJ NEFF (@djn3ff) in 2024.

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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 X.

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Jaguars and wolves in Chula Vista!

I discovered two very cool murals during my latest walk through Chula Vista!

The first mural promotes Southwestern College and features the stylized head of a Jaguar–the name of Southwestern’s sports teams. A stack of books, a flask, paintbrushes, a drone, and other objects useful in career education also appear in the mural.

The colorful artwork can be spotted on the side of State Farm Insurance at 460 3rd Avenue. Artist signatures and a year indicate the mural was created by Nick McPherson (Nicholas Danger) and Eddy Berducido (@Beavster) in 2024.

The next mural appears to show wolves. The artwork was painted at the north end of a construction fence in front of Chula Vista’s old, closed Vogue Theater.

You might recall other images previously painted on the same fence: the Padres’ Swinging Friar and Chula Vista’s own celebrity superstar Mario Lopez!

I don’t know who painted these two wolves, or when. Within the past year, if I had to guess. Leave a comment if you know more than me!

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.

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Amazing art fills The Water Conservation Garden!

The Water Conservation Garden in Rancho San Diego is a special place. Not only is it a very fine botanical garden, but its nearly 6 acres is filled with amazing works of art!

Among the different educational garden displays, bits of art can be spied. Most notable are the garden’s beautiful mosaics. A few days back I posted a blog about work being performed on the mosaic Tool Wall. See those photographs here.

Now enjoy more of the art that I happened to discover during my recent visit!

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.

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Beautiful mural at La Mesa’s Collier Park!

This beautiful mural decorates the trash enclosure at Collier Park in La Mesa. I was told by a friendly gentleman at the La Mesa Community Center that the art was painted not too long ago.

I found an article about the mural’s creation. It was a project of ArtReach, completed last year in partnership with the City of La Mesa. More than forty community members helped to paint it!

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.

Feel free to share!