Tag: news

New tile murals at Automotive Museum debut!

Today was an historic day! Four long-anticipated murals have debuted above the entrance of the San Diego Automotive Museum!

Yesterday’s scaffolding has been removed, revealing beautiful tile artwork that will be enjoyed by visitors to Balboa Park for many decades–perhaps even centuries–into the future!

I first blogged about the project back in late 2017. You can read what I wrote here.

As I explained, these permanent tile murals “…are based on murals that decorated the (California State Building) during the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition….Much of the California State Building’s original ornamentation no longer exists, including the four original murals. They were created for the exposition by Hollywood set designer Juan Larrinaga. Painted on fiberboard to appear like tilework, they depicted California’s commerce, scenic beauty, agriculture and industry.”

The exquisite tiles were created by RTK Studios in Ojai, California.

Those who enjoy at visit to the San Diego Automotive Museum, or the newly opened Pan American Plaza in front of the museum, will now be able feast their eyes on these four truly remarkable works of public art!

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Community sculptures appear in City Heights!

An outdoor sculpture gallery is now springing up in the heart of City Heights!

Today I paused near the intersection of University Avenue and Interstate 15 to feast my eyes on all the colorful artwork!

This very cool outdoor sculpture garden is sponsored by the City Heights Community Development Corporation, the City Heights Business Association and Synergy Arts Foundation. The character sculptures, which might represent a person that is real or imagined, are all created by members of the community, under the curation of local artist Jim Bliesner.

The sculptures have personalities that are funny, or sad, or hopeful, or simply whimsical–and all are super creative! I noticed some refer to the difficult COVID-19 pandemic we are all experiencing.

You can view this unique installation in the vacant lot north of University Avenue just east of Interstate 15. The mixed media sculptures stand behind a fence that is already decorated with hand painted murals that I blogged about here.

The sculptures will be on display in the lot for a year and a variety of community events will be held among them.

I’ll return at a later time to photograph additional sculptures. Stay tuned for an update!

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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!

Young Art: Outside the Frame in East Village!

This morning I spotted five more utility boxes that are being painted for the San Diego Museum of Art’s project Young Art: Outside the Frame!

These five boxes are all in downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood, along Park Boulevard between E Street and Market Street. Other boxes I’ve previously spotted are also along Park Boulevard, but to the north. To see those colorful utility boxes, click here and here and here!

The unique outdoor exhibition Young Art: Outside the Frame is a collaboration between the San Diego Museum of Art, SDG&E, and Mindful Murals who is coordinating the many artists.

Environmental artwork that has been selected from the museum’s upcoming biennial exhibition of local student art (this year titled Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet) is being reproduced by professional artists on 25 SDG&E utility boxes. A map of the box locations is forthcoming, and I will post it!

The five boxes I spied today are in various stages of completion. I can identify one of the artists so far. The black box with the blue sea life is by Shelly S. (@fairywulf).

I’ll post updates as I learn and discover more in the days ahead!

(The upcoming photo is of a mural directly across Park Boulevard from the above box. It’s titled The Strength of the Women. It was painted by renowned artist Rafael Lopez years ago. I blogged about it in 2014. You can see those photos here.)

Now back to the boxes…

UPDATE!

The following weekend I took photos that show some of the above boxes are now finished.

I see the utility box with the flowers and the face on top is by Donovan Diaz (@drawntworks). The now completed black and white box with the wildlife is by Amanda Kazemi (@grayfractal). And the box with the wind turbines is by Sean Hnedak.

ANOTHER UPDATE!

The last box in this group is finished. I see the artwork is by Carlos Quezada and Melody De Los Cobos (@chicanalilly)!

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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!

More Young Art: Outside the Frame!

Today I noticed that two more SDG&E utility boxes are being painted for the San Diego Museum of Art’s cool project Young Art: Outside the Frame!

These two boxes can be found on Park Boulevard, just north of the City College trolley station. They are located in front of several large colorful murals by @ladieswhopaint that I blogged about here.

These are two boxes of 25 total that will be painted. To see five other boxes that I’ve already spied, and to learn more about Young Art: Outside the Frame, check out two recent blog posts here and here!

The box you see in the first few photos is being painted by professional artist Alyssa Stewart. She showed me a copy of the original artwork that was selected from many pieces in the San Diego Museum of Art’s upcoming Young Art exhibition.

The second utility box is being painted by artist Lucy Helle. Check out her Instagram page here. She also showed me a copy of the original youth art she is working from.

I plan to post more photos as I discover more boxes, and update as boxes are completed! Stay tuned!

UPDATE!

I swung by a few days later and these two boxes appear to be finished!

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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 stadium falls. A university rises!

The last standing part of old San Diego Stadium, once home of the football Chargers and baseball Padres, is about to fall. Meanwhile, San Diego State University’s new Mission Valley campus has begun to rise!

I took photos this morning from the west side of the now vanished stadium parking lot that show the final section of stands being demolished. In the foreground, you can see the grading and initial construction work that will ultimately result in SDSU Mission Valley!

I posted photographs of earlier stages of the stadium’s demolition that were taken from its east side here.

To learn more about the future SDSU Mission Valley, its new Aztec Stadium, River Park and more, check out this web page!

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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!

Four more Museum of Art utility boxes!

Look what I spotted this morning!

Four more SDG&E utility boxes are now being painted just south of Balboa Park for the Young Art: Outside the Frame project of the San Diego Museum of Art!

These four boxes are clustered together near the intersection of Park Boulevard and Russ Boulevard, west of San Diego High School and City College.

Twenty five utility boxes are being painted by assorted San Diego artists, all coordinated by Mindful Murals. I blogged about this unique outdoor exhibition a couple days ago. You can read much more about it, and see the first box that I discovered a couple days ago, by clicking here!

I’ll post an update after these four boxes are completed, and I learn more about these particular artists!

UPDATE!

I walked past these boxes a little over a week later and noticed progress had been made in painting two of them. I also became excited to see a fifth box has been started!

I observed that the box with the light bulb on top is by Nhuy Reid. The box with the elongated neck is by Mensah Bey. The box with the turtle is by Brise Birdsong. (She has many works of street art around San Diego–I’ve photographed quite a few.) Finally, the new box with the beautiful red rose is by an artist named Jazmine, with whom I spoke very briefly one day just as she was getting started.

ANOTHER UPDATE!

And another week later…all five boxes appear to be completed!

I see the artist to whom I briefly spoke, who painted the box with the rose and animals, is Jazmine P. (@crystalizedbonez). The box painted like a jigsaw puzzle is by @cuatrovecesiete.

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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!

Young Art: Outside the Frame at Balboa Park!

The San Diego Museum of Art, in partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric and Mindful Murals, will soon showcase an inspiring community project titled Young Art: Outside the Frame!

Twenty five SDG&E utility boxes near Balboa Park and along Park Boulevard into downtown are now being painted with artwork selected from the museum’s biennial exhibition of local student art.

The museum’s upcoming exhibition is titled Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet.

I was walking up Park Boulevard by Balboa Park’s Pepper Grove Playground this afternoon when I noticed one of the utility boxes is now being painted! San Diego artist Amanda Saint Claire was mentoring Katie Flores as the two created some beautiful new public artwork!

I was shown how the youth art that was selected for this particular box appears. You can get an idea with the following photo:

All the boxes are being painted by professional artists, under the coordination of Mindful Murals. (You might remember I saw some of Mindful Murals’ inspiring work at Edison Elementary School in City Heights a couple years ago and posted photos here.)

The 25 utility boxes should be finished by March 22. The San Diego Museum of Art’s exhibition Young Art 2021: My World, Our Planet will be on view March 26 to May 9, 2021.

A map showing the location of each utility box will be provided!

Stay tuned for more!

UPDATE!

I walked past the box early the following morning and saw more progress has been made. I didn’t have a chance to go by later in the day, but I’ll visit it again in the next few days to see if it’s completed! Here are the photos…

As you can see, butterflies have appeared on top of the box!

SECOND UPDATE!

I went by the next morning, too, and this is what I saw! I’m not sure if the box is finished, but it looks great!

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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!

Installing beautiful new murals in Balboa Park!

Four beautiful new murals above the entrance of the San Diego Automotive Museum are presently being installed!

As I walked through Balboa Park’s new Pan American Plaza this afternoon, I noticed workers were carefully cementing finished ceramic tiles to the Automotive Museum’s historic 1935 California State Building.

If you’re curious about these colorful tile murals, and wonder how they’ll appear when finished, click here. You’ll see photos of identical, but temporary printed murals that appeared above the museum entrance several years ago.

You’ll also learn how these new ceramic murals are based on past artwork created for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park!

UPDATE!

A couple weeks later I peered through the scaffolding and saw this…

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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!

Famous house from movie Top Gun is restored!

The famous Top Gun House, where Maverick ate dinner with Charlie in the popular 1980’s movie Top Gun, has been restored!

I passed the iconic house today during a long walk through Oceanside, and the beachfront cottage appears completely changed from a few years ago. When I last took a look at the Top Gun House, back in 2018, the color scheme and porch were quite different, as you can see in today’s photos and my old blog post here.

The beautiful little 1887 Queen Anne Cottage has been restored to its original appearance. Learn about the Graves House’s historical importance in Oceanside and see a photo of how it looked when built over a century ago by clicking here.

The house has not only been restored, but it has been relocated a short distance up North Pacific Street, to a spot in front of the newly built Oceanside Beach Resort, which is scheduled to open later this year.

The following photo is one that I took in August of 2018…

UPDATE!

When I walked past on Labor Day, 2021, the famous Top Gun House had been painted once again! This time the color scheme is lighter, and much more attractive in my opinion…

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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!

New life shines at the Starlight Bowl!

Today I got a quick glimpse of the progress that has been made in renovating Balboa Park’s historic, long-unused Starlight Bowl!

The non-profit organization Save Starlight has been getting the 4,000 seat outdoor amphitheater ready for a brand new chapter in its life.

Not only is there new paint inside and outside, but the stage, electrical systems and other critical parts of the amphitheater are being restored and improved!

I see there are plans to open an outdoor café by the entrance to the Starlight Bowl this spring!

Check out the Save Starlight web page here. They are always looking for volunteers to help in this effort.

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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!