Inchcliffe Castle, San Diego, circa 1940, by artist Anton Otto Fischer.
An important new exhibition has opened at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. It’s titled Celebrating the Sea: Exploring the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s Hidden Collection.
Notable works of original art in the museum’s extensive collection have been placed on view. Included are beautiful paintings of ships, local scenes that include San Diego Bay, and coastal vistas. Many of the pieces are by renowned artists, like Maurice Braun and Arthur Beaumont.
Visitors will also marvel at rare artifacts, such as an antique Chinese lacquer cabinet with ivory chess set, circa 1720.
The fine exhibition reinforces the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s reputation as a world-famous destination for lovers of both art and the sea!
Coaling Station on the San Diego Waterfront, 1930s, by artist Marie DuBarry.East View of the Coast Guard Station, 1934-1937, by artist Maurice Braun.
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In September, this amazing new mural was painted on a long wall in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood, down in Swan Canyon.
Local muralist Shayne M. Oseguera (with the help of other artists and community volunteers, San Diego Parks and Recreation, and San Diego Canyonlands) created colorful scenes of nature in a place that is often beset by graffiti.
I hiked along trails through Swan Canyon to get close up photographs this afternoon. I’ll soon be posting a blog about my hike, with directions on how to get to the mural.
In the next two photographs, you can see the long mural from across the canyon. You can also see how concrete surfaces beneath and beside the mural have been tagged with graffiti.
Now, after my short hike, I’m standing right next to the artwork. The sun was very low, making photography a bit challenging, so most of my shots are at an angle.
Enjoy these beautifully painted images of native plants, birds and other life in Swan Canyon!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Today I finally got around to photographing this great public art in Hillcrest.
Back in January, I posted photos of a fun “champagne bubbles” mural on the east side of the Bubbles Market & Spirits building. It was painted in 2023. See those pics here.
In 2024, the same creator, San Diego artist Jeremy “Jermz” (@jm47art), painted a continuation of that mural, but on the north side of the building near the store’s front entrance. A beautiful woman appears to be blowing more bubbles! That’s what you’re looking at now!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Look what I spied the other day! A bright, super fun mural was painted a couple months ago at Liberty Station in Point Loma!
The mural can be found along the arched walkway between THE LOT movie theater and Building 176, where a number of music and arts studios are located.
The very colorful artwork was painted by Paola Villaseñor, who goes by the artist name PANCA. Here’s her Instagram page.
The title of the mural is Yo No Soy Marinero, Soy Capitan. That means, in English: I’m not a sailor, I’m the captain.
As a nearby sign explains, this mural showcases the beauty of life and culture in San Diego, with a particular emphasis on the ocean... The artist states: “…the mural…reflects the history of Liberty Station and my role as captain and artist. My hope is that visitors will find joy…”
How could anyone walk through all this found joy without smiling?
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
A special exhibition is wrapping up tomorrow in Gallery 21, at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center. I caught it just in time!
The Friends of the Chinese Brush Annual Art Exhibition features paintings by artist Lucy Wang and a group of her students. Lucy Wang works out of Spanish Village’s Studio 4.
I admired the work of Lucy’s students on the gallery walls. Two students at a table were busy creating beautiful sunflowers!
If you’d like to take Chinese brush painting classes in San Diego, check out this web page. Classes are held on Sundays.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Various works belonging to the San Diego Civic Art Collection can be experienced by visitors to the Rancho Bernardo Library. I took photos of three prominent examples a couple weekends ago.
The first work is titled Ampersand. Matt Rich, Assistant Professor of Art at the University of San Diego, created the eye-catching acrylic on canvas in 2018. It hangs on a wall above the library’s main stacks.
This particular painting is part of a series of works that riffs on the symbol of the ampersand. The ampersand holds, both symbolically and formally, the ability to represent the idea of connection.
Connection perfectly describes any library. Shelves connect readers with unexplored worlds.
The next artwork I observed in the library hangs high on a wall roughly opposite the front desk. It’s titled Salta pa’ lante (Jump Forward), by artist Alida Cervantes. The dynamic art was created in 2020. A pair of aluminum panels come alive with acrylic spray paint and oil.
Alida Cervantes is a Mexican artist who lives and works in the Tijuana and San Diego border region. Traveling daily between the US and Mexico, Cervantes’ work is characterized by an interest in power relations between race, class, gender and even species.
This diptych…is part of the artist’s exploration into the Mexican casta (caste) paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries…Cervantes presents two figures that are the offspring of individuals not only from two different races but also from two different times in history: the present and the colonial…
Finally, here’s a piece titled Primary Waveform (half circle), by artist Kelsey Brookes. The optically mysterious acrylic on wood was created in 2018. You can find it up on the second floor of the Rancho Bernardo Library, at the top of the stairs.
Kelsey Brookes is a research scientist turned artist. His paintings experiment with pop, abstract, and traditional styles while exploring scientific subject matter, including molecules, atoms, and modern biochemistry...
This sculpture is one of a series of works inspired by the Fibonacci sequence and waveforms...
From a distance the painted wood almost appears like basketwork, but give it a closer look. What are those tiny figures? Is that a reflection you see, or a complete circle that curves beyond your reach?
Stand near Primary Waveform (half circle), then gaze across the library for a commanding view of those first two works of art!
Additional works in the San Diego Civic Art Collection can be found at the library’s glass wall and gate entrance, exterior courtyard, and in the library’s study rooms.
Why not visit the Rancho Bernardo Library and see it all for yourself?
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
The public was invited to paint color into a community mural in San Diego’s Balboa Park today. Just before noon, paintbrushes were busy in the Plaza de Panama at the Exchange Pavilion!
We are now in the middle of San Diego Design Week (September 19th to 25th), and this Community Mural Project is a creative activity inspired by San Diego/Tijuana’s selection as World Design Capital 2024!
The mural intends to bring diverse communities together–to interact and collaborate. Plus adding all those vibrant colors is fun!
As the mural was painted, an art workshop was also held inside the Exchange Pavilion. Brush & Letter, Painting With Words was a World Design Experience.
According to the event website. students could discover the art of typography and mural creation under the guidance of typographer and mural artist, Itzel Islas… During this workshop, you’ll use the iconic San Diego Tijuana Grafiko logotype to create your own 8×10 art piece.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
If you love art and have a chance to visit the Rancho Bernardo Library, make sure to head up the stairs or elevator. A long hallway on the second floor doubles as an art gallery!
On view in this gallery through the end of September are colorful works by award-winning San Diego artists Terry Anderson and Marlene Levitt. The two artists paint acrylic abstracts on the same canvas at the same time!
According to the artists’ website, their Temáre abstract paintings evoke an emotion of color and contrast...
As my photographs demonstrate, their bold, dynamic art really grabs your attention! Need some home decor? I noticed these pieces at the library are also for sale.
Are you a local or regional artist with work you’d like to exhibit in a branch of the San Diego Public Library? Check out SDPL’s Visual Arts Program and fill out an application by clicking here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Many electrical boxes in Hillcrest are being painted this summer with beautiful new street art. I happened upon three artists today working on a box on University Avenue!
I’ve learned this latest explosion of Hillcrest street art is another project of the Hillcrest Business Association. Volunteer artists are adding more life and color to this already dynamic San Diego community!
Upon speaking to the three artists, I learned they’ll be covering this entire box with their beautiful work. And I learned they are helping to restore historic murals in Chicano Park!
Awesome!
Ni La Muerte Nos Separa. Not even death separates us.A beautiful sun and moon rise together on the side of an electrical box in Hillcrest!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Take a look at this amazing chalk art! It was created in San Diego’s Balboa Park about a week ago. Still in good condition, the artwork can be found directly in front of the Timken Museum of Art.
The chalk art replicates Equestrian Portrait of Prince Tommaso of Savoy-Carignan, a fantastic painting by Kehinde Wiley.
Until recently, Wiley’s painting could be viewed inside one of Timken’s galleries. It was displayed among major works by old masters. Wiley’s painting is inspired by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck’s equestrian portrait from 1634-35 depicting Italian military commander.
The chalk art was created by Erick Toussaint (@sidewalk_chalk_dad). You might remember his other work in front of the Timken in past years.
I’ll soon be blogging about the Timken’s newest exhibition, In Blue Time, so stay tuned!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.