Should you walk down the alley that runs just south of Grand Avenue in Escondido, you might notice many of the murals that once graced the blocks between Maple and Broadway have vanished. These works of local artists, from the inaugural 2021 season of Esco Alley Art, had to be removed.
I explored Escondido’s cultural center last weekend and discovered familiar works of art mounted to several outdoor walls…
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In recent years, locals artists, many of whom belong to the Escondido Art Association, have been working diligently to beautify Escondido. Some of these artists were on hand yesterday during the Cinco de Mayo event in Grape Day Park!
A variety of community projects have been undertaken by these inspired artists. You might recall a blog post in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Concrete barriers along Grand Avenue were colorfully painted by Beautify Escondido. Later, an alley south of Grand Avenue would turn into an amazing outdoor gallery, featuring the murals of Esco Alley Art.
Suzanne Nicolaisen (aka Zanniki), one of the leaders of these efforts, was present at the Cinco de Mayo festival. She and others were showcasing their artwork, painting live, and promoting the beautification of Escondido.
Not only does creativity flow from these generous artists, but expanding ripples of happiness and positivity. They are true community heroes!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
An incredible National City mural was spray painted late last year on a wall at the Güdbyek bicycle shop and National City Motorcycle. Perhaps you’ve seen this stylish, very bold artwork while driving down National City Boulevard.
The artist is Arturo Parada “Durothethird,” a Toronto-based graffiti artist, designer, and lover of BMX, who has provided work for dozens of major international clients.
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Yesterday, at the Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan, I stepped into the Turning Wheel Mobile Classroom, which was parked next to the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. What, I wondered, was this University of San Diego community outreach program up to?
I was greeted by Drawing/Painting teacher and Chicano Park Fellow Miss Jessi Rogawski, plus two of her exceptional Lincoln High School students!
I learned that about 70 students in Miss Jessi’s classes have learned how to create murals, inspired by poster art in the Chicano Park Day Poster Archive.
Students choose a favorite poster, analyze it, then produce their own original sketches, inspired by the poster design. Through a multi-stage process, including enlargement and color mapping, the sketches would evolve into finished murals!
What a great opportunity for young people to learn both the history of Chicano Park, activate their imagination, collaborate, and develop their creative skills!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Paintings by many muralists on display during Chicano Park Day.
The Chicano Park Mural Restoration Project is currently underway, and many of the artists contributing to the massive effort were celebrated yesterday at the 54th Annual Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan.
A section of the Chicano Park Day event was dedicated to these talented creators, many of whom had their own canopies along Logan Avenue. They were showing and selling artwork, and even painting new work as people watched!
One long wall was filled with paintings by many of the participating muralists, exhibiting their diverse styles. A coloring book filled with art by fourteen of the artists was also available for creative kids.
I met a few of the muralists…
Roberto R. Pozos shows art that honors his Mexican-American heritage at 2024 Chicano Park Day.Shirish Villaseñor smiles and creates a new painting at Chicano Park Day. (You might recall seeing her artwork in front of the Hilton on the new Bay to Park Paseo.)Some of Shirish’s art.Carmen Linares-Kalo is surrounded by her spiritual art at Chicano Park Day. Her work includes a mural that honors the Kumeyaay people.Mario Torero, renowned muralist and a co-founder of Chicano Park, with a big smile. He contributed to more than 20 of the original murals and leads other artists during the restoration project.Mario Torero created this poster art over 30 years ago for 1993 Chicano Park Day. Peace in Our World. Struggle for Justice.
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
An inspirational art exhibit is now on display at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Beautiful paintings remind us that rebirth can come unexpectedly after a period of destruction.
Boatloads of Mizuaoi are works by artist Shintaro Araki, who is a member of the Mizuaoi Project.
As the Japanese Friendship Garden’s website explains:
The Mizuaoi Project, initiated by a group of artists receiving a seed found in Fukushima from an artist, Shigenobu Yoshida, celebrates the “rebirth” of the nearly extinct Mizuaoi plant…a genus of flowering plants…considered a weed species in Japan…exterminated so as not to corrupt rice cultivation.
Thought to have been eradicated throughout most the country, the Mizuaoi lay dormant until the Great East Japan Earthquake, on March 11, 2011, and tsunami, brought the Mizuaoi seed back to life and sparked a poetic Movement, spreading the Mizuaoi image as a symbol of hope, and regeneration throughout Japanese society.
Members of the Mizuaoi Project cultivate the plants in pots, metaphorically referred to as “Boats” and distribute their boats nationwide…
These individual works by Shintaro Araki do indeed resemble boats filled with robust green life. Their simplicity and beauty float before our eyes, flower in the mind. The art expresses hope. It reminds us of nature’s inherent power to renew living things.
The exhibition can be viewed in the garden’s Exhibit Hall through April 28, 2024.
Here are just a few of the beautiful pieces on display…
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Today, students learning plein air painting were out in Balboa Park’s blooming Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, interpreting the surrounding beauty!
Danny was kind enough to let me photograph his own painting. Then I walked about, absorbing the San Diego sunshine and the creative energy around me.
Is there a more beautiful setting into which one can place an easel?
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Why is the towering island of the USS Midway aircraft carrier wrapped up?
To protect San Diego Bay and the environment as the historic aircraft carrier (now a popular tourist destination) receives a new coat of paint! That’s what I was told a couple days ago by a USS Midway Museum employee.
But how strange it appears!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Numerous dragons invaded Balboa Park this weekend! As did tigers and elephants and hummingbirds and panda bears, and almost every sort of creature, great or small.
All were the subjects of amazing works of art, displayed in the Casa del Prado during the Friends of Sumi-E 21st Annual Art Exhibition!
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, we’re now in the Year of the Dragon. So it’s not surprising that many of the brush paintings I saw today depict dragons.
Friends of Sumi-E is a group of San Diego artists who practice traditional Japanese brush painting, which is called sumi-e or suiboku-ga. They also provided classes for those interested in learning the art.
One cool aspect of sumi-e exhibitions in Balboa Park is the public can watch skilled artists at work. And anyone can try their own hand at creating a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of art!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
The epic Bay to Park Paseo is a 1.7 mile long, art-filled walking experience that is now being created in downtown San Diego!
Many creators and designers will soon be installing unique artwork along the Bay to Park Paseo, which celebrates the designation of San Diego/Tijuana as World Design Capital 2024!
Most of the new art will be installed along Park Boulevard, up a corridor that connects San Diego Bay to Balboa Park. The Bay to Park Paseo will start at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, cross the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, and run up the east side of Petco Park, continuing north up Park Boulevard.
Many of you know a lot of old art can already be found along this long corridor!
I’ve photographed most of it over the years.
Here are a few photos of preexisting art on the Bay to Park Paseo…
To enjoy blog posts that feature preexisting art along the Bay to Park Paseo, click the following links. I’ve arranged these links from south to north. (Check the bottom of each blog post for the approximate date I took the photos.)
Some of the painted artwork you see in these old blog posts has since faded, been replaced or badly marred by graffiti.
An idea! Before the Bay to Park Paseo officially opens, perhaps original artists could be contacted in order to restore some of this great old art!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 