A van wrapped with many colors stands at one corner of the National City Marine Terminal on San Diego Bay!
You don’t see this every day!
Under Wraps is unusual public artwork that now stands at one corner of the National City Marine Terminal. It’s best seen by walking out onto the small Pepper Park fishing pier.
Under Wraps is a sculptural intervention on an old work van, which has been wrapped about with colorful nautical fiber. This unique artwork was created by Randy Walker, who also used nautical fiber in his “Sweet Contents” at San Diego’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. I recently blogged about that here.
The National City Marine Terminal in San Diego Bay is where up to 400,000 imported cars arrive by immense roll-on/roll-off car carrying ships every year. The 180-acre facility is operated by Pasha Automotive Services.
According to a sign on the pier, Under Wraps will be on view through February 2019. So if you plan to be in San Diego’s South Bay, go check it out while you have the chance!
Under Wraps, an artwork by Randy Walker, is best seen from the Pepper Park pier. A work van is wrapped with colorful nautical fiber at the National City Marine Terminal!Fishing from the Pepper Park pier near public artwork that was commissioned by the Port of San Diego.A kid got super excited when these guys caught a mackerel from the pier!Now that’s something you don’t see every day! Under Wraps is colorful public art that adds a splash of character to the National City Marine Terminal.
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Arrows, by Brenda and Flojo, public art near the 24th Street trolley station in National City.
Some very cool public art adds color to a sidewalk near the 24th Street trolley station in National City. You can find it at the east edge of the trolley station’s parking lot, next to Wilson Avenue.
Two small but colorful sculptures have been created by Youth Artists. One, titled Peace, is by Michelle. The other, titled Arrows, is by Brenda and Flojo.
I’ve done some searching on the internet and can find nothing about these public sculptures. I don’t recall seeing them during past visits to the South Bay, so I believe they are relatively new.
All I know for certain is that this artwork is really cool!
Peace, by Michelle, public art near the 24th Street trolley station in National City.Photo of two cool sculptures in National City. A lavender peace sign is framed by two red arrows!
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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!
During a recent walk out onto the pier at Cesar Chavez Park, my eyes were dazzled by the surrounding complexity.
The cranes of nearby barges and distant shipyards . . . the curving San Diego-Coronado Bridge . . . the various structures, rails and benches on the pier . . . all of these elements combined with reflections and shadows to create interesting geometric patterns.
I cropped and altered the contrast of many photos to make them even more visually abstract and thought-provoking.
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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!
Sweet Contents is the title of public art that has added color to three storage tanks at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.
Surprising public art now decorates three large storage tanks at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal just south of downtown San Diego!
Sweet Contents, by artist Randy Walker, adds color to several old, unsightly tanks that used to store molasses and palm oil. The public art was commissioned by the Port of San Diego for their Port Spaces program and will be visible through February 2019.
The three storage tanks have been draped with strands of nautical fiber. From a distance it looks like strings of many different colors are dangling down from the top of each cylindrical structure.
I took these photos from a spot by the gate of the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, Cesar Chavez Park and the adjacent pier. A friendly guard at the gate told me he met the artist, that the individual strands are about an inch wide, and that the colors are about as vibrant today as when they were installed last May.
According to a sign, which I photographed near Cesar Chavez Park, similar public art, titled Under Wraps, can be seen at the National City Marine Terminal. That particular artwork is best seen from the Pepper Park pier.
I’ll have to go check that out in the weeks ahead!
Port of San Diego sign describes Sweet Contents, an artwork by Randy Walker. Nautical fiber in many colors hangs over the exterior of the old molasses and palm oil storage tanks.A view of Sweet Contents from the grass in Cesar Chavez Park.I took this zoom photo of Sweet Contents over a wall at Cesar Chavez Park.Photo of Sweet Contents from the pier at Cesar Chavez Park. Downtown buildings are visible beyond the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.
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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 Japanese Friendship Garden gaze at Kannon Bosatsu, a nearly three century old 5750 pound bronze statue recently installed in the Lower Garden!
Several days ago an astonishing 5750 pound bronze statue, created in 1735 by Takumi Obata, was installed by crane at the Japanese Friendship Garden!
I must apologize, because up until now I have been referring to the new statue as a Great Buddha. After seeing the magnificent sculpture firsthand today, and reading more about it, I’ve learned that it’s actually a kannon statue, representing Kannon Bosatsu, a Buddhist goddess of mercy that is popular in Japan. The deity is called Guanyin in other parts of Asia, and has its origin in India in the 1st or 2nd century.
The amazing, nearly 300 year old cast bronze statue sits beside the Japanese Friendship Garden’s new stream in the Lower Garden, among peaceful trees that invite meditation.
Originally this Kannon Bosatsu was located at the Middlegate Japanese Garden in Pass Christian, Mississippi. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed that garden, the damaged statue was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Gabrych, who later donated it to San Diego’s Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park.
A second statue that was donated to JFG also was installed several days ago. The large guardian deity stands in the Upper Garden, opposite the bonsai collection. I’m told that less is known about the exact history of this particular sculpture. I believe it represents Kongorikishi, one of the two Nio guardians of Buddha who stand at the entrance of many Buddhist temples.
Enjoy these photos, then head over to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park for the full experience!
Kannon Bosatsu sits tranquilly in a beautiful corner of the Japanese Friendship Garden near the source of a new stream.Nearby sign describes Kannon Bosatsu, created in 1735 by Japanese sculptor Takumi Obata, an accomplished iron smith during to Tokugawa period. (Click photo to enlarge image.)The large bronze Kannon Bosatsu represents the Japanese goddess of mercy.A closer photo of the serene Kannon Bosatsu.A leaf has turned and fallen into the lap of a merciful deity.Gazing from the statue down the new stream toward a new bare wood observation platform.A simple, elegant wooden platform straddles the new stream in the Japanese Friendship Garden.Nature’s elements will make this structure more beautiful over time.Gazing from the platform down at the second half of the new stream, to where it joins the Lower Garden’s main river.The new stream is already very beautiful.It’s now winter in the Japanese Friendship Garden, and great beauty is everywhere.The guardian deity statue that now stands opposite the bonsai collection in the Upper Garden.I believe this statue represents Kongorikishi, one of the guardians of Buddha who stand at the entrance of many Buddhist temples.The Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park is a place to find peace, wisdom and healing.An historic addition to an already very special place.
To see photos that I took as the stream and observation platform were under construction, click 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 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!
Sunlight was casting its spell on flowers, leaves and webs in the Alcazar Garden.
Stay tuned!
A massive, truly magnificent, 300 year old bronze Kannon statue debuted several days ago in a beautiful corner of the Japanese Friendship Garden, as well as their new sparkling stream . . . and today I took photos!
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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!
Visually stunning public art dominates the interior of the La Jolla Library.
Enter the La Jolla Library, take a few steps into the central atrium, then look up.
In this public library, curious minds become part of an amazing Voyage of Discovery!
Voyage of Discovery, an abstract catamaran hull by artist Christopher Lee, reminds visitors to the La Jolla Library that they are on a journey of exploration.A sculpture of an abstract catamaran is suspended beneath a large skylight at the La Jolla Library.Photo from the ground floor atrium in the La Jolla Library of Voyage of Discovery.Looking up at the stunning skylight.Someone reads near the sail-like cast glass panels of the north window inside the La Jolla Library.A wood and muslin chandelier is the keel of the abstract catamaran.The inner face of each half of the hull is lined in gold leaf.
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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!
Harbor seals lie in the sun on Children’s Pool Beach. The Children’s Pool is closed to the public during pupping season.
Every so often I have to walk by the water in La Jolla. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Today I headed to The Children’s Pool to enjoy harbor seals, pelicans in flight, the mighty ocean, the rocky shoreline and blue sky. Pupping season has just begun (December 15 through May 15) and so Children’s Pool Beach is closed to the public.
The Children’s Pool was the gift of local philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1931. A concrete seawall was built to make the beach safe for public swimming.
Harbor seals began to use the beach in the 1990’s and over time sand has filled the swimming area. There has been a long running legal battle over the use of the beach.
The Children’s Pool also happens to be a popular destination of scuba divers because of nearby reefs.
Today people flock from far and wide to watch the seals from a safe distance.
Sitting on a bench overlooking The Children’s Pool, observing the resident colony of harbor seals.People look toward Children’s Pool from the shady green gazebo.People along the wall near the lifeguard station. Many tourists now travel to La Jolla just to see the local colony of harbor seals.The Children’s Pool breakwater was built in 1931. It was a gift to La Jolla by journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps.A colony of harbor seals suns on the sand near the seawall, which like the beach is off limits during pupping season.The seals move about from time to time. They turn on their sides, raise their heads and hind flippers, and inch forward on their stomachs.A lone harbor seal heads across the sand to the water’s edge by wriggling awkwardly on its belly.It swims out toward a nearby rock.With difficulty, a harbor seal inches up onto the large rock that lies just off the beach. (Sea lions, which sometimes share the beach, are much better climbers.)The perfect place for a peaceful nap!Looking west from the closed Children’s Pool toward the broad Pacific Ocean and gently breaking waves.Pelicans fly north. Scripps Pier and the scenic cliffs just south of Torrey Pines lie in the distance.The pelicans fly toward Seal Rock and Shell Beach, and distant jutting rocks west of La Jolla Cove.Looking west. Perhaps you can see why I love this place.Looking south toward Wipeout Beach.Another photo of the colony of harbor seals at The Children’s Pool in La Jolla.A young harbor seal enjoys a fine day on the beach.
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