Tag: public art

Skull and crossbones created at Oceanside beach!

A hot day for mid-March. I stayed near the beach–in Oceanside. As I walked out onto the Oceanside Pier, look what I saw! Someone was digging a huge skull and crossbones into the sand!

Turns out the friendly, creative guy was David. He was working on his pirate Jolly Roger flag design in the sunshine, while people strolling along the beach would stop, look and chat.

He’s been making artwork in the sand like this for several months, he told me. He’s created perhaps a dozen such works at the beach.

He told me there’s another guy who makes cool designs using a garden rake. That sounds awesome, too. Perhaps I’ll stumble upon that one day.

Here’s what I saw around noon as I walked out on the pier:

After I ate lunch, I returned to the pier and saw this:

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Protect the Locals mural in Pacific Beach.

Several months ago this beautiful mural was unveiled in Pacific Beach. Featuring marine life such as a sea turtle, leopard shark and gray whale, it promotes the message Protect the Locals.

The organizations WILDCOAST and BeautifulPB teamed up with artists Jon Hamrick (@just_jon1) and Victor Rodriguez (@tone__dog) to celebrate 25 years of marine conservation with this wall. The artwork is painted on Garnet Avenue one block east of Crystal Pier, on the side of Ananas Pacific Beach.

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A mystery behind the San Diego Convention Center!

These metal benches line the boardwalk behind the San Diego Convention Center. They face San Diego Bay. They were commissioned in 2008 and created by noted artist Nance O’Banion.

As her website explains: Nance produced 13 original designs, each of which was fabricated, once in its original form and once as a ‘mirror image’, in plasma-cut powder-coated steel. The installation of 26 art benches was titled Reverie.

I took these photos yesterday…

Today, a plaque can be seen embedded in the boardwalk near the benches, very close to the entrance to the Fifth Avenue Landing Superyacht Marina. It resembles the Reverie plaque shown in the gallery on Nance O’Banion’s website. The plaque includes her name and the same 2008 year.

But the title of the current plaque is different!

Why is the title Caesure, and not the original Reverie?

At some point, was the name of the installation changed to Caesure? The Latin word caesūra means “a cutting” or “a separation,” which might apply to the mirrored bench designs, or possibly how these benches were made.

Or . . . does Caesure concern another work of public art somewhere nearby? If so, what and where?

It’s a mystery with no solution that I can find!

If you know more about the history of this art bench installation, and why there have been different plaques with two different titles, please leave a comment!

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A surreal mural in Ocean Beach!

This cool mural was painted in Ocean Beach back in 2023, but I saw it yesterday for the first time. Check out the surreal imagery!

The large mural can be found on the exterior of the The Template, facing the parking lot.

Signatures by the artists appear to be MURALIS, ART BY SOUP, EATHDUST, HAILYBROUS, JORDINDAVID, and SOURCE!

To me, it seems the theme might be: When trying to determine the essence of life, don’t go crazy. I noticed that “Stay Sane” is included among all the surreal, spray painted images!

This is the same wall where a History of Electricity mural was painted years ago. You can see those photos by clicking here.

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Peanuts holiday mural painted in North Park!

A super fun mural was painted in North Park last December in time for the holiday season. Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the entire Peanuts gang are now frolicking on the side of 420 Smoke Shop, at 2559 University Avenue!

The talented artist’s Instagram is @cravemoreart. The artist identifies as Scenic Painter for Haunted Trails of Balboa Park 2025. Very cool!

I hope this art remains on the building, even as seasons change and San Diegans dream of sunny, warm beach days–not of Christmas trees, snowmen, winter snow and ice.

Is that Santa and his reindeer up there in the starry sky?

This mural is simply too much fun!

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Reflection pergola at Stadium trolley plaza.

Walking from the Stadium trolley station to Snapdragon Stadium, you might have noticed this distinctive structure. It has a name. The Mike and Christine Pack Reflection Pergola offers several tables and a shady resting place in the wide plaza north of the trolley station.

This article, which concerns the SDSU Mission Valley river park, contains a description of the pergola:

The central focal point of the trolley plaza is the Mike and Christine Pack Reflection Pergola, which draws inspiration from the river and ewaa (dome-shaped shelters) used by the early Kumeyaay. These shelters were built from branches and covered with leaves from willow, tule or other plants.

I was surprised to discover a small but beautiful mosaic near one table!

I love how the lighting structures in my next photograph appear organic–like tall grass bending in the wind, or trees with slender stems.

The SDSU Mission Valley river park has become a favorite place to walk on a sunny San Diego day.

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Sculpture of children at Grossmont Center mall.

Do you readers know anything about this sculpture of children at play at the Grossmont Center shopping mall? I discovered it a few weeks ago during a walk in La Mesa and have endeavored to learn more. Nothing so far.

The bronze sculpture, in front of Barnes & Noble Booksellers, shows one child helping another to climb a wall. I found no plaque. Someone on Pinterest claims it has been there for many years and that other similar sculptures are located in the family-friendly shopping complex. If I return to Grossmont Center, I’ll have to look around some more.

Can you shed any light on this fun public art? Please leave a comment!

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Mural honors San Diego player Kyra Carusa.

I discovered this mural yesterday while heading down University Avenue in North Park. It honors past San Diego Wave FC player Kyra Carusa. The artwork is painted on the side of The Original 40 Brewing Company building.

The mural was created by Ground Floor Murals (@groundfloormurals). Their work is always awesome!

Honoring KYRA CARUSA for her community leadership and contributions to women’s soccer – 2025

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Mysterious symbols at SDSU trolley station!

Mysterious symbols and figures can be seen at your feet when you stand on the passenger platform at the SDSU trolley station. Lean over in the dim light and look closely. What are they?

The mystery is solved when you learn these symbols are part of a larger public art installation at the SDSU Transit Center. In 2005, when San Diego’s only underground trolley station first opened, artist Anne Mudge and the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) debuted the art.

What you’ve discovered at your feet is called Stepping Stones. As this page on Anne Mudge’s website explains: Etched into the surfaces of 60 granite “stepping stones” are symbols of various cultural and academic disciplines found on the SDSU campus. The granite stones interrupt and redirect the linear flow of bricks around them, just as ideas impact the surrounding intellectual and cultural environments.

Visit the above link for descriptions of other works in this art installation, which are visible inside and around the SDSU Transit Center.

Students waiting at the trolley station can step from ideas to microchips to the Earth to people to atoms…

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Two murals celebrate Normal Heights!

Yesterday I photographed two murals on Adams Avenue that celebrate San Diego’s historic Normal Heights neighborhood.

The first one is painted on the side of Dino’s Barber Shop at 3184 Adams Avenue. The mural features an old streetcar, colorful shops and the Normal Heights landmark sign.

The fun, nostalgic art was created by muralist Caroline Birch.

Can you spot two barber poles in my first photo?

A short walk away, a bit north on 32nd Street, you can find another very cool Normal Heights mural.

This one was painted by Hanna Daly of Hanna’s Murals back in 2022.

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