Tag: public art

A sea turtle full of plastic trash!

A large sea turtle at the Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista is full of plastic trash! Discarded plastic bottles, that is!

The old sea turtle sculpture, I was informed, is what remains of an exhibition from years ago. Several sculptures had been displayed at the Living Coast Discovery Center to demonstrate how trash hurts wildlife and the natural environment.

The plastic bottles contained by the sculpture have been gathered during environmental cleanups. They will be recycled.

If you happen to know who created this sculpture, or anything more about it, please leave a comment!

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

Coraline mural in Oceanside’s Artist Alley!

Check out this cool mural! It was recently painted in Oceanside’s Artist Alley for a Coraline themed event! (You know–that classic, spooky movie by LAIKA, the movie studio that uses stop motion animation–the same studio that recently released Wildwood.)

Enjoy these photographs taken during today’s walk in downtown Oceanside…

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

Joe Musgrove mural in Sorrento Valley.

Caught a glimpse of the Joe Musgrove “LET’S GO!” mural in Sorrento Valley today while on the Coaster train. Got a quick pic!

Joe Musgrove is a locally popular Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Not only did he grow up in San Diego, but he was the first Padre in history to throw a no-hitter!

The mural was painted on the back side of Torrey Holistics in 2024. The intense image of Joe Musgrove was created by artists Paul Jimenez and Signe Ditona of Ground Floor Murals.

Cool!

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

Carlsbad mural depicts World’s Fastest 5K race!

Several murals can be found in Carlsbad on a wall in the southeast corner of Carlsbad Boulevard and Grand Avenue. (I shared a photo of one back in 2019. That mural still exists. It shows two tigers and dripping colored paint. See it among other Carlsbad murals by clicking here.)

Here are photographs of a more recent mural on the left end of this wall. It celebrates the Carlsbad 5000 road running event, which has been called the World Fastest 5K since 1986.

From the nearby artist signatures, it appears both the race imagery and the intermingled sailboats were painted by sports muralist Taylor Gallegos.

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)

History returns to Balboa Park’s Municipal Gymnasium!

History is being made today in Balboa Park at the Municipal Gymnasium! A large cold cast bronze panel (in two halves) is being installed above the building’s entrance.

The ornamental panel reproduces a long lost temporary panel that was created for the building in 1935 when it served as the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries for the California Pacific International Exposition.

You can learn more about this historic project undertaken by the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and see an old photo of the original panel by visiting this past blog post and this past blog post.

Here’s the first half of the panel going up by crane!

UPDATE!

Later in the day, the second half of the panel arrived! I learned together the two halves weigh about 2 and a half tons!

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

Completed murals on Imperial Avenue under Interstate 15!

A month and a half ago I headed down Imperial Avenue to the Interstate 15 underpass to observe the painting of many large murals. I returned today. They’re all completed!

To see the painting in progress, and to learn more about this project, visit my previous blog post by clicking here.

Here are today’s photographs. As you can see, the common theme is music…

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

The new Prayers mural at Pokez in East Village.

Early this morning, walking through East Village in downtown San Diego, I noticed there’s a new mural painted on the side of Pokez Mexican Restaurant.

The beautiful mural appears to be titled Oraciones, which is Spanish for Prayers.

If you’d like to view the previous mural painted here, visit this past blog post.

…

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

Italo Scanga sculptures at Carlsbad’s Elmwood House.

There’s a house in Carlsbad at the corner of Laguna Drive and Elmwood Street, across the street from the Georgina Cole library. This building, the Elmwood House, is where you’ll find the City of Carlsbad Sculpture Garden.

When I visited weeks ago, the Sculpture Garden’s main gate was closed. In the front yard of the Elmwood House, however, I was able to approach these two sculptures.

The first sculpture I photographed is quite unique. It’s blue, appears to have a mysterious function, and seems to belong on a farm.

The public art is Untitled, by notable Italian born artist Italo Scanga, who taught for many years at UC San Diego. The sculpture is from the Art in Public Places Program, Carlsbad Arts Commission, May 2009.

The second, mostly green sculpture is also quite unique. It appears to be a tree (or a cloud?) with a bird flying above. I like how it casts a mysterious shadow on the grass.

I couldn’t find a title for this piece of art. It’s also by Italo Scanga and is dated 1998.

One day I’ll return to the Elmwood House. Hopefully, on that day, the City of Carlsbad Sculpture Garden’s main gate will be open.

I’ll be sure to share any photos I take!

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)

Cetacean Celebration whale sculpture at Oceanside Harbor.

Have you seen this beautiful sculpture at Oceanside Harbor? It’s titled Cetacean Celebration or “All Life Comes From the Sea.” It was created by artist Max Turner.

I was pleasantly surprised to encounter the public art while walking near the Oceanside SEA Center sportfishing dock at the southeast corner of the harbor.

The bronze sculpture depicts a pair of whales in the ocean. Around the base of the sculpture are a variety of sea-themed objects, like a small anchor, ship’s wheel and starfish!

I took these photographs for everyone to enjoy…

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)

Carlsbad mural at Village Faire near Twin Inns.

I love this super colorful mural in Carlsbad. It was painted by several artists on a wall near the west entrance of the Village Faire mall, adjacent to the Twin Inns.

The artwork shows coastal scenery and sea life, plus Carlsbad’s iconic, historical Twin Inns building.

Artist signatures I found on the wall are Cheryl Ehlers, Bobbi Harrington, and Ira Cosmos.

…

To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)