Tag: public art

Painting a lemon tree mural in Chula Vista!

Look who was painting a very sweet lemon tree mural in downtown Chula Vista today!

Signe Ditona and Paul Jimenez of Ground Floor Murals were creating a cool mural on Third Avenue during the annual Lemon Festival!

Have you seen any of the awesome San Diego Padres baseball player murals around the city? The same couple!

The self-trained artists really got going during the COVID pandemic. Their story is very inspirational. Read it here!

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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 Twitter!

Sea life murals at Ocean Beach Hotel.

Beautiful murals depicting sea life surround the base of the Ocean Beach Hotel and its parking lot. Painted this year by local artists Carly Ealey and Christopher Konecki, the artwork stretches along Newport Avenue and Abbott Street.

The other day I walked beside long, low walls and the hotel building itself taking these photographs. You might enjoy them!

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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 Twitter!

America connects in amazing Escondido tile mosaic!

Earlier this year, stunning public art debuted in Escondido. You can find this tile mosaic mural near Maple Street Plaza, on an outdoor wall west of the John Paul the Great Catholic University building.

The amazing “America Connects West Region Mural Mosaic” unites small works of tile art painted by over 1500 participants, ages 7 to 97, representing America’s Western States.

According to the official website, Mural Mosaic’s Global Roots is a unique initiative that aims to bring people from around the world together through the power of art. Each collaborative Mural Mosaic production invites people from communities everywhere to connect and celebrate their unity through their diverse expressions of art. With each tile placed in a mural, Global Roots is reconnecting the world through the joy of art – one tile, one mural mosaic, one country at a time.

Not only is this a very cool concept, but the finished Global Roots murals, which often depict beautiful trees and landscapes, are spectacular!

This particular West Region project was finished in collaboration with Esco Alley Art in Escondido. You can see other Esco Alley Art murals here and here.

I took these photographs yesterday…

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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 Twitter!

Positive mural painted at Waterfront Park!

Several weeks ago a colorful new mural was painted in Waterfront Park in San Diego. You can find it on the east side of the restrooms, which are located a few steps south of the County Administration Building.

Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is an act! A positive message of human kindness is conveyed by the happy artwork.

The creators of this mural are REVISION (@revision_sandiego) and Hanna Gundrum (@littlehouseink).

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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 Twitter!

Serpent Tree vanishes from Waterfront Park!

The Serpent Tree has vanished from Waterfront Park! The big, colorful sculpture by famous artist Niki de Saint Phalle has been put into storage, I’ve been told.

The north half of Waterfront Park is being redeveloped. A dog park, basketball and pickleball courts, and other recreational facilities will soon be built. Will the amazing Serpent Tree reappear in the park? I haven’t yet heard what its fate will be.

Today I noticed a banner on the construction fence describing the project. It shows how this part of Waterfront Park will eventually appear.

If you’d like to view photos of Serpent Tree shortly after it was installed in 2015, click 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 Twitter!

Hidden public art in Mission Hills!

There’s an installation of public art in Mission Hills that’s easily overlooked. The art is titled Guard Posts. Redwood posts wrapped with copper stand at the side of the road where Goldfinch Street turns west and becomes Lewis Street. Engraved in copper are words that describe the canyon beyond the guard posts.

Why do I call this public art hidden? Not only are the posts inconspicuous from a distance, but some of the art is actually hidden in the branches of nearby vegetation.

Local artists Richard Keely and Maidie Morris finished the Guard Posts in 1994. You can see how time and weather have altered the artwork–made the copper appear more natural.

Most of the words atop these posts were contributed by members of the Mission Hills community. I did my best to transcribe…

HAWKS AND FALCONS FLYING OVER AT VARIOUS TIMES OF THE DAY, THE CANYONS ARE AN UNBELIEVABLE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM ON THEIR OWN… MISSION HILLS RESIDENT

WE HEARD OF PEOPLE LIVING DOWN IN THIS CANYON… MISSION HILLS RESIDENT

IN THE SPRING EVERY SIDE OF THE CANYON IS SO DIFERENT. JUST LIKE A PALETTE. MISSION HILLS RESIDENT

CANYONS, WHERE THEY SLIP APART LIKE FINGERS, ACT JUST LIKE A CHIMNEY. WE DON’T WANT TO… CANYON FIRE EVER (I can’t make out some of the words. If you know the full text, please leave a comment!)

CANYONS…WELL. AS A PET SHOP OWNER I CAN SAY THERE’S A LOT OF WILD LIFE DOWN IN THE CANYONS… FOX. SKUNKS. LITTLE CREATURES

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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 Twitter!

Strange whale swims inland to Escondido!

Xebeche the skywhale has soared and swum inland to Escondido. That’s Xebeche hovering by the side of a building.

You can find this colorful sky whale mural near the corner of Grand Avenue and Juniper Street, just south of the 7-Eleven.

The whale’s name is Xebeche. He was created last year by artist Tristan Pittard.

A strange conversation with the skywhale is written on the wall:

What is your name? My name is Nobody. Excuse me? My name is Xebeche. He who talks loud, say nothing. I thought you said your name was Nobody? I prefer to be called Nobody.

I’m just a skywhale, but you, Human, are the caretaker of this world.

A peculiar conversation around an impassable doorway.

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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 Twitter!

Greetings From Escondido postcard mural!

Greetings From Escondido, The Beautiful Hidden Valley. This cool postcard-like mural was painted a number of years ago, but I photographed it for the first time during my most recent Escondido walk.

The artist is Zane Kingcade. He has painted a number of colorful murals around Escondido.

The “Postcard From Escondido” mural contains images that represent this city in sunny North County. There are oranges, avocados and grapes. There’s the dome of Escondido’s distinctive Civic Center, and a rhinoceros at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. There’s Dixon Lake, a popular fishing spot.

The Spanish word escondido means hidden. Keep your eyes peeled! If you drive west down Valley Parkway, you might spy this easily missed mural on the side of King’s Pawn.

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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 Twitter!

More colorful Esco Alley Art in Escondido!

Almost two years ago I took photographs of the Esco Alley Art project in Escondido. Dozens of murals painted by local artists had been placed in the alley south of Grand Avenue, between Maple Street and Broadway.

Since then, the project has expanded, advancing several phases. About a week ago I revisited the same alley and enjoyed more murals that now appear between Broadway and Kalmia Street! These newer works of art were revealed last year. As before, many of the colorful murals are inspired by life in Escondido.

The Esco Alley Art project, presented by the Escondido Downtown Business Association, has its own dedicated website. There you’ll finds more information, including the artists. Check it out here!

Let’s start walking east from Broadway…

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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 Twitter!

Frida Kahlo and street tacos in Escondido!

Frida Kahlo hangs out in Escondido! You can find her among butterflies next to a Mexican restaurant!

Fridas Street Tacos on Valley Parkway is the perfect place for this great mural, painted by Michelle Ruby, aka Mr B Baby. The taco shop’s parked vehicles were blocking the mural when I walked by, so I had to take photos around and between them.

I happened to run across one of the drivers, and he indicated the mural was created a couple years ago.

Awesome!

I enjoyed a long walk around Escondido a few days ago and found lots of street art! So stay tuned for much more!

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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 Twitter!