At the southwest corner of Del Mar, high atop cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean north of Torrey Pines State Beach, you’ll find a special seat. It’s called the Sunset Seat.
The Sunset Seat is a work of public art that was carved in the stump of a dead Torrey pine. The tree had been killed by bark beetles.
In 2015 this amazing public art took form. Inspired designer David Arnold and wood carver Tim Richards created a seat where anybody can sit and look out toward the ocean horizon, with a red-tailed hawk perched near their shoulder.
You can find the Sunset Seat a few steps west of a small parking area beside Camino Del Mar, a short distance north of Carmel Valley Road.
One day I will sit beside the beautiful hawk and watch a sunset.
…
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!
The very cool “San Diego” mural at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue painted by Dyse One.
Check out this cool mural painted on the south side of the Universal Radiator building at 20th Street and Imperial Avenue. Local artist and clothing designer Dyse One spray painted an immense “San Diego” in an elegant graffiti style!
The west side of the same building was painted by Dyse One and Haslr, and contains elements that represent America’s Finest City. I see images of the Coronado Bridge, a trolley, and the Padres’ mascot, the Swinging Friar!
Very cool!
A cool mural on the west side of the same building pays tribute to America’s Finest City. By street artists Dyse One and Haslr.
…
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!
Stand in certain spots on the North Embarcadero, look east toward Little Italy, and your eyes might be dazzled by a sparkling tree on a large wall.
The glittery abstract tree decorates the west side of the Broadstone Little Italy building, near the corner of Grape Street and California Street. The branches of the mirror mosaic rise above train and trolley tracks. As the sun descends toward San Diego Bay, the silvery tree really shimmers and shines.
I’ve learned that the artist’s name is Stephanie Clair and that her piece is called The Shimmer Tree!
The Shimmer Tree, public art in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood by Stephanie Clair.
UPDATE!
Here’s a pic I took a couple years later over the railroad tracks from a different angle…
…
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!
Metal artwork at the 25th and Commercial trolley station honors labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
While riding the Orange Line of the San Diego Trolley, I noticed several works of cool art in and around the 25th and Commercial station. So I jumped off, walked around and took photos!
The metalwork that honors Cesar Chavez can be found at the westbound platform. The 25th and Commercial trolley station is dedicated to the civil rights leader.
You might recall that both platforms of the split station also feature amazing tile mosaic benches. I posted those photos here.
We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community. –Cesar E. ChavezA sign at the trolley station points to various locations of interest, including Villa Montezuma and Chicano Park.A metal Don Quixote stands guard at a nearby muffler shop.Colorful artwork on the back of the San Diego Police Department Central Division parking garage.Mesoamerican iconography becomes street art on a corner utility box.A fun heart in a mural on a nearby wall.A cool car painted on a fence along Commercial Street in Logan Heights.
…
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!
All sorts of public art can be enjoyed at trolley stations around San Diego. In my opinion, the most wonderful example is found at the 62nd Street/Encanto station.
Those who take the Orange Line trolley ride pass by a wildly imaginative, dreamlike vision. A 400 foot mural on the long wall of the south platform takes its inspiration from nearby Chollas Creak. The mural is titled Liquid Harmony.
In 2010 local artists Maxx Moses, Miguel Godoy and Todd Stands were commissioned by the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation to paint the mural. What resulted was completely amazing!
Last weekend I walked along the south platform of the 62nd Street/Encanto trolley station and took photos of the mural. Amid swirls of color I found many birds, insects and plants, and the flowing, ever-present, life-giving water.
I also saw the hands and heart of those who make this neighborhood in San Diego their home.
…
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!
On Sunday I took photos of some intriguing public art on the grounds of San Diego City College.
The stainless steel sculpture stands atop a small grassy hill among trees near the intersection of Park Boulevard and B Street. Reflecting sunlight, its angled lines form a shining mystery!
I’ve walked past this sculpture several times in the past but can find no information concerning it. There do seem to be indications that a plaque or sign was once bolted to concrete by the nearby walkway.
I can also find no clues by searching the internet, or the school’s website.
If I obtain any info regarding the artist and this very cool sculpture, I’ll post an update. If you know something, please leave a comment!
…
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!
Cool mechanical shark on parking lot wall behind Undisputed Fitness Center in East Village.
It’s going to be a rainy day in San Diego . . . with even more heavy rain coming later in the week.
Instead of walking about in the cold, I plan to stay warm and dry under a roof!
Meanwhile, for your viewing pleasure, I’ve assembled the following links. They will take you to photos of awesome street art that I’ve spotted over the years! Unfortunately, some of these works, including truly amazing murals, have been damaged, defaced or no longer exist. Time marches on…
Cool San Diego Sights is now over five years old, so these links represent just a fraction of all the street art I’ve photographed. But I think you might like these!
This blog now features tens of thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
A child of San Diego sits in an enormous sculpture of a living seashell, a Growing Home.
Some amazing public art was installed in East Village about a week ago!
Growing Home is an enormous stainless steel sculpture of a sea snail’s living shell. Laser-cut into the upward coiling shell are notable events from San Diego’s history. The sculpture can be found on the east side of Park Boulevard near Petco Park and the downtown Central Library. It stands at the new Park 12 – The Collection luxury apartments.
Growing Home was created by Joe O’Connell and Creative Machines and is made of stainless steel with LED lighting. Creative Machines produces interactive and monumental art for clients around the world. They are based in Tucson, Arizona.
The shell represents the ever-growing city in which we live. As history has progressed, the shell has grown and grown.
I took these photos after a rain shower, so the large wet stones arranged next to the seashell seem to lie glistening on a beach!
Growing Home rises as public art at Park 12 – The Collection, new luxury apartments in San Diego’s East Village.Growing Home, 2018, Joe O’Connell and Creative Machines, stainless steel and LED lighting. A city’s history grows like the shell of a marine mollusk.History becomes an essential part of an ever-growing city–a city that is home to many.Growing Home features headlines of events that have shaped San Diego history.The lattice dome of the San Diego Central Library rises beyond Park Boulevard.Moments in history are preserved as words written in the growing shell.San Diego history become part of our lives. The city is our home.The coiled, elongated shell of a sea snail. Sit inside on a small bench for a fun photo!Growing Home rises at Park 12 – The Collection, in San Diego’s East Village.
UPDATE!
Seven years later(!) I took a photo at night…
…
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!
The right half of one wall at University Avenue and Laverne Place has been painted by artist Matthew Perdoni.
On Sunday I enjoyed another walk through San Diego’s expanding “drive-through” art gallery in City Heights. And I spotted more murals!
The first time I checked out the murals of #theavenuemuralproject was four months ago. I was given a tour by members of Love City Heights, and learned about their ambitious plan to create an outdoor, drive-through art gallery along University Avenue from I-805 to I-15. To see those first murals and learn much more, you can read my original blog post here.
These murals provide proof that good people can make a huge positive difference in their community. Many wonderful artists, students and neighbors are coming together to make this amazing vision a reality!
The left half of the wall was painted by San Diego muralist Gloria Muriel.Students from an Experimental Processes in Art class at SDSU painted a mural on the wall of 7-Eleven. The design was inspired by the nonprofit United Women of East Africa Support Team.Left half of the colorful mural. which depicts female members of the East African community in San Diego.The right half of the mural. Joyful art created by students at San Diego State University adds life to City Heights.Fun artwork on the wall of Fruteria Disfrutalas at University Avenue and Cherokee Street.More fun artwork on another side of Fruteria Disfrutalas.All these happy images were created by Isaias Crow and his 14 year old apprentice Andrew Greyeyes, who designed the fun artwork.UPDATE! Here’s Andrew, the mural’s designer! (I met him and took this photo during a Love City Heights event almost a year later.)Silly, creative public art produces smiles in City Heights!A beautiful graphic on the wall of Sunset Kava in City Heights, by artist Zuzana Vass.On the same Sunset Kava wall a very cool abstract design was recently painted by artist Mary Jhun.
…
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!
A couple days ago I posted photos of two super fun benches in National City’s Pepper Park. Today, during my walk in Coronado, I visited Tidelands Park in order to photograph two additional benches that were created by the same San Diego artist, Doug Snider.
These colorful benches are located at the playground in Coronado Tidelands Park. They also debuted in 2006 and are made of painted concrete.
Doug Snider is a member of the San Diego Potters’ Guild and operates out of Studio 15 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center.
These benches appear to have emerged from a strangely wonderful dream. Wouldn’t you like to sit in one?
…
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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 