Travelers who stand outside the Solana Beach train station and look east are likely to be surprised. A very colorful bull and mural beckon from across Cedros Avenue!
I spotted this fun artwork the other day while walking around.
The “crazy quilt” bull sculpture and the mural featuring many faces can be found between Pirch North County San Diego and DRIVE AutoCare. I observed that the mural, which appears to be titled Da Kiss, was created by Sandra R. Escobar.
I immediately recognized the mural’s distinctive style. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Colombia-born artist painted this mural in City Heights!
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Perhaps you’ve seen the fountain sculpture in Chicano Park. It stands on a colorful tiled base in a splashing basin under the Coronado Bay Bridge, not far from the skatepark. The symbolic public artwork was created by artist Raul Jaquez.
It’s hard not to see the duality in this work of abstract art. On one hand, female; on the other, male. On one side, spiritual calaveras (skeletons) holding a sun with the ollin symbol (representing change); on the other, flesh and blood living people holding a baby.
The unifying symbol appears to be a heart-eagle, ready to be released. The eagle is destined to take flight and rise above all, both the living and dead. At least, that’s my interpretation.
There are a few other sculptures in Chicano Park, but this striking work in the fountain, to me, is the most elaborate and artistically interesting. It is quite beautiful.
Back in 2015 the aging sculpture was restored during a major Chicano Park improvement project.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
In Point Loma’s Roseville neighborhood, at the intersection of Rosecrans Street and Avenida de Portugal, you’ll find a historical marker between two benches. Six similar markers were placed along San Diego’s historic La Playa Trail back in the 1930s.
According to their website, this replacement marker was the project of the La Playa Trail Association. All of the markers feature a bas-relief of an Indian and a Mexican carreta (or ox cart), and were designed by Old Town sculptor, Rose Hanks.
I happened to walk by this particular marker the other day and realized I hadn’t yet photographed it.
The La Playa Trail is considered the oldest commercial route in the western United States. In the past, I’ve photographed a few other La Playa Trail markers and provided more information. If you’re curious, you can see that here.
La Playa Trail. An ancient Kumeyaay path that became the oldest commercial trail in the western United States. La Playa Trail Association, 2010.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
A thought-provoking sculpture can be found at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Created by San Diego artist Trevor Amery in 2021, the wood sculpture, Archive and Witness, stands in front of the Dick Laub NTC Command Center.
A nearby sign explains that Archive and Witness takes the form of…a fallen tree in a forest…Through…decomposition and decay, it…provides a home to animals and insects…The fallen tree is not the end of a life cycle; it is a transformation as well as a beginning…
The slab from the dead tree, whose tree rings represent a finished life, seems to pulse outward with abstract rings symbolizing future life. At least, that’s the way I see it.
It was interesting to read that artist Trevor Amery’s father was stationed at the old Naval Training Center San Diego here years ago. The human world, like a forest, is interconnected in surprising ways.
Archive and Witness stands where the Mingei International Museum’s Nikigator sculpture stood while that Balboa Park museum was undergoing its renovation a couple years ago.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Today–Friday, October 14th, 2022–is the 109th “birthday” of Cabrillo National Monument!
As you can see on the board above, this amazing park situated at the end of Point Loma was established exactly 109 years ago by President Wilson.
I arrived just a few minutes before the Discover Cabrillo National Monument ranger talk, so I quickly headed to the back patio to hear about the many qualities of this special place.
We learned about how the park protects the native flora and fauna. We also learned a little history concerning the 1542 voyage of explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, and the bunkers placed on the coastal bluffs during World War II.
After the talk I walked about, simply to take in the stunning views and fresh ocean air, and to take some photos. As you can see, it was a gray, overcast day.
The 109th anniversary of Cabrillo National Monument wasn’t nearly as big a deal as its centennial nine years ago. I was there for that big occasion, and took many photographs of the historic event which I posted here!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
I ventured up to the Central Library’s rooftop 9th floor yesterday and gazed briefly up at the building’s nearby dome and across San Diego’s South Bay. Then I stepped through the door of the Marilyn & Gene Marx Special Collections Center and was introduced by a friendly librarian to a few of the exhibits inside.
Above shelves in one corner hung half a dozen gorgeous paintings, including several by Alfred Mitchell, whose pieces I’ve also admired in fine art museums.
In the museum-like Rare Book room, display after display celebrated the history and work of diverse artists, printers and writers.
When I saw an absolutely incredible rosewood sculpture by Donal Hord, my mouth dropped open.
On another wall were several famous engravings by William Hogarth!
Westwind, Donal Hord, 1953. Rosewood.Morning (from the series, The Four Times of the Day), William Hogarth, ca. 1822. Engraving and etching in black ink on buff paper.Noon (from the series, The Four Times of the Day), William Hogarth, ca. 1822. Engraving and etching in black ink on buff paper.Spring Fields, Alfred Mitchell, ca. 1929. Oil on board.Autumn Sunshine, Alfred Mitchell, ca. 1924. Oil on canvas.
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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!
A memorial to fallen San Diego County law enforcement officers stands across an outdoor plaza at the City of Chula Vista Police Department.
When Heroes Fall…We Remember was created by Chula Vista artist Mark Martensen in 2004. A central bronze sculpture depicts two bowed officers facing a curved wall.
Beneath fluttering flags, the black marble wall is engraved with the names of heroes from different law enforcement agencies throughout the San Diego region who’ve given their lives in the line of duty.
Driving north on Interstate 5 near Old Town, have you glimpsed the top of a huge head poking over the freeway wall? Just past the Courtyard by Marriott?
It’s the curly-haired head of Michelangelo’s famous sculpture David!
The Head of David mural was painted on the side of an apartment building back in 1984 by San Diego Mesa College physics student Jeff Sale. The entire mural used to be visible from the freeway, until a wall was built by Caltrans that conceals much of it. You can read an old article concerning the artist and his creation here.
Yesterday I walked through Old Town to see if it’s possible to get photographs of the two story high Head of David from a spot away from the freeway. By standing in the cul-de-sac just north of the Marriott, I took these pics.
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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!
I’d never heard of the expression “spiritual dolls” until I visited Balboa Park last weekend.
KOKORO NO KATACHI | Image of the Heart is an exhibition of spiritual dolls at the Japanese Friendship Garden. It features the work of Kimiko Koyanagi and Michiko Stone, artists who combine traditional Japanese doll-making with contemporary art.
The two sisters are third-generation ningyo doll-makers, descendants of the Japanese Doll-Making Muraoka Family of Tokyo. Their work has been exhibited internationally.
The dolls on display are beautiful in their simplicity. The sculptural figures appear serene, pure of spirit, almost angelic.
According to the JFG website’s description, these dolls are meant to be poetic. They convey deep emotion and philosophical meaning.
Many of the spiritual dolls are thin and elongated. To me their soft forms seem to have emerged from inside growing wood, or bone, or from living beams of light.
One fascinating display shows the many steps taken to make these unique dolls. If you’re a crafty person, you certainly want to see this!
Image of the Heart can be experienced in person inside the Exhibit Hall at the Japanese Friendship Garden through October 30, 2022.
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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!
There’s a sculpture garden open to the public in La Jolla that’s very easy to miss.
Large numbers of tourists, walking along the Pacific Ocean, south of Children’s Pool near Cuvier Park, pass this sculpture garden without even realizing it.
This park-like space isn’t readily noticed from Coast Boulevard. Curious eyes might observe an unusual sculpture made of many boats mounted on the building behind it. That building is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego!
Look for the gate in my upcoming photographs. Walk through it and up the curving path. You’re now in the museum’s Sue K. and Charles C. Edwards Sculpture Garden. See what your eyes will see.
My own eyes saw these particular sculptures months ago. Yes, these images have been lingering in my computer for much too long. While I’m self-isolating recovering from mild COVID-19, I’m finally getting around to posting them!
Whether these same pieces are on display right now, I don’t know. Over the years, I’ve noticed that some of the outdoor sculptures in MCASD’s collection are shifted from place to place.
Ready for our walk? Here we go!
Niagara, Alexis Smith, 1985. NOTHING IN THE WORLD COULD KEEP IT FROM GOING OVER THE EDGE… (Marilyn Monroe starred in the film Niagara.)Monument to a Bear, Erika Rothenberg, 2002-2003. Glass-reinforced concrete over steel, bronze plaque.Froebel’s Blocks, Richard Fleischner, 1983. Limestone.Spanish Fan, Robert Irwin, 1995. Steel and glass.
If you’re curious about that mural in the distance, you can see more of it here.
Pleasure Point, Nancy Rubins, 2006. Nautical vessels, stainless steel, and stainless steel wire.Crossroads, originally sited at the border crossing of US/MEXICO in Tijuana/San Diego, Marcos Ramirez ERRE, 2003. Aluminum, automotive paint, wood, and vinyl.
If you want to see quotes by artists written on the opposite side of these directional signs, click here!
Garden Installation (Displaced Person), Vito Acconci, 1987. Concrete, stones, dirt and grass.Pasta, Mark di Suvero, 1975. COR-TEN steel.Long Yellow Hose, Gabriel Orozco, 1996. Plastic watering hoses.Maria Walks Amid the Thorns, Anselm Kiefer, 2008. Lead books and NATO razor wire.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 
