An amazing bronze sculpture can be found in downtown San Diego, on Ash Street beside the new Carte Hotel. It’s titled Global Proportion.
Created by artist Beverly Penn in 2019, the bronze “topiary sphere” is described as “a journey and destination created from individual bronze leaves cast from live flora at Balboa Park.”
The diverse leaves seem to represent many beautiful lives, joined together in one organic Earth-like object.
Below the amazing bronze topiary sphere, inlaid plaza tiles represent fallen leaves, scattered by the wind.
Whenever I walk by this very unique sculpture I like to pause for a moment and look up. It’s like a small, perfectly beautiful planet that hovers almost within reach.
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Look what I spotted this evening as I walked through Seaport Village!
A cool sculpture titled Positivitree!
The tree-like thing appeared very peculiar from the distance–almost like fish bones–but as I got nearer I saw all sorts of objects including trashy plastic items had been recycled by the artist to create happy, colorful fish and other marine life! This super creative art features a positive environmental message!
According to a nearby sign, Positivitree was created by Rodney McCoubrey with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter.
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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!
Sculpture of two people holding hands on sidewalk.
Yesterday, as I walked past the National City Public Library, I paused to look at some fun art on the sidewalk. Then I noticed a wise quote in many languages printed on a monumental wall at the building’s front entrance.
In many languages: I always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of Library. Jorge Luis BorgesFun street art near the library.
Las Aventuras de Dehdohz en Casa.Read.Many faces.
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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!
Over the years, I’ve photographed many of the public art sculptures that can be found all around San Diego.
Because Cool San Diego Sights is now over six years old, and most readers have seen only a small fraction of my blog, I thought it would be fun to link to some old posts.
The following links don’t include all of the sculptures I’ve photographed, but they do provide a convenient starting point for a journey of discovery!
Last weekend I walked all around Old Poway Park. During my visit I took a look at the park’s many historic structures and interesting sights. When I approached the front of the 1886 Templars Hall, I noticed a large bronze sculpture standing near the foot of the front steps.
The Pioneers is a seven-foot-tall bronze sculpture by renowned local artist Richard Becker. It was commissioned in 2006 by the City of Poway. The gentle figures of a mother, child and faithful dog provide a beautiful tribute to Poway’s early pioneer founders.
Plaque reads: The Pioneers. Sculptor Richard Becker, 2007. Mother and child welcoming families to Poway. A tribute to the pioneers who settled in Poway at the turn of the 19th century.
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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!
One fantastic sculpture by renowned French-American sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle presently stands at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. Those who pass by the cultural center on their way up North Escondido Boulevard can’t fail to miss it.
I stopped by to have a look at the monumental sculpture, which is titled Grande Step Totem.
A plaque near its base is weathered and cracked and is difficult to read now. I’ve tried to transcribe the English portion of it accurately:
Grande Step Totem
Based in Native American spirituality, Saint Phalle’s Totem is more solemn than much of her work. With a muted color palette and subject matter, this piece encourages introspection. The Totem returned to Escondido on December 19, 2012 after spending the summer on view with several other Saint Phalle pieces on Park Avenue in New York City.
As you can see, some construction work was being done around the base of the sculpture when I visited last weekend. Here are my photos…
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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!
Surfer crossing sign near a golden dome of the Self-Realization Fellowship ashram in Encinitas.
Today I went for a long walk beside the Pacific Ocean. I began along old Coast Highway 101 from the Coaster’s Encinitas Station, headed south through Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and walked all the way through Solana Beach to Via de la Valle.
The following photographs are from one very cool stretch of my walk.
Come along! We begin at Swami’s in Encinitas and proceed south down Coast Highway 101 to the Cardiff Kook sculpture.
As you will see, this is quite an amazing walk.
Please read the captions!
A woody with surfboard heads along old Coast Highway 101, past one of the Self-Realization Fellowship’s iconic Golden Lotus Towers.As I walked south by the exotic ashram, a surfer passed me on the sidewalk going the opposite way. I turned to take a photo.A few steps farther and here comes another surfer, heading through the park by the Swami’s Beach parking lot. It appears he just finished surfing at Swami’s Reef.I’ve arrived at the entrance to Swami’s Beach, which was mentioned in the Beach Boys’ song Surfin’ U.S.A.Two huge Easter Island Heads carved from dead tree stumps tilt in the grassy park at Swami’s.Both Easter Island Heads were created by Tim Richards and are in the Encinitas Public Art Collection.Cool art on a park planter.People walk past another planter with cool tile art depicting a palm tree and Pacific Ocean sunset.A blue wave seems to be splashing up from the walkway ahead.This public artwork is the Swamis Surfing Memorial.Dedicated with appreciation to Gary Taylor and the others whose efforts of the past and future make Encinitas a better place to live and surf.One guy stretches while a couple gets ready to head down to Swami’s Beach.Descending steps to the public beach far below.Benches above the bluffs allow people to watch the surfing action at Swami’s internationally famous point break.My small camera catches some distant surfing action.Many surfers were out on a sunny September day, enjoying good conditions.Engraved on a rock by the benches are the words: Waves on the Point are dedicated to Syrus King.Looking south along the beautiful shoreline as I get ready to resume my walk along Coast Highway 101, sometimes referred to as Pacific Coast Highway.Bicyclists head down South Coast Highway 101, leaving Encinitas.I turn for a moment to glance back north at Swami’s.The surging Pacific Ocean and the narrow beach below.A cool pink residence near the highway with a great view of the ocean.As I continue south I see a lifeguard tower coming up.People gaze at the foaming water from a rocky beach.I couldn’t help looking back north one more time.Lifeguard tower 19 near the north end of San Elijo State Beach in Cardiff rises above wet sand.I saw hundreds of surfers out in the water during my walk. Looks like fun!Walking down a path that enters the campground area at San Elijo State Beach.A smiley for a laid-back, sunny day in Southern California.Entrance sign at San Elijo State Beach in Cardiff-by-the Sea.Continuing south along Coast Highway 101, approaching Chesterfield Drive.Up ahead at the intersection I see the Cardiff Kook. The bronze sculpture is officially called Magic Carpet Ride, but to most people the youthful figure on a surfboard appears awkward and silly.Someone looks up at the Cardiff Kook, which is often dressed up by pranksters in odd clothing and costumes.Magic Carpet Ride, 2007, bronze, Matthew Antichevich.If the balloon is any indication, the Cardiff Kook must be celebrating a birthday.A poem for the Cardiff Kook.
Magic Carpet Ride
Grommit of bronze
On an ocean of stone
Frozen in time
In Cardiff, at home
Action in art
Still life by the sea
Community pride
Goofy footed and free
Exuberant youth
Arms open and wide
A cultural ambassador
Takes his first ride
His story is our story
Personified Grace
Both the past and the future
See yourself in his face
Grommit of bronze
On an ocean of stone
Surfs by the sea
In Cardiff, at home.
A wonderfully kooky conclusion to this amazing stretch of my walk!
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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!
Yesterday afternoon I spent some time reading in the Coronado Public Library.
I was sitting comfortably in the library’s Reading Room, my eyes resting on Donal Hord’s sculpture Mourning Woman, when I became aware of happy, excited voices drifting in from the Children’s Room.
And a small story whispered into my mind.
The story isn’t about Death–it’s about Life. So I changed the Mourning Woman to the Silent Woman. I also changed the season, and the appearance of the Reading Room.
If you’d like to have this very small story whisper to you, click here.
Rear view of Mourning Woman, 1966. This last sculpture by Donal Hord is now displayed inside the Coronado Public Library.
Displayed inside the Coronado Library are many beautiful works of art. Several of these works are important pieces by internationally famous artists.
The two world-renowned artists are Donal Hord and Alfredo Ramos Martinez.
Donal Hord’s iconic sculptures can be found in various places around San Diego. He was one of the artists who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1949.
Alfredo Ramos Martínez is considered to be the Father of Mexican Modernism. He served as the Director of the National Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico City. He was founder of the Open Air (Aire Libre) School of Painting in Mexico. His students included Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueros, and Rufino Tamayo.
I took these photographs a couple weeks ago during a visit to Coronado.
You can learn more about the history of these amazing pieces and other artwork in the library here.
Donal Hord’s granite sculpture Mourning Woman stands in the Coronado Library’s Spreckels Reading Room. It took ten months to complete.Tapestry designed by Donal Hord titled Earth Mother or Fruits of the Earth. Woven by Marian Kendall, U. Kelley, and F. Manchester in 1939.Canasta de Flores, Alfredo Ramos Martínez, 1938. The mural, painted for the La Avenida Café, is now located inside the Coronado Public Library.El Dia del Mercado, Alfredo Ramos Martínez, 1938. Fresco originally located at the La Avenida Café, now behind the front desk of the Coronado Library.Section of fine art mural El Dia del Mercado by Alfredo Ramos Martínez.
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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!
During my walk through the Scripps Institute of Oceanography on Saturday, I paused in the grassy area just north of the Judith and Walter Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Munk Laboratory to admire an amazing sculpture by Donal Hord.
Spring Stirring, 1947-1948, was carved from black diorite and stands 46 inches tall. It was exhibited in 1949 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Third Sculpture International. In 1964, Spring Stirring was given to the University of California’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography by Cecil and Ida Green.
Donal Hord, who achieved worldwide fame for his fine sculptures, developed a deep love for San Diego. He lived most of his life here. Today some of his most important pieces endure as public art around San Diego.
To see the sculpture for yourself (and some fantastic coastal scenery in La Jolla) follow in my footsteps and take a short walk here.
You can find many photographs of Donal Hord’s public sculptures and reliefs by putting his name in the search box on this blog.
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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!
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