Many beautiful flowers are now gathered near the base of the Tunaman’s Memorial on San Diego’s Shelter Island.
Last weekend, the annual Tunaman’s Memorial Mass and Celebration began at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Point Loma. A procession was then made through Roseville to the Shelter Island memorial where a service was held.
The many flowers remember tuna fishermen, particularly of Portuguese descent, who were lost at sea.
Even yesterday, almost a week later, the flowers were still bright and colorful.
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A weird glowing jellyfish–perhaps giving birth? A wildly creative lamp? Some alien creature from the planet Pandora? A dream-thing resplendent with arcane symbols?
As I walked in darkness this morning through downtown San Diego, a very strange, seemingly living thing caught my eye. It was shining in the studio window of artist James Watts!
Very unusual public art stands near the center of the UC San Diego’s large La Jolla campus. While this surprising work of art might splash your nose, it’s not in your face. What I mean by that is: while you’re bent over enjoying a cool drink, you might not know that the fountain is a work of fine art by an important artist. There’s no sign or plaque indicating such.
This untitled work of public art—an exact replica in granite of commercial metal fountains typically found in schools, business offices and government buildings–is part of UC San Diego’s Stuart Collection of art. It was created in 1991 by internationally recognized conceptual artist Michael Asher.
Michael Asher believed that an artwork’s encompassing environment determines how we perceive it. As his Wikipedia biography explains: Asher’s work takes the form of “subtle yet deliberate interventions – additions, subtractions or alterations – in particular environments.” His pieces were always site-specific; they were always temporary, and whatever was made or moved for them was destroyed or put back after the exhibitions. This untitled work at UC San Diego is his first permanent public outdoor work in the United States.
I took a refreshing sip from the fountain during my last visit to UCSD. To my right stood a flagpole, and beyond that a historical marker indicating the campus is located on the old site of Camp Calvin B. Matthews, a rifle and artillery training base of the United States Marine Corps. (See my blog post concerning the historical marker by clicking here.) Asher placed the drinking fountain at this precise spot, directly opposite the historical monument, after a lot of deliberation.
There’s more to this “mysterious” work of art than you might suppose. Please read all about it by visiting the Stuart Collection website here.
This very special drinking fountain can be found south of the Price Center, in grassy, park-like UCSD Town Square.
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Let Go Lightly is a sculpture that stands near the entrance of Mission Valley YMCA in San Diego. It was created by artist Matthew Welter of Kings Beach, California and donated by Bruce Hazard.
I took photographs of the wood carved sculpture during my last visit.
I noticed a plaque set in concrete that provides a description.
The plaque reads:
The sculpture honors the relationship between parent and child. Based upon the tradition of Native American lore, the YMCA’s Indian Guide, Indian Princess and Indian Maiden programs foster this relationship. Let us remember our surviving local Native Americans that still live in the vicinity of the San Diego River. They are known as the Kumeyaay/Diegueño tribe or in their language Ipai/Tipai (meaning people). This sculpture faces in the direction of the spirit of the ancient Kumeyaay village site of Cosoy.
(Google AI explains: In the late 1980s, Native American lobbyists and individuals asked the YMCA to stop using the “Indian” theme because it was often stereotypical. Those old programs, which encouraged fathers to connect with their children, have evolved into Adventure Clubs.)
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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 X.
I love this super fun Leapfrog bronze statue. It stands by the front entrance of the Army and Navy Academy Recreation Hall in Carlsbad. Two kids are at play, one leaping over the other with exuberant joy!
I was walking up Ocean Street north of the academy’s chapel when I spotted the sculpture. I took a couple photos!
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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 X.
A statue depicting San Diego de Alcalá stands in a beautiful garden near the center of the Catholic University of San Diego.
San Diego de Alcalá (also known as Saint Didacus and Diego de San Nicolás) is the patron saint of USD, not to mention the Franciscan missionary and saint after which San Diego was named.
In 1542 explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo named our city’s bay San Miguel.
Sixty years later, when Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno sailed into our bay on November 10, 1602, he named it San Diego, which was also the name of his flagship. He put San Diego on his map. That name stuck.
I took photographs of the San Diego de Alcalá statue several months ago, when I visited USD’s Arts and Culture Festival. (Yes, I’m finally posting these photos!)
The bronze sculpture stands in Plaza de San Diego next to the Maher fountain. According to this, it was moved there in 2017 from the entrance of Copley Library.
I know nothing more about the statue. When was it created? By whom? If you know anything more about it, your comment would be very welcome!
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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 X.
A large bronze statue that honors Navy frogmen is planned for the new Navy SEAL Museum in San Diego, which is scheduled to open later this year at downtown’s America Plaza.
The impressive statue will stand south of the museum entrance, in an outdoor space that is adjacent to the America Plaza trolley station. (You might recall, how years ago, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego had their Hammering Man sculpture located in the same spot.)
I’m told the diver statue should resemble one now situated at the original Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, in front of their Memorial Wall.
The statue that is coming to San Diego will stand atop a granite pedestal inscribed with the BUD/S classes that become plank owners of the new museum.
The museum’s Plank Owner BUD/S Class Campaign is presently underway. Those who contribute will become part of a legacy that will motivate and inspire generations of Americans for years to come.
As this webpage explains, the museum is reaching out to the Navy SEAL community. Donations are being accepted of any size to help with the construction of the Museum which will preserve our history and tell our stories to the nation.
Every donation will receive recognition on the museum website here. For those Classes reaching the $5,000 goal, the Class Number will be permanently etched into the granite pillar which holds the bronze Navy SEAL Sculpture.
Would you like to inspire future generations, and help build the Navy SEAL Museum in San Diego? Visit their website by clicking 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 X.
I took these photographs this morning while it was still dark. They show new public artwork in downtown San Diego. My camera was placed up against the construction fence surrounding the not-yet-opened Progress Park (at the corner of Broadway and Harbor Drive) at the new RaDD complex.
This very cool sculpture, which is illuminated in the night, is titled Shhh Pavilion: The Hopekeeper.
Yes, that’s an interesting name! Even more interesting is the fact that the sculpture’s geometric structure utilizes Voronoi tessellation.
Huh? What?
Learn more about this sculpture, Voronoi tessellation and this new public park coming to San Diego’s waterfront by visiting a past blog post by clicking 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 X.
An excellent exhibition by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild is now showing inside Gallery 21 at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center.
The exhibition, curated by Alex DeCosta of the Hyde Art Gallery, features fine works by some of our city’s most outstanding artists. These eclectic pieces, all of which are for sale, would be valuable additions to any art collection.
I wandered into Gallery 21 late this afternoon and enjoyed viewing all the artwork. I took a few photographs so you get an idea of what you’ll find when you visit.
Make sure to swing by in the next few days. The 2024 SMMAAG Membership Exhibition will be on view in person through December 2, 2024. If you can’t make it by then, view the exhibition online here until the end of the year.
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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 X.
A very unique sculpture can now be approached by the public on San Diego’s waterfront. More construction fences have come down at the new Research and Development District (RaDD) complex!
The Tower of Ten Billion Stars is another work of monumental art on what is called the RaDD Artwalk. You can spy the narrow oblong sculpture standing strangely on one end, by looking south from Broadway, east of Harbor Drive.
The creator of this shimmering “tower” is Lindy Lee, a Chinese-Australian artist. As its official description states here, it stands as both a beacon and wayfinder.
Hundreds of small holes in the sculpture’s side allow the passage of bright daylight. The holes shine like visible stars in a silvery sky. They seem to form constellations. Stars–like the North Star–have been wayfinders since ancient times, right?
I’m not sure why it’s a Tower of Ten Billion Stars. There are 100 to 400 billion stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. And there are between 100 billion and 2 trillion galaxies in the Universe.
Perhaps this curving tower is like a tiny, tiny, infinitesimal sliver of the inconceivably vast and mysterious Cosmos.
I walked around the sculpture this evening and took some photographs. I love those reflections of palm trees and nearby tall buildings!
(I also love how “beyond boundaries” can be read nearby. Astronomers can only theorize. The words are actually in reference to a World Design Capital event being held at RaDD.)
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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 X.
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