Some very unusual art is installed in a concourse at Snapdragon Stadium. An array of 24 stadium lights has been mounted to one wall. Color changes at the center of each individual silvery floodlight. Over all are the words: San Diego.
When I attended a recent event at Snapdragon, I asked a knowledgeable employee who was working nearby about this art. I learned the old floodlights are from the demolished San Diego Stadium (aka Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, SDCCU Stadium), which stood on this same property in Mission Valley from 1967 to 2021.
Cool idea!
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A little girl plays among fishes in front of Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. A book lies by the fountain in which she plays. The pages are open to a poem titled The Secret. It begins:
The fish had a secret he wanted to share with the girl on the beach who had nary a care to catch her attention and beckon her out he leapt from the water and twirled about.
His scales were golden his fins were like wings when the little girl saw him, she started to sing “Oh fishy, my fishy, come play with me!” and into the water she ran with great glee…
To learn all about The Secret, visit the happy child and the fishes, and read the long poem in the open book.
This wonderful bronze sculpture and its fountain are part of the Wolfstein Sculpture Park, which is located all around Scripps Memorial Hospital and its nearby medical buildings. The art is titled Little Girl with Fishes.
This public art was created by T.J. Dixon and James Nelson, whose incredible sculptures can be found all over San Diego.
I plan to blog more about the amazing Wolfstein Sculpture Park in a few days.
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The epic Bay to Park Paseo is a 1.7 mile long, art-filled walking experience that is now being created in downtown San Diego!
Many creators and designers will soon be installing unique artwork along the Bay to Park Paseo, which celebrates the designation of San Diego/Tijuana as World Design Capital 2024!
Most of the new art will be installed along Park Boulevard, up a corridor that connects San Diego Bay to Balboa Park. The Bay to Park Paseo will start at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, cross the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, and run up the east side of Petco Park, continuing north up Park Boulevard.
Many of you know a lot of old art can already be found along this long corridor!
I’ve photographed most of it over the years.
Here are a few photos of preexisting art on the Bay to Park Paseo…
To enjoy blog posts that feature preexisting art along the Bay to Park Paseo, click the following links. I’ve arranged these links from south to north. (Check the bottom of each blog post for the approximate date I took the photos.)
Some of the painted artwork you see in these old blog posts has since faded, been replaced or badly marred by graffiti.
An idea! Before the Bay to Park Paseo officially opens, perhaps original artists could be contacted in order to restore some of this great old art!
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool public art rises in downtown San Diego’s newly reopened Children’s Park. I walked through the park today and took photographs of this fascinating sculpture, which is titled Petrichor.
Last year, while the reimagined, redesigned Children’s Park was still closed to the public behind a construction fence, I had called this mysterious white structure a “tower of fun” in my ignorance. I thought it might be part of the nearby playground. I’ve since learned the steel and cement sculpture was created by San Diego artist Miki Iwasaki. (You might recall a different sculpture she created for Liberty Station in Point Loma.)
The odd lattice-like geometric shape of Petrichor in the sky makes an interesting contrast against nearby trees and more distant downtown high-rises!
Petrichor was added to the City of San Diego Civic Art Collection in 2023.
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
New public art has appeared at the RaDD (Research and Development District) complex that now rises on San Diego’s waterfront!
Sculptures and murals can be viewed by those walking along the Embarcadero among the five gleaming RaDD buildings where some construction fences have recently come down.
I was able to photograph the above sculpture and a long mural today during my walk near the USS Midway, the Greatest Generation Walk and Ruocco Park. I also spotted a water feature among plants and trees between the two southernmost buildings.
Another large red sculpture and another mural have also appeared among the buildings to the north, but construction fences still obstruct photography. I’ll try to provide more photos when those fences are removed.
I know nothing about the artists. If you have any interesting information, please leave a comment. If I learn anything further about this new public art in San Diego, I’ll post an update!
(Last November, I spotted a new mural at the north end of RaDD. See those photos 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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The JOURNEYworm appears to be taking form along Park Boulevard in front of San Diego High School. I saw it today during my walk from Balboa Park to downtown!
This temporary art installation will be one segment of the completed 1.7 mile long Bay to Park Paseo, a special corridor that is being created to celebrate the designation of San Diego/Tijuana as World Design Capital 2024. Here’s a page that describes the Bay to Park Paseo.
The JOURNEYworm is described as an arc-shaped sculpture, assembled from screens and wires, to evoke the shapes of our region–ocean waves, desert canyons, and gabled roofs…At night, JOURNEYworm will come alive…it will change colors and blast pulses of light in response to ambient sounds and music played by passersby…
I noticed many transparent fabrics moving in the wind among the eucalyptus trees. Curling together, with clouds and blue sky behind, they can create some very beautiful effects, as you can see!
I can’t really envision how the JOURNEYworm will finally appear. I intend to take more photos as the worm turns and develops!
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
If you love great art, and you’ve never experienced the annual Small Image Show in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center, you’re missing out!
In 2024 this popular event is celebrating its 48th anniversary. Small works of art by about a hundred artists from all around San Diego County fill the walls of Gallery 21. You’ll find juried paintings, sculptures, and works in other media. The pieces are so small that dozens cover almost every wall, competing for your attention. There are many bold colors and beautifully detailed images. A few tiny pieces appeared to have been created using a magnifying glass!
When I visited today, a couple of very friendly artists were greeting everyone who entered the gallery. They are happy to answer any questions.
The exhibition is free, the art is for sale, and Gallery 21 is open 11 am to 4 pm every day. The 48th Annual Small Image Show continues through February 25.
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The Southeastern Live Well Center opened last year in Valencia Park, an urban community in Southeast San Diego. The impressive facility, which provides a wide range of health and social services, features diverse works of art, both inside and outside.
Take a look at the inspiring bronze sculpture that stands at the front entrance of the Southeastern Live Well Center. Stepping Beyond is dated 2023.
The artist Manuelita Brown’s statement is on a plaque at the base of the sculpture. Her words include: This sculpture signifies a human being pressing beyond current circumstances, leaving one space toward another while moving an obstacle out of the way…Eight medallions representing the flora of cultural identities in the community adorn the banner to represent our diversity and commonality.
(I walked around the perimeter of this large San Diego County facility last weekend and discovered a Wellness Garden filled with very colorful artwork. I’ll blog about that shortly!)
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The world of Batman features crazy, mad characters. So it’s not surprising that superheroes Batman, Batgirl and the supervillain Mad Hatter are lurking in one of Balboa Park’s most crazily creative corners: the San Diego Sculptors Guild courtyard in Spanish Village!
Batman and Batgirl together form a bench on which anybody can sit. Snap a selfie with two legendary heroes! The artwork, titled Bats United, was built by artist Kim Ogburn.
Across the courtyard of sculptures, a Mad Hatter chair invites fans of DC Comics supervillains. It’s the Mad Hatter Chatterchair!
Are you an Alice in Wonderland fan? Perhaps this Mad Hatter isn’t part of Batman’s rogues gallery, but merely mad. The chair might make the perfect accessory for a Mad Tea Party!
Both fun seats are for sale outside Studio 36, home of the San Diego Sculptors Guild!
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A cracked stone stands in Encinitas, enfolded by a rock wall whose ends appear unfinished. Those who walk past might pause and wonder.
The vertical stone seems timeless–like an ancient monolith.
When I first saw this unusual monument near the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Vulcan Avenue, I wondered what it might be.
Plaques near the standing stone explained this was a Veterans Memorial, established by the City of Encinitas, dedicated on December 7, 2003. It soon will be National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, when this memorial will be twenty years old.
I took photographs of the Veterans Memorial, then sought more information. I found this blog that transcribes the various plaques, one of which I didn’t observe during my walk. It reads:
These memorial walls are meant to be reminiscent of ancient walls, the shapes referring to “the waving flag.” Both ends of the large memorial wall are left unfinished, representing the unfinished lives of those who have perished in the line of duty. The large monolithic stone water feature within the memorial, trickles water slowly as tears, speaking back to those who mourn.
The ultimate goal in the design of this memorial wall is to offer a sense of quiet sympathy to the visitor, reminding those of us who take so much for granted, just how much others have given in protecting our freedoms.
Here’s an article from 2003 that provides a good explanation of the memorial and its creator, Michael Ames Clark, from nearby Cardiff.
I was interested to learn the artist’s vision was made real by landscape architects Schmidt Design Group. They’ve created dozens of outdoor projects around San Diego over the years. Their redesigned Children’s Park in downtown San Diego opened a couple weeks ago.
During past architectural Open House events, I enjoyed tours of their Waterfront Park and Briercrest Park. To enjoy those tours, click the links!
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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 