Tag: streets

Surprising art on two Barrio Logan corners!

Some surprising and truly fantastic art can be observed on two adjacent street corners in Barrio Logan. I spotted these during a recent walk through the neighborhood.

I was looking up at some banners hung from a street lamp at Main Street and Beardsley Street when I suddenly noticed some incredible wire art suspended nearby! I have no idea who created this unique sculptural artwork! I think the creature grasping a bug has been up there for a while, because it’s visible on Google’s street view.

Fantastic wire art hung from a street lamp at Main Street and Beardsley Street in Barrio Logan!
Fantastic wire art hung from a street lamp at Main Street and Beardsley Street in Barrio Logan!

The two square mosaic panels at Newton Avenue and Beardsley Street decorate a building of Perkins Elementary School. Colorful ceramic fish swim through water-blue tiles! I don’t know who made this artwork, either. Students perhaps?

If you know anything, leave a comment!

Two mosaics depicting colorful fish outside Perkins Elementary School at Newton Avenue and Beardsley Street in Barrio Logan.
Two mosaics depicting colorful fish, located outside Perkins Elementary School at Newton Avenue and Beardsley Street in Barrio Logan.

…

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!

Creating a bike lane on Fifth Avenue.

A segment of Fifth Avenue in downtown San Diego will soon have a dedicated bike lane. I paused to watch work on the separate new lane as I walked to a trolley station this morning.

This particular project is on the north edge of downtown. The segment you see in my photos will connect with the already finished bike lane in Bankers Hill, which is a short distance farther north.

Once everything is completed, bicyclists will be able to safely head up Fifth Avenue, from downtown through Bankers Hill to Hillcrest.

…

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!

Contemporary art created by thousands.

This morning, as I walked through downtown along Kettner Boulevard, I had to pause for a few moments in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Right smack dab in front of my eyes was some of the most amazing contemporary art.

What I saw was fantastic, complex, perplexing, sublime. The artwork contained numberless potential meanings, contrasts, mysteries. And it was created by the thoughts, longings and creative hands of thousands.

As clouds moved and the sun rose and a truck turned in front of me, I realized it was living art. And dangerous.

…

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!

We rise by lifting up!

Can your spirits be lifted by an old faded mural in a city alley?

Of course!

I spied a smiling sun and moon near the intersection of University Avenue and 46th Street in City Heights. The enduring message: WE RISE BY LIFTIN.

And I smiled, too!

UPDATE!

I received a comment by Amber M Jahn that provides information concerning this great mural:

You forgot the beauty painted on the alley side of building at 47th and University. The entire wall was first painted by Amber Jahn in about 2017 in which she writes the message “We Rise by Lifting Others” then 2 years ago half the wall was covered, erasing the word Others, and adding a noon to the existing sun…so now it says “we rise by Lifting”….I’d love to see a community day of free hot dogs and get a few local bands to play while the mural is updated, refurbishing the sunshine and adding the word Others to complete the project right. I personally funded the first mural, it would be cool if a lift could be procured for the tallest areas of the building since my 12 ft scaffold only reached 17 feet of the 21ft wall and has been left unfinished as a result. (I’m only 5’2” and did all the work alone one summer while living in a minivan on University Ave. It was a good way to keep my mind distracted from the crisis I was currently enduring. I like that I’ve received messages from local parents thanking me for giving their children something positive to look at on their way to and from school everyday. My pleasure!!

…

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!

Art along Imperial Avenue celebrates Encanto.

Dance.
Dance.

Near the center of Encanto, along Imperial Avenue, colorful panels celebrating the culture, history and life of this diverse community have decorated lamp posts on the street’s median for almost 30 years. I took photos of seven panels during a recent walk near the Encanto trolley station.

Twenty four panels, by local artist Eddie L. Edwards, many of which appear to be dated 1992, were part of the “Streetscape Art Project” along Imperial Avenue, which was completed in 1993. The intention was to revitalize Encanto’s modest commercial center, from 62nd Street to 69th Street. As you might imagine, the panels, exposed to almost three decades of sun and weather, have cracked and faded. But to eyes that pause and look up they remain alive, and tell the story of a hilly urban community that still feels rural even as San Diego has grown.

I’ve radically altered the brightness and contrast of these photos to help revive the color of the old panels.

(During my walk I also photographed lots of great street art. I’ll share those photos in a bit.)

Education.
Education.
Transportation.
Transportation.
Nature.
Nature.
Work.
Work.
Play.
Play.
Music.
Music.

…

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!

Neighborhood restaurant mural: Better is Possible.

The East Village restaurant Neighborhood closed for renovations earlier this year. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, they have yet to reopen.

I walked past their boarded-up windows this afternoon and saw a mural had been painted on them. After a little searching on the internet, I see that artists Joshua and Ezra Andrade created the artwork last month.

Positive messages in the mural, which includes images of fighting, a knife and brass knuckles, include Ego is not Your Amigo, Better is Possible, Regulate Impulses, and Hood Must be Born Again!

…

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!

More street art on San Ysidro Boulevard!

Street art in San Ysidro by Gerardo Meza.
Street art in San Ysidro by Gerardo Meza.

I’ve photographed more great street art!

Last year in December I walked around San Ysidro and took photos of street art near the Mexican border. See those images by clicking here.

During a walk in the same area this morning I headed farther up San Ysidro Boulevard and found even more colorful art. All of the following photos were taken between Willow Road and Cottonwood Road.

Except for the very first photo above! That fun artwork was painted some time after my earlier walk. It’s beside the Burger King near the intersection of San Ysidro Boulevard and Camino de la Plaza.

These images capture the life and spirit of San Diego’s bustling border community!

Colorful artwork in San Ysidro by renowned muralist Victor Ochoa depicts the artist's family.
Colorful artwork in San Ysidro by renowned muralist Victor Ochoa, known for his work in Chicano Park. I’ve been told this small mural depicts the artist’s family.

Mural in San Ysidro by Los Angeles artist Sand One.
Mural in San Ysidro by Los Angeles artist Sand 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!

Another colorful walk down Tenth Avenue.

One morning last week, I went on a walk through San Diego’s East Village. I headed south along Tenth Avenue from A Street to Petco Park.

I simply took photos of anything that delighted my eye. I believe all these sights are new to my blog, with the exception of the one above. I remember taking pictures of that fantastic tile mosaic years ago, but not up close.

…

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!

Padres baseball chalk art in the Gaslamp!

Cecelia Linayao produces Padres baseball chalk art in the Gaslamp Quarter during the first weekend of the 2020 season.
Cecelia Linayao and a team of artists create Padres baseball chalk art in the Gaslamp Quarter during the first weekend of the 2020 season.

Even as I post these photos, chalk art that celebrates the start of the Padres 2020 season is being created in the Gaslamp Quarter!

I walked down Fifth Avenue about an hour ago and admired four chalk murals that are the work of San Diego artist Cecelia Linayao and her team of friendly helpers!

The Padres are 1-0 so far and play their second game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at nearby Petco Park this evening. But fans can’t attend. It’s the year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Go Pads and stay healthy!

…

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!

Gaslamp restaurants make a comeback!

Restaurants in the Gaslamp have set up outdoor patios right into Fifth Avenue.
Restaurants in the Gaslamp have set up outdoor patios right into Fifth Avenue.

Many restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter are making a slow but steady comeback during the coronavirus pandemic. When I walk up Fifth Avenue every weekend, I notice that more and more tables are out on sidewalks and the street, and that more and more diners are filling them!

San Diego’s city leaders have taken extraordinary steps to mitigate an extraordinary problem. Dining indoors is not permitted in California, because indoor settings are where most people become infected with COVID-19. So eateries around town have been given permission to move their dining rooms outdoors!

In the Gaslamp Quarter, the extended patios of restaurants go right out into Fifth Avenue. It’s a concept that is growing, and the people I’ve spoken to say diners really enjoy the unique experience!

Gaslamp Quarter banners show workers at eateries pledging to keep customers safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gaslamp Quarter banners show workers at eateries pledging to keep customers safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
El Chingon always seems a popular destination in the Gaslamp.
El Chingon always seems a popular destination in the Gaslamp.
Outdoor tables throughout the Gaslamp were filling up this Saturday mid-afternoon.
Outdoor tables throughout the Gaslamp were filling up this Saturday mid-afternoon.
Sevilla was just beginning to set up their outdoor patio as I walked by.
Cafe Sevilla was just beginning to set up their outdoor patio as I walked by in the mid-afternoon.
The hostess at The Butcher's Cut Steakhouse greeted me with smiling eyes. I had already gotten some takeout for dinner down the street.
The hostess at The Butcher’s Cut Steakhouse greeted me with smiling eyes. I had already gotten some takeout for dinner down the street.
Diners enjoy the unique outdoor ambiance of the historic heart of San Diego!
Diners enjoy the unique outdoor ambiance of the historic heart of San Diego!

…

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!