A human heart hovers above the Serra Museum atop nearby Presidio Hill in this extremely unique ceramic artwork.
There’s some fascinating public art in Mission Valley that few people see. It’s located in the deep shadows beneath Interstate 8 where the freeway passes over Hotel Circle. Eyes are adjusting to darkness as motorists, turning a corner, quickly pass five ceramic panels high on drab concrete pillars. The one sidewalk is located on the opposite side of the street. To really appreciate the artwork, you have to cross traffic dangerously and stand in a narrow band of dirt right up close.
Today I walked to work past the darkly obscured art and decided to finally get a closer look.
Vital Parts, installed in 1999, was created by local San Diego artist Joanne Hayakawa. The pieces seem to be stratified, crumbling and sculpted by time and memory. They seem to blend with the dirt beneath the bare bridge.
The very dark Interstate 8 underpass at Hotel Circle features seldom appreciated public art.Vital Parts, by artist Joanne Hayakawa, was installed on five pillars of a Mission Valley freeway bridge in 1999.Mysterious fossil-like hand hovers above nearby San Diego River and what I believe are Native American structures.Human brain, made golden by underpass light, crowns image of old Mission San Diego and the ever-present blue river.Spine rises over what I believe is modern Qualcomm Stadium. This earthy art is very unusual and evocative.Chin and silent mouth seem like a timeless clay mask beside the eternally flowing river.
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A friendly chef carries a huge frying pan outside on a downtown San Diego sidewalk.
Chefs have taken to the streets of downtown San Diego! They can be seen almost everywhere! Cooks on every corner–but where’s my breakfast?
Chef at restaurant window happily stirs the sauce and flings some pizza dough into the air.Culinary artist on Sixth Avenue proudly made a chalkboard menu.Chef tosses a mosaic pizza at base of the artistic Little Italy Landmark Sign.Another smiling chef has prepared a tasty slice of pizza!This Kansas City Barbeque pig is a Top Gun chef. I bet he likes to ham it up.
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Colorful tiles around base of Piazza Villaggio fountain in Little Italy.
I frequently walk through Little Italy, a lively neighborhood in the north part of downtown San Diego. Here are some photos of fun, colorful artwork that I’ve taken from the sidewalk during the last few months!
Unusual creation hangs from roof of a building in San Diego’s Little Italy.Fun image on wall of The Good Sounds car stereo installation shop.Eye-catching clock atop tower on a street corner.Lots of whimsical art on the Queenstown Public House restaurant.Painted tiles add zest to a wall by a sidewalk.Base of Little Italy Landmark Sign shows fish netted in the ocean.Two cherubs adorn gate pillars on India Street.Just a fun mailbox with hearts, flower and palm tree.Medallion-like artwork on wall above the Italian Cultural Center sign.Metal fish sculpture seems to leap from Piazza Villaggio fountain.
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Public art in San Diego honors those who serve in uniform, defending Peace, Liberty, Justice, America , Freedom.
Four large painted murals can be seen under Interstate 5 where the freeway passes over Rosecrans Street, just west of Old Town. The title of my blog post is a bit deceptive, because I only managed to get decent pics of three murals. The fourth, which depicts the Coronado Bay Bridge, was half in sunlight, half in darkness, and is the least interesting (in my opinion) of the four anyway.
Mural includes two colorful scenes from historic Old Town, just a short walk away.Four works of art glimpsed by motorists as they drive under the busy overpass.Pedestrians file past artwork that shows nearby San Diego River and wildlife.
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Colorful splash of paint on a wall. THE END IS LATE… (AND I WAS PREPARED)
The other morning I took a stroll down Ninth Avenue in downtown San Diego, from the top of Cortez Hill south to hip East Village. My camera was out and ready. Here are a few fun photos that I took as I sauntered through East Village!
Big fuzzy pink gorilla in the Car2Go window.Art that opens eyes. COFFEE IS FOR CLOSERSMessage shouted from store’s rooftop. JUICE SAVESHiatt House, 1886. A tiny place with ample charm (and history).
The Hiatt House, located in East Village near Petco Park, used to contain a cool little eatery named Café Noir. That was a few years ago. According to an article I read, during the first part of the 20th century it was home to several generations of a Japanese-American family. The grounds have also been the site of horse stables and a blacksmith’s shop, and the Latonia Hotel, a modest room-and-board for colored people back in the days of racial segregation. Today the Hiatt House serves as a psychiatrist’s office.
Humulus lupulus (hops) gracefully drape green utility boxes.
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San Diego Bay scene graces a slowly fading mural in Mission Valley.
When you ride the San Diego Trolley’s Green Line between the Old Town and Linda Vista stations, an interesting mural can be glimpsed for a moment where the tracks span the San Diego River. The public art is best viewed when walking along the San Diego River Trail, between the rail and Pacific Highway bridges. The path down by the river is fairly popular with bicycles; it is also trash-filled and tagged with graffiti. I don’t know anything about this artwork. Faded a little bit by time and the elements, the images still impart a happy glow along the seemingly neglected river trail.
UPDATE!
Turns out this mural is called “On The River Trail” and was completed in 2008. The artist who designed it is Lori Escalera. The public art comes from the San Diego River Park Foundation.
Public art along the San Diego River Trail near Pacific Highway. The Coaster train can be seen passing across one of the rail bridges.Weathered by outdoor elements, artwork still glows like an impressionist painting.Dreamy yellow sunflower painted on old wall seen by those who walk along river.A hummingbird hovers above brightly sunlit vegetation.Happy painted bicyclist greets those who travel down San Diego River Trail.Art shows painter inspired by the river’s natural beauty.This artwork was lovingly planted for future enjoyment.
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Cool utility box in Hillcrest shows tall buildings on planet Earth.
During my walks about San Diego, I spy all sorts of cool art on utility boxes and electrical transformers. Most of the painted artwork is super creative and colorful. You never know what you’ll find!
Little Italy art on utility box shows boats in water beneath row of windows.Fish and fishermen are big themes on Little Italy utility boxes.Tropical beach island scene on a fun, eye-catching Gaslamp utility box.Soft and peaceful beach image on this Imperial Beach utility box.Cool abstract face on an imaginative Hillcrest utility box.Some large utility boxes in Hillcrest feature photos of fruits and vegetables.This Hillcrest electrical transformer has a bold blue eye.East Village utility box art has been vandalized with angry words.Very colorful artwork on an East Village transformer.
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Small, vacant eyes stare up from a seldom used bridge in downtown San Diego.
A pedestrian bridge in downtown San Diego spans Interstate 5. It’s almost never used. From the extreme end of a large, mostly vacant parking lot below the Veteran’s Museum, it arches high over the wide, busy freeway and descends to a securely gated parking lot next to San Diego City College’s sports fields. It leads mostly nowhere.
I’ve lived about a mile away for over a decade, but I’ve never set foot on the bridge–until this afternoon. Walking up Park Boulevard, I’ve often gazed at the distant bridge and wondered if it was open. Never once have I seen a soul on it.
I suppose people must visit this place at times, because the bridge is absolutely covered with both new and old graffiti. It’s a singularly lonely place, enclosed in fencing, suspended above unseen drivers flashing by in anonymous cars below.
Here are some random photographs. Who applied these small artistic faces? The eyes never blink.
This pedestrian bridge spans Interstate 5, connecting two unrelated parking lots.Two strange eyes seem to sprout from the concrete. Going nowhere fast.Stenciled images of bearded face. Stay fresh.Two contented smiles inside lettering of boldly spray painted graffiti underfoot.Shy face and downcast eyes. Welcome home.Small grinning face in some faded blue words.These stenciled faces seem to be slowly disappearing as time passes.A whole crowd of colorful eyes watch in every direction.Spray painted cartoon looks happy and excited as can be.Another smiling face in graffiti on the lonely bridge.A fierce cartoon cat or devilish creature of some kind.Above a Facebreaker decal is an old Gasface sticker.Looking down at the freeway where it begins its S-curve through downtown.Enigmatic face is unable to speak to the few who pass by.Another simple, childish smile. Even where it’s bleak, there is always hope.
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Mind-blowing street art uses a whole spectrum of finely painted colors.
Wow! Check out this mind-blowing street mural, which caught my eye just across Dewey Street from Chicano Park. Titled Ancestors, it was spray-painted on a Barrio Logan building in 2013 by artists Maxx Moses and Isaias Crow.
A little online research reveals that Ancestors replaced another damaged mural on the same wall, which was titled Synergy. Maxx Moses likes to use spontaneity in his creative productions, and calls his unique art movement Concrete Alchemy. Isaias Crow’s artwork, which I believe is on the right side of the mural, is similarly awesome!
This dazzling urban art is directly across the street from world-famous Chicano Park.Such amazing detail. You could just stand and lose yourself in this cool artwork.Closer look at one portion of the Ancestors mural in Barrio Logan.Ancestors street mural celebrates the lives of those who built community.Small tree on the wall is enfolded by softly curved rich colors.The intricate image is alive with astounding vibrancy.This astonishing face is composed of many slivers of beaming light.
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Super cool artwork depicts local community, history and sea life themes.
I don’t know much about this mural, apart from the fact that it’s huge, colorful and super cool. For years, it seems, scaffolding has stood against the long portion along Harbor Drive. Just recently the scaffolding vanished, and the brilliant, dynamic street art is fully visible in all its glory!
You can find this urban art at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Parkway and Harbor Drive, just south of downtown in Barrio Logan. It decorates the high wall that encloses the parking lot at Restaurant Depot.
I took these photos as I walked south to north along Harbor Drive, then turned west at the intersection for a little more fun artwork.
Enjoy!
Long wall along Harbor Drive is the canvas for this very large street mural.Proximity to San Diego Bay inspires painted marine animals.This big fish seems to be watching for pedestrians on the Barrio Logan sidewalk.A scuba diver seems unaware a large hungry shark looms just behind!Mother with young child gazes out at the blue Pacific Ocean.People from all walks of life populate this very human work of art.San Diego Trolley travels through a scene similar to those found in nearby Chicano Park.Painted passengers on a trolley seem visible through a window.Aztec warrior in elaborate costume blows on a ceremonial conch.Nearby Chicano Park’s pavilion is shown with lots of folks dancing.Young man and lady dance on the festive outdoor mural.Musicians play instruments adding flavor to the celebration.History of Our Community includes the once vital tuna fishing industry.The lives of past and present residents provide generations of stories.Fish caught in local waters just off San Diego.The end of Harbor Drive section, and now we’ll turn west for a bit more…Walking around the mural on the high wall at Restaurant Depot.This north-facing wall contains lots of bright aquatic life!Beautifully painted fish, a seahorse, jellyfish and starfish.An orange Garibaldi just above the sparkling ocean bottom.Kelp frames the end of this long, amazing mural in Barrio Logan.This super fun street art is a landmark that is very hard to miss!
UPDATE!
I learned years later (shame on me) that this 1993 mural is titled The Kelco Historical Community Mural, by artist Salvador Roberto Torres and his wife Gloria Rebolledo Torres. It was restored by Salvador Torres in 2012, which explains the scaffolding I had previously seen.
Salvador Roberto Torres is one of the founders of nearby Chicano Park, the largest collection of outdoor murals in the United States. He saw the great freeway pillars supporting the ramps to the San Diego–Coronado Bridge as potential concrete canvases, and so created the Chicano Park Monumental Public Mural Program in 1969. He was also one of the founders of the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park.
During that later walk I took additional photos of the mural!
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