Tag: windows

Cut glass, new light, and the La Jolla coast.

Should you visit the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla, make sure to step into the Krichman Family Gallery. That’s where you can experience eye-opening effects of light, caused by apertures cut in glass windows overlooking the coast.

This site-conditional installation is the work of Robert Irwin, who passed away in 2023. According to a nearby sign, his art is foundational to a certain West Coast minimalism, referred to as Light and Space. He was a longtime resident of San Diego.

Window areas with no glass bring new light into the viewer’s eyes. Standing in the gallery makes one wonder: to what extent do we fully experience reality and its acute beauty? Is there “glass” in our eyes that can be cut away?

Those open spaces in the windows also allow our senses to feel and smell the fresh ocean breeze. Now, if only human hands could reach out and feel the ocean’s vastness.

Robert Irwin is also responsible for the Edwards Sculpture Garden’s radiant Spanish Fan, which you can see in the lower left of the above photograph.

Inside the museum’s adjacent galleries are more of Irwin’s beautiful works. Perhaps I’ll cover those at some future time.

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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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Local artists at new downtown Courthouse Gallery!

Wolf in the Storm by Laura Green.

A new art gallery recently opened in downtown San Diego. Juried works by diverse artists can be freely viewed from the sidewalk in front the Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse!

From behind several large windows, works by local artists greet the curious eyes of those walking down Broadway. This new Courthouse Gallery of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California is now displaying The Art of Freedom.

The courthouse website describing the project and a call for submissions explains: The inspirations for this on-going, rotating art display are: making art more accessible to the public, enhancing civic engagement through the arts, and creating an opportunity for local artists to increase exposure to their work. The gallery will be featuring emerging and established artists 18 and older residing in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

It’s difficult to photograph through these windows with the reflections. Enjoy several pieces…

Woman Charging I by Cathy Deibler.
Forest Dance, by Leah Schaperow.
Remember When We Were Free by Cynthia Sue Kelly.

Years ago, these same windows displayed artwork created by students for San Diego County Bar Association’s Law Week Poster and Video Contest. See three years of those displays here and here and here.

Over the years, my photos of those Law Week posters have been viewed thousands of times through Google search–quite possibly by teachers and students around the nation and world. Amazing.

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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.

Feel free to share!

A new Navy SEAL exhibit inside America Plaza!

The new Navy SEAL Museum will be opening in downtown San Diego later this year. Meanwhile, I’ve noticed they’re in the process of installing an exhibit on the ground floor of the One America Plaza office building, near the lobby, in a hallway that leads to the trolley station. (The same hallway where the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego used to have exhibits.)

Two of six large display cases now contain U. S. Navy SEAL artifacts. The other four have signs that indicate EXHIBIT COMING SOON.

If you want to check out this developing exhibit, One America Plaza is located at 600 West Broadway. (It’s that tall bluish building with a top that looks like a phillips-head screwdriver!)

Early this year I posted a blog about a large bronze frogman statue that will be placed outdoors near the coming museum. Once installed, you’ll see it beside the America Plaza trolley station across from Santa Fe Depot.

Read that blog post 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.

Feel free to share!

San Diego prepares for Padres 2025 Opening Day!

Padres banners and flags are going up throughout downtown San Diego–in the Gaslamp, East Village, and around Petco Park! The city is almost ready for 2025 Opening Day, which is tomorrow!

This morning, Padres personnel were putting up fencing beside Petco Park for the anticipated long lines and crowds. Tom’s Watch Bar, which has taken over the old location of Social Tap, was hurriedly installing big television screens.

Tens of thousands of excited fans will converge downtown for the early afternoon start. The Pads are playing the Braves. Let’s go!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Visions in downtown as San Diego sleeps.

In the darkness long before sunrise, downtown San Diego sleeps.

I often walk the city streets in the very early morning, when practically nobody is about. There are those times when I have to catch the day’s very first trolley. It can be a strange almost eerie experience. The stillness. The silence.

Here are some photographs I’ve taken during recent night walks.

There are sudden visions behind windows, on sidewalks, rising into the black sky.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Festive holiday sights from a Coronado walk!

Several days until Christmas, and the holiday spirit is on full display in Coronado!

Yesterday I took the ferry from downtown San Diego to the Coronado Ferry Landing. I walked down Coronado’s central Orange Avenue, circled the world-famous Hotel del Coronado, then turned back east along the opposite sidewalk.

Look at all the festive holiday sights!

The Coronado Ferry Landing is decorated for the holidays in 2024.
Tall nutcrackers on either side of the front door of Cocina 35.
Santa Claus stands beside a Christmas tree at the Coronado Ferry Landing.
A fun holiday display in a front yard on Orange Avenue.
A beautiful Christmas tree inside the Coronado Public Library.
The classic movie Christmas Vacation playing at Coronado’s historic Village Theatre.
Beautiful Christmas theme plates in a shop window.
A festive wreath in a shop door.
Poinsettias surround the Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree.
The enormous Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree rises beside Orange Avenue.
A small Christmas tree and decorations inside the Coronado Historical Association museum.
Historical museum display includes this Merry Christmas menu from the Hotel del Coronado in 1974.
Hotel del Coronado Holidays book displayed at the Coronado Historical Association museum.
Back out on the sidewalk, I meet a giant blue M&M candy in a Santa hat!
Lamb’s Players Theatre is now showing Respectfully Christmas, A Musical Celebration.
Frosty the Snowman and friend inside a shop window.
The big red poinsettia Christmas tree outside the Hotel del Coronado.
Beachside Igloos at the Hotel del Coronado.
A Christmas tree at the Hotel del Coronado’s outdoor ice rink.
Skating By The Sea at the Hotel del Coronado.
A wreath on the historic Power Plant door at the Hotel del Coronado.
Holiday lights and sights greet those arriving at the Hotel del Coronado.
Fun wreath contains sea shells and a bit of Hollywood. Some Like It Hot was filmed at the Hotel del Coronado.
a Christmas tree outside the hotel’s lobby entrance.
The gorgeous Christmas tree in the lobby of the historic Hotel del Coronado.
Back out on the Orange Avenue sidewalk, now starting back toward the ferry landing, I encounter a smiling Old Town Trolley Tours guide!
Elvis in front of MooTime Creamery is sporting a Santa hat, too!
Can Santa sit on this Christmas cow?
No, I see Santa Claus has already found a nice seat in front of Wag’n Tails!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Halloween creeps into San Diego’s Gaslamp!

Should we be frightened? Halloween has crept into San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter!

I took these spooky (and fun) photographs early this morning in dim light, then in the late afternoon as restaurants and bars prepared for a terrifying onslaught of evening partiers.

Trick or treat!

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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.

Smile like a sunflower in San Diego!

Sunflowers are smiling on the windows of the Hamilton Building at 640 C Street in downtown San Diego. The painted windows encourage passersby to Smile like a Sunflower!

I don’t know why these happy flowers recently appeared. The building has been vacant for years now. Back in 2019 images of musicians were mysteriously painted on these same windows!

When I first moved to downtown San Diego over 20 years ago, the Hamilton Building was home to the San Diego Computer Museum. All sorts of cool old computers were displayed in a gallery. The museum continues to have an online presence here.

The one time I visited the San Diego Computer Museum I was excited to find a few of the machines I had programmed in my youth, such as the ZX-80, ZX-81, TS-1000 and Commodore 64. A pair of interactive text adventure games that I created in the very early 1980s were published by the now defunct software company Softsync.

You can still play one of my old Commodore 64 games, which is titled Super Clue! Simply click 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.

More signs that Comic-Con is coming!

Dungeons and Dragons mural painted outside Super7, days before San Diego Comic-Con 2024.

With about a week and a half to go until the start of Comic-Con 2024, more and more signs are appearing around San Diego that anticipate the epic international pop culture convention!

I took these photographs this morning during a walk in downtown San Diego–through the Gaslamp Quarter, East Village and Seaport Village.

The Chuck Jones Gallery will have a pop-up in Seaport Village during Comic-Con 2024.

A sneaky peek through the window of the Chuck Jones Gallery pop-up in Seaport Village.

One of several cool posters inside the Gaslamp Lumpia Factory in San Diego. Offsite events will be held here during Comic-Con 2024.

Deadpool holds a Comic-Con Pronto card on the big outdoor MTS video board, across from the San Diego Convention Center.

Ad outside American Comedy Co. promotes Doug Loves Movies Comic-Con Edition.

Marvel superheroes in the window of CVS in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp will be filled with fans and cosplayers during Comic-Con.

The Onyx Nightclub will have a load of fun waiting during Comic-Con weekend!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

U.S. Navy SEAL stares out a window!

I was walking past One America Plaza in downtown San Diego this morning when I had to stop in my tracks and do a double take. Staring out a window at 1001 Kettner Boulevard was a U.S. Navy SEAL!

The surprising window graphic draws attention to the fact that this building is the future home of Navy SEAL Museum San Diego. You might recall how years ago this space, across from Santa Fe Depot, was used as a gallery by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. (MCASD has since moved everything from their downtown San Diego location to La Jolla.)

As you can see from my photo, construction of the new Navy SEAL museum is now underway. According to their website, Navy SEAL Museum San Diego is scheduled to open in 2025.

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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.