Street Art in San Diego
The urban art scene of San Diego
Urban art is not only something that beautifies certain aspects of a city, it often becomes part of its story. If somebody had to describe the spirit of the city of San Diego, the cultural association to Mexico would certainly come up – sooner or later. The geographical proximity and the history of California make this a given. As such, plenty of street art that you can find in San Diego could be described as Mexican-style art with indigenous-looking faces and symbols, agave plants and Catrina figures as well as colour palettes that are typical for murals in Central America.
At the same time, San Diego’s street art also draws on representations of landmarks of the city as well as some political statements and traditional graffiti writing. Wherever you go in San Diego, it is always worth to keep an eye out for urban art.
North Park
The part of San Diego that shows the biggest number of murals over the span of a handful of blocks is North Park. It is a residential area with quirky cafes, an arts and crafts market every second Saturday of the month and some small boutiques and tiny art shops and galleries. Its artist scene is so present that you can easily meet the local artists in the streets and galleries to discuss their work.
Verbatim Books
The probably most remarkable mural in North Park is the façade of the bookstore Verbatim Books and the artist, Armando Elizarrares, is always up for a chat next to his popup shop. The only requirement that the owner of the bookstore had was that the outside should look as the inside. That test has been passed with flying colours (pun intended!). The use of high-quality spray paint and the wall facing towards North with no direct sunlight make it look as if it had been freshly painted, even after three years. And, if you look closely, you might be able to spot some San Diego landmarks in between the books.
San Diego in San Diego
Other murals in the area almost appear like an homage to the city of San Diego, be it in written words or paintings of some of the most famous landmarks. The bridge to Coronado island or the statue of the soldier kissing a nurse (inspired by the scene on Times Square in New York after World War II) that honours San Diego as an important naval base, are only a few of the representations that you can see on the walls of North Park. So far, Charlie has only seen similar expressions of a city to itself in the form of street art in Cologne.
San Diego and Philadelphia
In contrast to the themes that represent the city itself, you can also find murals with strong references to the city of Philadelphia where street art originated in the US. Next to the pub Pretzels & Pints, you can see an eagle (as in the Philadelphia Eagles) and the liberty bell amongst other Philly references.
Different styles of street art
What you can also see in North Park are murals done by artist couples, neon colours, calligraphy-inspired writing and painting as well as a giant paste up in a small alley. Whilst most of the art works have been done by San Diego based artists, you can also spot a Shephard Fairey inside a restaurant which reminded Charlie strongly of a similar peace-inspired mural of his in Lisbon.
Barrio Logan & Chicano Park
There is one other part of San Diego that is worth exploring if you are interested in street art: Barrio Logan and Chicano Park. Charlie only spotted those art works from the bus on the way to Coronado Island. If you have the time, it is worth getting off the bus to admire the murals that decorate the pillars of the bridge. Charlie will have to do that during her next visit.
