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Feed100 Works of Art to See Before You Die in San Diego
Local art critics, museum directors, and the big kahunas of the art world picked their must-see paintings, sculptures, and buildings with a special checklist just for you
The Curators
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| Keith York Founder of Modern San Diego | Carolyn Grant Director of the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad | Victoria Hamilton Executive Director, San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture | Mark Murphy Independent artist, designer, and promoter | Martin Wollesen Artistic Director of ArtPower! program and event venue at UCSD | Alexander Salazar Gallery owner, art dealer, and collector |
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| Jessica Hansen York Marketing Manager at Mingei International Museum and former director of external relations at the New Children’s Museum | Reesey Shaw Director of the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas | Dana Springs Public Art Program Manager for the City of San Diego | Ben Strauss-Malcolm Director at Quint Contemporary Art in La Jolla | Heidi Wilson Chair of the Coronado Public Art Subcommittee | Robert L. Pincus Award-winning art critic and Senior Grants and Art Writer at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego |
North County Coastal(1-9)
 | Magic Carpet Ride |  | Vase 7 |
 | Birdhouses |  | Home |
| Home |  | Church of the Nativity |
 | Chaturangui Artists' Model |  | Steinway Art Case Grand Piano |
 | Sunburst |  | Hohner Trumpet Call Oriental Beauty Harmonica |
North County (10-12)
 | Queen Califia's Magical Circle |  | West Lilac Road Bridge |
 | Lake Hodges Dam |
La Jolla(13-28)
 | Surf's Up Mural |  | Vices and Virtues |
 | Snake Path |  | Two Running Violet V Forms |
 | Two Running Violet V Forms |  | Brave Men Run in My Family |
 | Bear |  | Salk Institute |
 | Torrey Pines Gliderport |  | Liquid Ballistic |
 | Sam Bell Beach House |  | Neurosciences Institute |
 | Robert Paine Scripps Forum |  | Mount Soledad Cross |
 | Pleasure Point |  | Fallen Star |
San Diego Coastal(29-32)
 | Micro-Macro |  | Pump Station 4 |
 | Pixelated Summer |  | Russell Babcock Residence |
San Diego Central (33-38)
 | Metro Biosolids Center |  | The Meat Cutter Mural |
 | Glass Sculptures and Paintings |  | Wild River Grasses, Leaf Cascade & Leaf Canopy |
 | Trolley Dances |  | Nexus Eucalyptus |
Uptown & Balboa Park (39-55)
 \ | Nikigator |  | Normal Heights Neon Sign |
 | South Park Mural |  | Progress of Man |
 | Portrait of a Man |  | Timken Museum of Art |
 | Gates, Facia & Columns |  | Farm Landscape |
 | Point Loma |  | Mrs. Thomas Gage (Margaret Kemble) |
 | Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber |  | Step Chest |
 | Annie Mae Burroughs (aka Annie Mae Gudger) |  | Dictionary |
 | Nakashima Table |  | Reclining Figure: Arch Leg |
 | Botanical Building |
Downtown (56-86)
 | Everything That Has Ever Existed |  | Chicano Park Murals |
 | Untitled |  | Haze |
 | Guardian of the Waters |  | Wind Oars |
 | Seagulls in Flight |  | The Color of this Life is Water |
 | Coming Together |  | Santa Fe Depot |
 | Friezing |  | NUMBER10 |
 | Diamonds |  | Undoing the Knot |
 | Autumn Fall |  | The Conquistador |
 | Cell Phone Tables & Booths |  | Tequila Shelves |
 | Frieze on facade |  | MODERN Hotel Sign |
 | Tony Gwynn Bronze Sculpture |  | Yuma Building |
 | Newcastle Installation |  | Fountain of Two Oceans |
 | Clock |  | Italian Tiles |
 | The Circle |  | Space Invader |
 | Bow Wave |  | Tree Lines |
 | Bradley-Woolman St. Cecilia Chapel |
East County (87-89)
 | James Hubbell Home and Studio |  | Lemon Gardener |
 | Sunrise Highway |  | Jacaranda Trees |
Coronado (90-95)
 | Wizard of Oz glass panels |  | Imagine Tent City |
 | El Dia del Mercado |  | Concert in the Park Mosaic |
 | Sea Passage |
South Bay(96-100)
 | Pleasant Tree |  | Father Serra |
 | Silver Wing Monument |  | San Ysidro Heritage Mural |
 | Discrete Tension |
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Reader Comments:
Nothing in East County? Really? Wow
I am amazed at the selection of highly qualified professional artists chosen to actually pick the 100 works of art to see before you die. Wait... I just remembered what planet I am on... I must have been dreaming... artists don't really know anything about art... athletes really have no idea about scouting talent... musicians can't hear anyone but themselves... and of course when you are sick don't go to a doctor go to medical illustrator instead, at least they know in detail what our body parts look like... LQTM :)
YAWN! How predictable. Mostly public art, oops, forgot that most tourists are at the zoo or Seaworld & don't give a damn about art. Question: How many of these people on the panel have you seen at any art reception in SD, besides the Museums or the one or two 'approved' galleries around SD. VERY FEW!
The terrible Benvenuti, that laughable "surfer" (loathed by the surf community...) the truly deplorable Gwynn sculp, and a clock?? what advertising payoff could possibly justify this execrable assemblage of hopeless sleaze and cheese? the Stands is the sole standout...
Wow.., while I may not find everything to be my taste (giant oblong lemon grove thing is not up my art alley) it was what these professionals picked. Why do any of you think you can judge a subjective subject like art any better than they can? Someone had to pick and something had to be picked. Clearly a bunch of under-the-radar, no-one-noticed-me-and-my-abstract-finger-paintings artists that are just mad that their paint by numbers and odd angle Polaroids didn't get picked.
And there are 4 pieces from East county...
Well, we can rejoice that there are 100 things to pick in San Diego, and, of course, many more not named here. Now, becoming a world class art city, that is something else to strive for.
oh my. well, this pretty much demonstrates why I live in san diego, but drive to LA regularly to look at art - SD is beautiful and much more livable, but absolutely NOT an art town (but so what? can't have it all in one place, then everyone would want to live there and it'd be ruined). here's the shortlist I've made for myself when visiting LA for art, if anyone's interested - much more fun to go look, than live there ;-)
http://ccgalleryguide.com/zlist/
Interesting group. Some great, some not so great. All San Diego. By the way, the "Modern Hotel" is actually called the "Star Hotel" (that's what the star on the sign means.) On 7th Avenue, just south of Market.
Interesting group. Some great, some not so great. All San Diego. By the way, the "Modern Hotel" is actually called the "Star Hotel" (that's what the star on the sign means.) On 7th Avenue, just south of Market.
I find the selection for the South Bay very poor. The South Branch of the Chula Vista Public Library designed by Legorreta deserves to be on the list.