This was one of my favorite projects from years of chalk painting in San Diego’s Little Italy every October until leaving for Pittsburgh last year. This was tight, the trompe l’oeil light and shadow detail on the tooth of San Diego asphalt; I ground a lot of chalk into fine dust that day to build up the shadow color layers rather than just faking them with a solid color. I’m a huge fan of Michelangelo and the whole Renaissance transition of society and culture, so Italian themed events are an easy to get up for.

This picture of me speaking as the dedication of my public art project in San Diego has been my social media profile picture forever. Since I now live and work in Pittsburgh and most everyone I deal with is unfamiliar with the project, I get asked all the time where the pic is from (and sometimes, “when are you going to put up a new one?” :)

So here it is full size, the red and chrome structure right behind me is one component of the project I helped design, though my main contribution was design and creation of thirty-two tile mosaics for permanent concrete benches lining the station platform.

Getting back to documenting my largest public art project in San Diego (again), I’ve made some composite images that I’ve not published before. These files show my final approved design renderings for each of the fourteen individual tile mosaics I designed in 2004/2005 as part of the NEA funded public art project at the 25th and Commercial Street Trolley Station together with photos of the finished installation.

There are two separate (but related) series of mosaics that focus on two aspects of the life of Cesar Chavez and fit the two styles of benches installed on the station platforms. The six eight-foot long curved benches narrate the life of Cesar Chavez and establish both history and context for his place in American history as a leader of the 20th century civil rights movement.

These designs were developed with the input and approval of many community groups and local government agencies in San Diego, including the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and the San Diego Regional Transit Authority. A brief description of the events depicted follows underneath the rendering.

This is an overview shot of one half of the tile mosaic installation I created for the 25th & Commercial Trolley Station public art project in San Diego.

Set in to custom made concrete benches, there are a total of 14 different mosaic designs in this picture of the eastbound trolley platform; the designs are repeated on the westbound for a total of 28 unique mosaics covering over 200 square feet of surface area.

Just found a huge trove of these never published installation/process pictures form the 2003-2006 public art project I worked on for the Sherman Heights Neighborhood Design Team and the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.

Here all of the small single seat concrete benches are seen with tile mosaics installed and curing, waiting for their final placement at the trolley station. This work was done in the empty lots across Commercial Avenue from the station, a few blocks from my old studio in San Diego’s historic Sherman Heights.

Mosaic tile murals installed on benches for Cesar Chavez Trolley Station public art