Category: San Jose

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Mural at the Pink Elephant Market

408 Mural

Ok, it’s no longer called the Pink Elephant. Though one of the Pink Elephant signs is still up, the rest of the signs are replaced with the new market’s name. There is a Pink Elephant Bakery still in business across the street. This grocery store is where my grandpa worked when I was little. Now, the side of the grocery store has this “Zona Rosa” mural on it by artist Aaron De La Cruz. (https://www.aarondelacruz.com/#/works)

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Backesto Park

Backesto Park

This was my local park growing up. It was”the park” to me and it is fascinating to time travel through memory to be here now. This handball court wall was here then though this mural was not. I have not yet found out about this artist though the mural is signed KML. I appreciate the words written under it by the artist:

“FINDING Santuario ~ IT’S JUST a WALK en el parque”

Finding Sanctuary ~ it’s just a walk in the park.

Backesto Park
Backesto Park

This monument was there long before I was. Those tiles were created by S&S, the historical Solon and Schemmel Tile Company of San Jose of the 20’s and 30’s that is now Stonelight Tile in San Jose. This monument at Backesto Park is the oldest public work using their tiles. Later famous works of theirs include the Hearst Castle.

An interesting read about the tile company is here: https://stonelighttile.com/handmade/

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Hands at the Airport

San Jose Airport Hands

When you drive by the San Jose Airport you will see more than 50 hands of Silicon Valley residents waving hello and goodbye and raising to the sky on the mural called Hands.

Whose hands were used for this art?: “Participating community members represent a spectrum of the South Bay’s population, including a tamale maker and a surgeon, teachers and students, technologists and construction workers, musicians and poets, parents and children, police officers and fire fighters.” (https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/networks-and-councils/public-art-network/public-art-year-in-review-database/hands)

San Jose Airport Hands

Artist Christian Moeller designed the mural on the parking garage that is constructed of hundreds of thousands of plastic pixels affixed to a metal fence hung on the parking garage. (https://christianmoeller.com/Hands-1)