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San Jose view from above

Lick Observatory

From up on Mt. Hamilton, you can see a lot. Hard to see in my photo, I know. However, the left of the photo above shows San Jose and at right of middle shows San Francisco amongst much more. Its easier to see in person and so I highly recommend visiting. Drive safely and slowly as the road to the top is winding, includes many rocks and dirt patches, and is a favorite for impressive bicyclists to conquer.

Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory

South San Jose is in the right of this photo above and Monterey is in the center in the distance.

Lick Observatory

And when you are ready to go inside the Lick Observatory from atop Mt. Hamilton, you can see this gigantic telescope from 1888, among other modern telescopes at the observatory.

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Washington Elementary School

This school has the most art we have seen so far. There are murals and mosaics all around the school as well as art in the neighborhood. The school is not an open campus so it is not possible to get too close to some of the art. Still, it is good to know that children have these visual stimulations beyond plain walls.

Washington School
This one is really interesting. Notice the baby in the womb of the heart at center.
Washington School
From here beyond the fence in the field, we can see the mural in the first photo to the left. There appears to be 4 more large murals in this scene.
Washington School
This mural is on the opposite side of the building and mural in the first photo. All of these murals are viewed from beyond the perimeter fence.
Washington School
Mosaic art in the school courtyard.
Washington School
Mosaics all around the building.
Washington School
So much art on the school walls.

In addition to the school walls being covered in art, there is art in the surrounding community. Here are a few photos.

Near Washington School
This is Quetzalcoatl, a Mayan god of creation. Here you can see his head and a red circle in his mouth with words on it that indicate there is a time capsule under it to be opened June 15, 2052.
Near Washington School
I played with the color of the photo here to help Quetzalcoatl stand out as the color is subtle and difficult to capture. You can see the serpent god’s tale flowing out to the street. This is the Brenda Lopez Memorial Plaza between the school and the community center and public library.
Near Washington School
This neighborhood mural is nearby, across from the library. It was designed by muralist Thomas “Wisper” Talamantes and painted with the help of neighbors and local children.
Near Washington School
An across the street neighbor of the school has a metal garden artwork on their fence.
Near Washington School

This is a wonderfully art filled area.

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Fuel Tank Art

Fuel Tank Art

This shiny by day and color reflective work of art shines with internal lights at night. It is made from a recycled airplane fuel tank and can be found at San Jose Fire Station #17 in south San Jose. It was created by California artist Gordon Huether (gordonhuether.com).

Fuel Tank Art
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Sanctuary Sculpture

Sanctuary sculpture at SCVMC

“Sanctuary” is a 65 foot tall sculpture by artist Bruce Beasley (http://brucebeasley.com/) located at the entrance of the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose. It is huge. You get to walk under it by a path and besides looking for different ways that the giant rings play as I walked through I kept getting this ideas of motion imposed on my mind with flashes of the time/space traveling machine from the movie “Contact.”

Sanctuary sculpture at SCVMC
Sanctuary sculpture at SCVMC

Not captured in these photos which look east towards the street entrance to the hospital are the buildings that form a “U” around the sculpture and its park like settings around the north, west, and south sides of the art. These are hospital rooms that look out onto this beautiful scene called “Sanctuary.”

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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)