Stay Artsy, San Diego

America’s Finest City Is a Hotbed for Creativity—but It Needs More Media Coverage of the Arts, Financial Support, and a High-Profile International Event

San Diego is rich in the arts but, to become richer, it needs to take steps such as knitting together existing arts institutions and advancing arts education, said panelists at a Zócalo Public Square event, “Will San Diego Ever Become a Great Art City?” at the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas Saturday evening.

The panel—which was moderated by arts journalist Kinsee Morlan of the Voice of San Diego and included an artist, a museum and urban planner, a public art manager, and a curator—struck an optimistic tone and celebrated the growth …

How Do You Make a City Hungry for Art?

If San Diego's Vibrant Arts Scene Wants to Be World-Class, It Needs to Be More Accessible, More Diverse, and Better Funded

In 2011, the San Diego Performing Arts League was in trouble. Once one of the Southern California city’s leading arts organizations, the Performing Arts League, a nonprofit that provides marketing …

You Can Thank the Suburbs for the Trendy Ramen Burritos Downtown

Growing Up on the Outskirts of L.A. and Marrying a Guy From the Outskirts of São Paulo Taught Me How the Urban Fringes Can Spice Up a City's Core

After I married a Brazilian, I learned the Brazilian concept of vira-lata: flipping over the can. Vira-lata (trash-can tipper) is the name for mixed-breed dogs without owners who knock over …

Martin Luther King Jr. as Folk Art

Street Portraits Across L.A. Show How Different Neighborhoods Interpret the Civil Rights Leader in Their Own Image

I did not set out to document murals of Martin Luther King Jr. in American cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit. I just happened to find …

The Japanese-American Flower Growers Who Made Phoenix Bloom

Post-WWII Gardens Like My Family’s Found Beauty in Stony Ground

When my high school orchestra teacher found out my family owned a Japanese flower garden in Phoenix, Arizona, he made a confession: He had once snuck into those fields. He …

How Our Scrappy Soccer Team Is Giving Hope to Underdogs Everywhere

Thanks to the Foxes, the City of Leicester Has a Shot at Greatness

My hometown of Leicester, like many English cities that aren’t named London, Liverpool, or Manchester, doesn’t get a lot of respect—or, to put it more bluntly, notice. As only the …