driving past urban outfitters in hillcrest this past saturday, we were surprised to see this huge mural from san diego artist shepard fairey on the south wall of the building. the next day there was a writeup on the mural in the UT, and another article describing the san diego museum of contemporary art’s street art project, which fairey’s mural is a part of. huff post has more pics, and it’s good to see this project getting attention beyond san diego. when our city has public art like this gracing its harbor, it clearly could use a bit more edge.

here’s another picture of the fairey mural, looking northeast:

as someone who’s worked with climate researchers, this section of the mural rings especially true:

and this part, with a baton-waving cop saying “i’m gonna kick your ass – and get away with it”, is sure to ruffle a few feathers:

when we stopped by sunday to take these pictures, the mural was attracting several people who were doing the same. maybe mcasd’s project will engage san diegans in a discussion of what public art means to them, and its quantity/quality prior to this. based on the pictures in the above articles, these street art installations are a big step forward.

- true north has a fundraiser this saturday, july 24th from 3-8pm for californians against slavery, a group working to strengthen human trafficking laws in the state. from their website:

Human trafficking is a criminal business that profits from enslaving people for sexual servitude and forced labor. It is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise worldwide; 12.5 Million slaves worldwide (80% women and children; 50% children); AT LEAST 100,000 American minors are sex slaves (sold by pimps); 14,500-17,500 people brought in from other countries as slaves each year

donation is $5 and includes music and other entertainment.

- five guys burgers is open in point loma, and it’s the first non-military-base location in san diego for this east coast chain. the yelpers seems to like it…