There are more than 800 pieces of public art in the city of San Diego, and hundreds more across the rest of San Diego County. The region received more than $10 million in state and federal grants for public art in the last five years.
Public art ranges from the famous — the Kissing Statue at the Port of San Diego or the Nikigator in Balboa Park — to the less well known. It can be found everywhere, from office complexes and the airport to panels on bridges to murals on the streets to decorative crosswalks and public utility boxes to the walls of libraries to public restrooms.
KPBS is embarking on a series to explore public art. Follow this series for stories about the artists who make these works, why public art is created, what impact it has and where it can be found. And we want to hear from you about what public artworks you notice or are most curious about.
Explore our coverage
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A brightly colored mural at Waterfront Park tells a story in images about accepting people with autism into the art world and beyond. -
The mural depicts the first successful school desegregation case in the U.S. — 23 years before Brown vs. Board of Education. -
A cottage teetering on the edge of a roof, a 180-ton granite bear, and a 560-foot slithering snake are just some of the commissioned art on the UC San Diego campus that inspire discussions of what makes art.
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