By Mike Madriaga When word reached me that the walls of Writerz Blok, the first legal graffiti art park in the United States, were knocked down, I had to hear it and see it to believe it. On October 9, I pulled up to the Walgreens on Euclid and Market and parked my car. Writerz […]
Since 2020 I’ve scoured the internet for a wall of boomboxes — I found two. “I spotted another wall of boomboxes at Trill in Phoenix,” I said to Ron Morales on December 1. “Wanna take a road trip?” “Vamonos, bro,” he responded. “How far is Phoenix from San Diego?” “About five to six hours.” The […]
By Mike Madriaga In the last couple of weeks, the elusive “double rainbows” have been spotted throughout San Diego County. “It was surreal,” said Chris Mannerino, “On February 5, I saw it out of my new office and raced up the hill just in time for the picture.” Mannerino is a Point Loma-based realtor that […]
By Mike Madriaga On February 12, Leslie Monroy went to the north side of Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach with a stick and a rake — to create art. “The closest name that I can come up with is a ‘sand mandala’, but it’s not really a mandala,” she said. “I’m not sure what it […]
By Mike Madriaga Point Loma resident Chris Mannerino direct-messaged me on Instagram at 4 pm on October 5. “Do you want to shoot [the green flash] with me this evening at Sunset Cliffs at Froude Street, at around 5:45 pm?” We’ve been messaging back and forth since the previous week about capturing the elusive green […]
“After 15 years, the Writerz Blok facility is closing for redesign of the creative space,” said Reginald Jones, the president and CEO of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. The 10,000-square-foot lot still has the large paintable walls standing and the skateboard ramp intact. The graffiti art yard is located at 5010 Market Street, which is […]
By Mike Madriaga Two former City College students took home six Emmy awards on June 24. The 43rd Annual Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards was held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. This is where David Brooks won four awards and Alejandro Tamayo won two awards. “It’s a peculiar feeling to win,” Brooks said, […]
By Mike Madriaga “[Do] you guys know the Reader?” Sand One asked. The crowd then cheered. One girl from her entourage said, “That’s the one I was telling you about.” On July 1, Sand One, an East Los Angeles-based graffiti artist, busted out her spraypaint and hit up the sidewall (by the alleyway) of the North Park […]
By Mike Madriaga “An Oakland-based artist was commissioned to create a massive piece for the San Diego International Airport,” Joshua Alcala said. “Shouldn’t you give it to San Diego artists?” On June 16 and 17, The Aja Project hosted a meeting at their location at 4089 Fairmount Ave. in City Heights. Aja, a photography-based educational […]
By Mike Madriaga “I witnessed a few guys make amends with each other,” said Spek One, 44, “as well as myself with one of the guys that I actually got into a fist-fight [with] back in the day.” Spek was one of the organizers for the NOF (Nineteen Oh Four) annual reunion on May 20 […]
By: Mike Madriaga “You don’t see the chola look very often nowadays,” said Jesse Amaro after he posted a photo of four girls wearing men-fitted khaki pants walking past him. “I seen about 15 to 20 in the park that day,” On April 22, it was the 47th Chicano Park Day at Logan Heights, where […]
Escrito por Mike Madriaga para la revista Vochomania Scroll down to view the story in English. El cliché “la belleza es sólo superficial” por lo general no se aplica para mostrar a las personas que modifican autos. Sin embargo, en el caso de Mario Peña, él tuvo el derecho de evaluar lo que es bello […]
By Mike Madriaga Rahma Hassan is a 20-year-old City College student who not only adores the color scheme of the Student Commons building on the corner of 16th and C streets, she finds peace from within. This was only Hassan’s second visit. “I felt like it was restricted and thought it was (exclusively) for events,” […]
By Mike Madriaga Maria Jose Cristerna received her first tattoo at the age of 14 years old which was a rendition dedicated to her favorite Metal band, Battery. Cristerna’s transformation as one of the world’s largest tattoo and body-modification collectors didn’t really take effect until she was 19, but even then her collection was kept […]