For the last several years I have been blogging about places to go in the Bay Area. I have lived in San Jose for 12 years now and I have learned a lot about the city by exploring and seeking out locations that inspire me. There is a huge creative culture in San Jose, which includes a ton of street art and art museums. By blogging and taking photos around the city I have become connected to several of the local artists.
In August I hosted a scavenger hunt in Japantown, the Rose Garden, and Little Italy, each with many murals. I love these areas of the city since there such a history and culture.
By mural artist Roan Victor in Japantown behind Nichi Bei Bussan produced by Empire 7
While exploring Downtown San Jose I learned about the Panda Cafe and Bakery mural on 1st street off of San Fernando. It’s artist is Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang. I was really excited the first time that I found it. This mural takes a large portion of the block with different scenes of pandas in the city surrounded by bamboo. I featured this mural in the DIM Downtown Hunt in December and in my Valentines l Love SJ Hunt in February. Everyone really enjoyed taking fun photos in front of this bright and cheery mural in the middle of all the grit of Downtown San Jose.
Panda Cafe and Bakery mural by mural artists by Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang produced by P.M.B.Q
After hosting my last scavenger hunt in February Phoung-Mai “Mai” Blasich from P.MB.Q started to follow me on Instagram. She enjoyed my photos from the hunt and made comments about the photos of her Panda Mural. I was very flattered and excited since I have been admiring her work for over a year now. While following P.M.B.Q on Instagram, I found out that she had opened up a shop at the Moment pop-up shops right next-door to Fractal Flora, who participated in my last two hunts. I decided to stop by her shop and meet her in person. We really hit it off. She told me about her background in graphic design and Anime art and showed me all of her art and merchandise in her shop. We chatted for awhile and she let me take photos for my blog. Unfortunately the shop is only at Moment until the end of March. I purchased my son a cute sticker, button pin, and stuffed panda bear as a souvenir, since he is also a big fan of her art. Next Saturday on March 16th P.M.B.Q will be celebrating National Panda Day with a fun event at her Moment pop-up shop. Come by and check it out!
P.M.B.Q Moment pop-up shop
On my last three scavenger hunts I also featured the artists Lila Gemellos. On my Historic Downtown San Jose Hunt I included her bicycle mural in the Rose Garden. On the DIM Downtown Hunt and I Love SJ Hunt I featured her SoFA Mural in the SoFA District of Downtown San Jose. I have been been a fan of her work for awhile. She even painted a mural in my neighborhood recently. During my DIM Downtown Hunt I purchased her souvenir cards of the Hotel De Anza that I gave out as a gift. She is very involved in the creative culture of San Jose. During my I Love SJ Hunt as we were taking photos of her SoFA mural there were artists starting to prep the wall to paint over the mural. We were so lucky to get our last photos of her beautiful and bright SoFA mural before it disappeared.
A couple weeks later I brought my family over to where the SoFA mural used be and there were a bunch of artists that were commissioned for The 100 Block Mural Project painting individual murals on the same wall along with a new SoFA mural by Lila Gemllos. This project had 100 local mural artists create a piece of art on a 3-foot square, which has been grouped by color starting with neutrals, warm, and then ending in cool colors. It was really exciting and inspiring to see the artists in action adding more color to our wonderful artistic city!
The 100 Block Mural Project SoFA District San Jose
SoFA Mural by mural artist Lila Gemellos
Stay tuned for my next scavenger hunt in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo inspired by the artist Frida Kahlo called Viva La Vida San Jose. The hunt will be featuring The 100 Block Mural Project along with more colorful street art and will be filled with DIY creative experiences, delicious food, art, and fun!
Life Abundant in the Face of Death Imminent mural by tattoo artist Jim Miner at the De Anza Hotel