Larry Conde, founder of SD Writerz, has spent years looking with friends for blank spaces to fill with murals. He wants to turn the Logan Heights arts district into what he calls a big, walking gallery.
Conde founded SD Writerz in 2019, and the group paints murals in Logan Heights, the newspaper reports. The San Diego Union-Tribune covered the group’s work in Logan Heights.
SD Writerz is a mural-painting group working in Logan Heights.
SD Writerz Brings Artists Together
Conde wants to turn the cultural arts district into a walking gallery.
Separately, Larry Conde and Olga Skubski are described as curators of the Logan Heights Art District's beautification efforts, organizing community painting parties and helping artists secure legal approval for projects, according to communitymural.loganheightscdc.org.
Conde has pointed to gentrification creeping in from downtown as a pressure on Logan Heights, a concern echoed by a separate report from Times of San Diego, which found that low land costs and proximity to downtown are drawing new residents and real estate development to neighboring Barrio Logan, raising questions about the future of its landmark murals.
From Chicano Park to a Comic-Con Prelude
SD Writerz has collaborated with Meeting of Styles for its San Diego event, the Union-Tribune reports.
Meeting of Styles' own event listing says its San Diego edition returned in partnership with MOS LA, SD Writerz and Wild Style Technicians, placing the gathering along Logan Avenue near Chicano Park — Meeting of Styles described it as the network's first San Diego visit in 21 years. The listing placed event activity on July 18–19, with a preview on July 22; San Diego Comic-Con International was scheduled for July 23–26. Spots were limited to 200 artists.
A similar youth-focused hub, Arts Park @ Chollas Creek — formerly known as Writerz Blok — offers more than 10,000 square feet of paintable walls along with classes in muralism, screen printing, urban art and DJ training, according to the San Diego Reader.
Public Art Spreading Beyond the Neighborhood's Core
Logan Heights' mural footprint has been expanding through other channels this year. A $270,000 project funded through Caltrans' Clean California Initiative has been transforming two neighborhood underpasses, with organizers telling 10News they hope the murals will also deter tagging in the area; the station reported the work was expected to wrap by the end of September with a ribbon-cutting planned for October.
A separate mural spanning the 30th Street pedestrian bridge connecting Barrio Logan and Logan Heights was folded into a broader Caltrans project covering five county bridges. That artwork, designed by Brisk One, runs the entire length of the bridge. In July, a large-scale mural honoring San Diego's African American and Chicano music legends and community leaders was also unveiled at the Clementine McDuff Elks Lodge in Logan Heights, according to KPBS.
Conde has been involved in Logan Heights mural work.
