With Taiko drummers and a hip-hop dance crew from a local high school, the Convoy District unveiled a mural Thursday night that was meant to highlight the area as the next culinary and arts hub in San Diego.
The mural was painted on the side Cross Street Chicken and Beer restaurant, one of the newest restaurants in the multicultural neighborhood filled with Asian eateries. The mural is of a rooster clutching a beer mug with the phrase “Made in San Diego” underneath and on the left side is a simple arch that reads “Welcome to Convoy.”
The arch is painted red, which is considered to be an auspicious color for many Asian cultures, and the design of the arch is vaguely oriental, reflecting the many Asian businesses in the area.
“Convoy needs recognition, we need an arch,” Cross Street owner Nam Nguyen said before the unveiling of the arch. “At least if University Heights, Hillcrest and North Park, all these places in San Diego — which amazing — have a signature arch, I think we do too.”
It’s something that the Convoy District is working closely with San Diego City Councilman Chris Cate, who was there for the unveiling, to achieve, Nguyen said.
“There are a lot of amazing things we are doing in Convoy but we couldn’t it without the support of our small business owners,” Cate said.
The process to get an arch, however, is a long one. So for now, the painted arch will have to do, Nguyen said.
The aim of the mural project is to bring more art to the blossoming Convoy District, a business district that spans Convoy Street from Aero Drive to Clairemont Mesa Boulevard.
“This mural is more than just a cool spot to now take photos in the Convoy District,” Convoy District special events director Lauren Garces said. “It’s the start of a movement to build and highlight the wonderful, diverse flavor of the neighborhood.”
The mural was the first project of its kind for artist España Garcia Feucht. A graduate of UC San Diego, Feucht is an art historian as well as a community activist.
“I had no idea it was going to be this big and there was going to be so much support,” she said of the crowd that gathered for the unveiling.