Culture Report: Creative DNA

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I think anyone who reads this here Culture Report agrees art is wonderful and science rules. I don’t need to watch a televised debate to come to that conclusion. So when those two wonderful things get together, the results are often game-changing.

That’s why the DNA of Creativity project from the San Diego Visual Arts Network is so great. Artists creating work that changes how we interact with the scientific world around us are awarded sizable grants to pursue their ideas.

One of them is Urban Succession, which CityBeat told us creates public art pieces that house rodents, skunks, raccoons and other creatures. That should be a nice change for these furry little buggers, who usually set up shop in your garbage cans and nightmares.

Another grant recipient is SD View Art Now, a smartphone app that helps you locate art events near you, like Tinder for those seeking one-night-art-stands. There’s also PAMM, a series of sculptures inspired by the nine muses that make up a mapping cube. And we already told you about Sea Changes: Act, which incorporates endangered sea life in artwork, back in December.

To see these pieces and learn more about the project, go to Oceanside Museum of Art on Saturday, April 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. for a mega reception celebrating the works in progress.

You’re reading the Culture Report, Voice of San Diego’s weekly collection of the region’s cultural news.

Cool Public Art, Art Prize Winners and More Visual Art News

• The Los Angeles Times marveled at San Diego’s super cool public art pieces, including the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, Chicano Park and the Murals of La Jolla. No mention of my lifelong performance art public installation, “Eating McDonald’s in My Car,” though. Bummer.

• Del Mar experimental art and performance space A Ship in the Woods opened up a new storefront. Neato!

• And the winners of the San Diego Art Prize are …

• Mingei International Museum has a new board member hailing from New York. Welcome!

• It’s a colorful life for autistic artist Joel Anderson. (U-T)

• A group of graffiti artists is dispelling the negative stereotypes surrounding the art form and giving artists an opportunity to work without threat of police intervention. (U-T)

• Art Alive returns to the San Diego Museum of Art to bring beautiful floral interpretations of the museum’s masterworks, and many special events that coincide with the special exhibition. Sorry, no dogs playing poker in chrysanthemums.

Springfest, Asian Sketch Comedy and More Music and Performance Bites

• Springfest is under way and bringing great jazz and experimental concerts to UC San Diego’s Conrad Prebys Hall and various venues around town. Check the schedule for concert listings, which all sound pretty radical.

• A review of one of San Diego Opera’s possible last performance ever. Apparently there were some boos. What would Frasier Crane say about this?

• Bill Shannon pops, locks and breaks his way into your dance-loving heart in the most punk way possible. Check him out Thursday and Friday at The White Box.

• A theatrical sketch comedy show that’s centered on the Asian experience? Yeah, I’ll bite.

• The Intrepid Shakespeare Company tackles “All My Sons,” though I wish it was “Sanford and Son” or “My Two Dads.” But OK, I’ll take another classic from The Bard.

• “Red,” a play about artist Mark Rothko, apparently rocks. Check it out.

Even More Opera Drama, Conan and More Culture Crumbles

• KPBS has been on top of the San Diego Opera coverage, providing all the deets of the institution’s drama and fate. Some of the latest news is that it received a $1 million gift from a board member. Even so, there’s still much hand-wringing and slow progress regarding its future. Ay Dios mio.

• And what about the opera’s set builders? (U-T)

• Wait, Ian Campbell could walk away with how much?? (Reader)

• CityBeat staffers came up with a few ideas for fixing the Balboa Park Centennial. As a former staffer (and current columnist), I’d like to throw an idea into the ring. Two words: drinking hammocks.

• If there’s one thing that makes my nerd boner explode, it’s the news that Conan O’Brien is filming episodes of his late-night talk show at Spreckels Theatre during Comic-Con in 2015.

• The New York Times caught wind of one of San Diego’s greatest treasures: Slomo!

• A retired San Diego 911 operator wrote a book detailing some of the weirdest/funniest/most interesting stories from her days staffing the emergency hotline. (KPBS)

• Local author and columnist (he writes the awesome book column The Floating Library for CityBeat) Jim Ruland helped pen a biography for crab fisherman Scott Campbell Jr., of the reality show “Deadliest Catch.” He talked about the experience with the U-T.