Downtown San DiegoArt + Design
The unfolding story of civic partners, one shared vision, and a movement to place art and design at the center of downtown's next chapter.
The premise
Downtown San Diego's Civic Center presented a generational question: could an aging civic core become a place that belongs to everyone? The response brought the Downtown San Diego Partnership, Prebys Foundation, and the City of San Diego together around a broader idea of renewal.
Not simply rebuilding property, but creating a downtown shaped by art, design, public life, and belonging.
The journey
This living timeline will continue to grow as new partners, decisions, milestones, and creative actions shape the district together.
The foundation
Prebys Foundation commits funding for a new Civic Center revitalization blueprint. The Downtown San Diego Partnership, alongside the City of San Diego, manages the effort and brings civic, community, and creative voices into the conversation.
The process
U3 Advisors leads research, technical analysis, and community engagement. The work expands the definition of revitalization: from a real-estate question into a public-life question.
The reveal
The Civic Center revitalization vision is unveiled, imagining a mixed-use civic district with workplaces and art, and a renewed City Hall at its heart.
The assets
Downtown's performing arts venues, architecture and design institutions, galleries, studios, and creative businesses reveal the opportunity to connect and leverage the assets already here.
The appointment
Dedicated arts leadership is brought into the work. Jonathon Glus is appointed to help translate a broad civic vision into a focused strategy for an Art + Design District.
The coalition
A committee of art and design professionals, creative leaders, and field experts is established to turn ambition into collective action and define the district from the inside out.
The endorsement
The City Center Business Improvement District board and the Downtown San Diego Partnership Board of Directors endorse the Art + Design District, adding formal backing from downtown business and civic leadership.
The movement
The work moves into downtown through affordable office and studio space, support for small creative businesses, streetscape enhancements, collective arts marketing, product development, and creative business recruitment.
The opportunity
The District is working with property owners to expand affordable artist work and live space, presentation venues, pop-up creative businesses, and incubation and accelerator programs.
What comes next
From establishing the District's identity to inviting temporary creative interventions, these opportunities will make the shared vision visible across downtown.
Submissions closed
Submissions are closed for the Art + Design District's branding project, covering its identity, visual language, and foundational brand strategy.
View archived RFP ↗
Now open · Call for proposals
Art + Design District, Downtown San Diego
The Art + Design District is inviting artists, designers, landscape architects, urban planners, environmental designers, makers, fabricators, curators, creative studios, and multidisciplinary teams from San Diego County and Tijuana to propose temporary creative interventions within the Art + Design District in Downtown San Diego.
Selected projects will receive project awards to support temporary activations across storefronts, façades, streets, windows, sidewalks, vacant spaces, and other public-facing environments. Opportunities include storefront and pop-up activations, murals, light-integrated design, urban greening and landscape interventions, and site-specific art and urban interventions.
Proposal deadline:
Questions: Please contact Dany de Leon at [email protected].
Following phase
Bring the identity into the district through communications, digital experiences, wayfinding, signage, and visible creative interventions.
Continuing
New milestones and actions will be added as the District's partners continue shaping the work together.
The district today
The Art + Design District is home to San Diego's major performing arts venues as well as a growing number of creative businesses including design and communications firms, contemporary art galleries and artist studios.
In downtown's civic core, the District is anchored by New School for Architecture & Design, Jacobs Symphony Hall, the Civic Theatre and Balboa Theatre and House of Blues.
What guides the work
Create places where people feel invited to gather, linger, and participate.
Let artists, designers, institutions, and communities shape the district together.
Use early creative actions to build momentum while long-term plans take form.