Orchid 
Artist Janelle Iglesias created Under the Same Sun/ Bajo el Mismo Sol, a site-specific artwork for San Ysidro as part of the City of San Diego’s public art initiative, here comes the neighborhood. Iglesias spent several months exploring the San Ysidro neighborhood and engaging with the community to develop her artwork concept.
Under the Same Sun/ Bajo el Mismo Sol is a poetic, text-based work resembling a sign, featuring lettering in Spanish and Spanglish to reflect the area’s demographic and its proximity to Tijuana.
The artist drew inspiration from Cypress Drive paseo, a growing arts corridor in San Ysidro that serves as a pedestrian route connecting the art centers at MoMita and the FRONT Gallery for Art and Culture to the Beyer Boulevard Trolley Station.
The artwork serves as an intentional, visual entrance to the paseo, drawing attention to and framing the walkway. Elevated off the ground, above the heads of pedestrians, the text can be viewed by pedestrians as well as passengers commuting on the trolley.
Due to its location near the trolley station, which transports people to and from the U.S.-Mexican border, the artwork creates a poetic and conceptual bridge both locally within the community and transnationally between San Ysidro and Tijuana. Iglesias intends for the artwork’s meaning to be open to interpretation; it can be seen as a call to action, a question, a poem, a play on words and translations, or perhaps a thought experiment. The artwork activates and frames the space, creates a meeting point and a gateway, usurps market-driven signage in urban spaces, and prompts viewers to look up into the sky.
This is an incredible piece that speaks to our bi-national region’s astonishing weather and bilingual culture. It deserves the People’s Choice Award!