Born in Denver, Benito, 59, was injured while on patrol in Iraq in 1983. After finding himself homeless after a failed marriage and the death of his second wife, who overdosed on heroin, he became a welder and lived in an SRO in downtown San Diego. Failing eyesight cost him that job and his housing but forced him to quit drugs and re-focus on his colorful sketch art. He met his current wife, Karen, around the same time. They live in a tent on an overpass close to downtown.
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Award-winning photojournalist Peggy Peattie has been telling the stories of the nation’s unhoused for more than 30 years, many of them here in town, where she teaches journalism at City College and San Diego State University.
“I have met healthcare professionals, teachers, artists, authors, skilled craftsmen and women, decorated war veterans, chefs, landscape designers, musicians, and entrepreneurs. For these artists, the motivation to paint, sing, draw, write, make jewelry or pottery or medicine bags brings them joy and elevates their existence above the demands of daily survival,” Peattie explains.
Artwork by Benito
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Unsurprisingly, what that looks like for people who are experiencing homelessness is a bit different: they don’t always have access to new or good supplies, requiring that much more resourcefulness and creativity, and, frequently, whatever supplies are amassed are stolen or lost to homeless sweeps conducted by the city.
Peattie says, “I hope these portraits remind readers of the importance of creativity and invites us all to stop and talk with the person living in a tent on the sidewalk we typically walk right past.”
More detail about these artists and the lives of many other unhoused San Diegans can be found on Peggy’s website, talesofthestreet.com.
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Henry, who lives in Balboa Park with his dog, Lulu, uses all sorts of different materials to paint and draw his creations. “In the ʼ90s, I met a lady who had been in a concentration. camp. She had old art of hers, and while in the camp, she used a feather to paint. So I learned that from her,” he explains. As a rule, Henry uses both hands, sometimes at once, just to see what kind of new textures and lines he can uncover.
Artwork by Henry
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Artwork by Henry
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Ceramicist Tad, who sells his wares every day in OB next to the beach with his pup in tow, lives in his van. Recently, he made a stunning string necklace of “teeth” sculpted from clay interspersed with quartz, crystal beads, and oxidized hematite bands.
Artwork by Tad
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Casper, 46, grew up in East L.A. and learned to draw by watching a friend of his mother’s paint murals. He doesn’t like spray paint – only pen and paper. “Everybody that I grew up with that was a mother figure to me is gone. If you grew up in the barrio, [it will] claim you at some point,” he says. He draws mostly women, including the Virgen de Guadalupe, because “women run everything. They’ve got their shit together.”
Artwork by Casper
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Jewelry maker Turtle uses wrapping techniques, working with “pure” elements like copper, crystals, and stones – he won’t use fake materials, saying it “despiritualizes” his work. “I can’t do that,” he says. “It’s just wrong. There’s a better way.” He gives much of what he makes as gifts – talismans to ward off evil on the streets.
Artwork by Turtle
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Mobyte, who is originally from Georgia, lives in a tent with his wife, Amy, downtown. They met at a Vegas bus stop. The next day, they stopped overnight at a motel, where he started singing. She videotaped him, and they’ve been together ever since. He wants to make a living with his music.
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Lorenzo is finishing up his final year at SDSU, after which, he hopes to start a community-oriented art gallery. He taught himself to paint during Covid, while at first bedding down with his parents in Imperial Beach. He lives in a house with roommates near campus these days but has been previously on the margins of having secure housing. He admits he doesn’t know what the future holds, especially with “how expensive everything has become.”
Artwork by Lorenzo
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Originally from New York, Daniel came to San Diego following a string of unsuccessful romantic relationships, because his sister lives and works in Chula Vista. Recently, he has been painting landscapes, Japanese swords, samurai, and traditional Japanese women’s clothing–he likes the 1700s-era Japanese wood carvings and the craftsmanship and dedication to perfection they require.
Artwork by Daniel
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Artwork by Daniel
Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Patrick makes medicine bags, quilts, and jewelry. He spent 24 years as a caseworker for both adults and youth experiencing homelessness in San Francisco but was forced out of his job during Covid, so he’s living here in his van and selling his artwork in OB. He says, “I want my art to outlast me when I’m gone. My art is my fossil footprint.”
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Photo Credit: Peggy Peattie
Voices of Our City Choir member Patricia performed the spoken word section of the choir’s America’s Got Talent audition back in 2020, becoming an instant internet sensation. A week later, she found affordable housing, thanks to the San Diego Housing Commission and the efforts of the choir.
