Girls Night Out

There’s a good chance you’ve spotted Allison Hunsley’s sizable murals and other artwork around town, perhaps at One of Us Bar or Brickhouse Apartments in North Park, Slowly Restaurant & Bar in Pacific Beach, or Mary’s Salads in Ocean Beach. Or maybe you’ve seen her live painting at an event like last year’s Del Mar Food & Wine Fest or Ballast Point’s The Art of Beer. A Pacific Beach resident, Hunsley lands clients through word of mouth and Instagram inquiries—businesses and individuals asking her to come paint on the side of their building or help beautify their space with a mural.

Hunsley uses both acrylic and spray paint in her work, often blending the two together. Observers especially like watching her spray paint in action during live painting events, where she makes freestanding murals and canvases while strangers walk by and make comments.

We interviewed Hunsley about her art career, live painting with a crowd watching, and the rigors of painting massive murals (our fingers are cramping just thinking about it). Here’s what she had to say. 

How did you get your start in the art world and become a professional artist?

I always knew I wanted to be an artist ever since I could hold a pencil. When I said I wanted to be an artist, people told me it was a better hobby than a job. I didn’t have many examples of people close to me in Minnesota who were doing it full-time, so I just made small commissions at first. I was always really into drawing and was in all the art classes in high school, where people started having me draw tattoos for them or paint small family member things.

Later in high school, I started winning a few awards and gaining a bit more confidence and recognition. From one of those awards, I got a scholarship for a summer program at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where I did three weeks in a painting course. That was the first time I ever fully painted, so it was a crash-course in learning to paint. I fell in love with it.

I went to college at the University of Minnesota for product design. It was a good mix of art and engineering—because I’ve always loved math, too—and I thought it was a more realistic career where I could still use my creativity. While in school, I was still making art on the side for people, and my Instagram was getting a little traction. It was the summer after my first year of college when I was at a coffee shop and found an old bucket list I made, and one of the bullets said: paint a public mural. 

So I opened my laptop and sent an email to a few local businesses. One antique shop got back to me immediately and said they’d love for me to come paint on their building. It was a very steep learning curve and initially I had no idea what I was doing, but eventually I figured it out and loved it. The community loved it, too, so from there things slowly started ramping up. I got a few community grants and then started juggling mural painting with school—to the point where I was showing up to class covered in paint and going back to paint in between classes. I was trying to juggle it all and slowly realized I could make money with it. I knew if I graduated, I would still only want to do murals. So I took a leap of faith and left school to pursue art full time starting in December 2019.

What brought you to San Diego?

My friend and I started traveling around the country to figure out where we wanted to live. I didn’t want to be in the Midwest forever where it’s far too cold, which makes mural painting really hard. When it got too cold there, I’d have to blow-dry the paint as I go. We kind of stumbled upon San Diego—I had never been here before, and we were only planning on staying for a few months… but four years later we never left.

It was a pleasant surprise coming somewhere with a year-round window so I don’t have to think about my paint freezing. It was kind of tricky starting over when I got here because I didn’t have a clientele built up. I walked around with business cards throughout Pacific Beach and La Jolla and slowly built a bit of a network. After landing my first project here in California, I remember jumping up and down excited.

How is the painting experience different when you’re working on a massive mural versus a smaller canvas?

You’re watching your hand paint all day without necessarily seeing the full piece always come together. I do a lot of painting and then take 10 steps back to look at the wall, then come back to make a tweak. It’s almost like a fun surprise sometimes because I’m breaking it down into smaller pieces and being more strategic about color blocking, and then standing back and seeing how it’ll all come together. When you’re working small, you’re working the whole scene and it’s a lot more technical.

Certain projects require more manual labor, especially the big outdoor ones. I’ve worked on boom lifts and scissor lifts, which was another fun learning curve that I didn’t expect when I first got into this. I can be navigating a lift, climbing up and down ladders all day, or on a job site fully working in dirt and wearing a hard hat and yellow vest. If I’m wearing a respirator outside working with spray paint, it’s a very intensive process. It’s also a lot of my body being put in positions that it maybe doesn’t want to be in… definitely a lot of arm soreness and back straining.

The largest mural I’ve ever painted was about 1,200-1,500 square feet. Most of my mural projects take between one to seven days, usually about four days depending on how big and detailed they are.

On one of my first-ever jobs when I was about 20 years old, I was working in a dark warehouse so I was super nervous because I was projecting at night before virtual reality was really a thing. So my mom would come and sleep in a lawn chair with me so that I wasn’t out there by myself.

How does live painting with an audience compare to painting in your studio?

When I first started doing murals, I was super anxious about people watching me paint because all paintings go through the ugly phase. I was so embarrassed and would want to tell everyone walking by “It’s going to look so much better when it’s done, I promise!” So it’s funny that now I’m doing live painting. Through murals, I learned that people loved watching them come together. In a way the murals felt like live paintings.

Depending on the event, a live painting can last anywhere from two hours to a multiple-day installation. I’m definitely feeding off the energy of the crowd and I love hearing people’s comments. I think people are a little hesitant and I can see them get confused about why I put a certain color down somewhere, and then slowly they watch it come together. I think it shows people to trust the process and it’s fun because you’re working a lot faster. I find myself being less meticulous, more free-flowing and social. It feels more energetic, quick, and fun versus being a bit more perfectionist in my studio.

What are some of your most favorite projects you’ve worked on recently?

I’ve done a few Boys & Girls Clubs up the coast now. I just got hired for a really big Boys & Girls Club mural in Santa Monica, which was a really fun one because we had the students all help. Murals like that are really fulfilling—directly watching young kids feel inspired and see that art and creativity is a path and can be a career.

When I was younger, I never really saw any muralists or full-time artists. So it’s been really cool to listen to some of the kids tell me they want to be an artist when they’re older. I watch them light up while putting paint on a wall—which is something they’re told not to do in day-to-day life—and then see it come together. They look at the concept at the beginning and it’s super daunting and they don’t think they can do it. But when we do it piece by piece as a group, it’s really cool to see their reactions at the end and know they had a hand in it—and that it’ll live there forever. They’re always so proud to show their parents and friends.

I also did live painting at a Jonas Brothers concert which was awesome. I love live music and was a big concert goer when I was younger. It was really cool to see how art and music can play together. I feel like people at live concerts tend to have an extra appreciation for art and music, so I found that crowd to be really excited and involved. It was definitely one of my favorite projects I’ve ever done.

I did a baby nursery recently, which was a lot of fun. It’s interesting working in people’s homes and going off of the vibe, knowing that they’re going to live with it and be so close to it. I want it to be perfect and feel like it belongs naturally in their space.

Why do you think arts and culture is so important to a city like San Diego?

I feel like buildings have gotten more muted… everything has turned more beige. We have to actively fight to bring more color, uniqueness, and joy to our spaces. The whole mission of art is to literally bring brightness and leave the world a better, more beautiful place. It directly impacts everyone’s mental health and helps build community. A small community grant is actually how I got my first-ever paid mural (the antique shop I did for free). That grant really kicked off my career and changed the trajectory of things.  

Photos Courtesy of Allison Hunsley

September is San Diego’s unofficial second summer—the crowds thin, the weather stays warm, and the city’s calendar somehow gets even busier. This month brings stadium-sized rock shows, Broadway’s buzziest comedy, a new anime convention, world-premiere theater, gallery openings, food festivals, and the first signs of spooky season. Whether you’re ready to lean into fall or determined to keep summer going, here are the best things to do in San Diego this September.

Concerts & Festivals | Theater & Art Exhibits | More Fun Things to Do

Concerts & Festivals in San Diego This Month

9/2 

As Guns N’ Roses storm into decade five, their appetite for destruction persists. During their Snapdragon Stadium concert, hear the hard rock anthems, new material and a set from The Black Crowes.

9/23

Kehlani is proof that the romance and earnest sensuality of old-school R&B will never go out of style. Hear her take it back to the aughts at Viejas Arena.

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Theater & Art Exhibits in San Diego This Month

9/6-10/11

From the silver screen to The Old Globe stage, John Carney will Begin Again (again) with a world premiere musical adaptation featuring new songs—courtesy of Train—and a story overflowing with hope. 

9/12-10/17 

The concept of work is a guiding principle for San Diego native and multidisciplinary creative noé olivas. Observe his community-informed approach via Tierra y Cielo (Earth and Sky) at Best Practice Gallery. 

9/18-10/25 

Two workers grapple with the weight of their roles at a temporary migrant shelter in Mario Vega’s world premiere play Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center, set for citywide performances. 

9/26-2/28/2027

Luminous visions of peace and the Punjabi-American roots of Rupinder Kaloti inform The Gathering, a wondrous unification of family foretold via paintings at Oceanside Museum of Art. 

9/29-10/4 

It’s Mary Todd Lincoln’s world and we’re just living in it. See the presidential paramour barrel to her way to stardom at the Civic Theatre during Oh, Mary!, Cole Escola’s political spoof. 

More Fun Things to Do in San Diego This Month

9/5 & 9/6

Pros and Con(vention)s: Anime San Diego will debut at the San Diego Convention Center with cosplayers, panels and more than 400 vendors well-versed in Japanese animation.

9/11-10/31 

Scaredy cats beware: SeaWorld San Diego’s Howl-O-Scream embraces frights forged in darkness. Enjoy an ominous lineup of live shows, scare zones and bloody bars ahead of Halloween. 

9/12

The best parts of Artivál and the Alley Cat Art Walk have united for the free Alley Cat Art Fest, an all-day outing for live music and immersive artwork in Downtown El Cajon.

9/12 & 9/13 

Take a Grecian vacation for a fraction of the price during the annual Cardiff Greek Festival, two days of immersive cuisine and culture—with plenty of dancing—on the Encinitas coast.

9/13-9/20

Step away from the stove! The California Restaurant Association has eight days of eating experiences with your name on it. During San Diego Restaurant Week, explore by meal, neighborhood or cuisine for your personal dining plan. 

9/16 

Nourish yourself with an all-inclusive spread of Pacific Beach eats and locally-crafted artwork during the HeArt of PB Restaurant Walk on Garnet Avenue.

9/19 

When it comes to stand-up comedy, Chelsea Handler is always ready to roast. See Handler tell anecdotes and skewer an assemblage of victims during her Balboa Theatre performance. 

Ramona Rodeo

Meet some rodeo queens (or be crowned as one yourself) in R-Town’s annual celebration of the Wild West. Three days of mutton bustin’, tie-down roping, and barrel racing are all doing the community some good: Proceeds from the event funnel into local organizations like Ramona Town Hall and the Guy B. Woodward Museum. This month marks the 45th annual Ramona Rodeo, which takes place in the Fred Grand Arena and draws more than 12,000 attendees each year.

Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off

For nearly half a century, OB has hosted a chili cooking competition that has drawn thousands of hungry locals. (Buzz Cannabis presented this year’s event, so taste testers could have been under the influence of munchies-enhancing drugs.) Non-chili-related street fair festivities include beachfront live music, Fun Zone family-friendly play areas, and a Dirty Birds wing-eating contest.

Chicano Park Day

In 1970, Chicano Park was set to become a California Highway Patrol station. The problem: The city had promised a community park in that area. After decades of development fractured Barrio Logan and displaced thousands of families, Chicano locals were tapped out. So, for 12 days, locals occupied the area under the Coronado Bridge, blocking bulldozers and planting cacti. It worked. Construction stopped, and that area is now Chicano Park. Each year, locals celebrate the successful preservation of Chicano Park and the resilience of the Chicano Movement.

Fiesta del Sol

Solana Beach gathers at Fletcher Cove Park at the start of each summer for two days of live music ranging from country to pop to Chicano rock, plus an arts and crafts fair, an international food court, a beer and wine garden, and the Solana Beach Firefighters Association’s pancake breakfast. The event is free, but if you want an elevated experience, grab Seaside Pavilion ($75) or VIP Deck ($160) tickets for reserved seating, private cash bars, exclusive restrooms, and discounted swag.

North Park Music Fest

The entire North Park neighborhood hosts an annual music festival, meaning a dozen venues—from Queen Bee’s to Bacari to North Park Community Park—become live music spaces each June. Some locations are open to the public, but if you’d prefer lounge access at Granada House and line-skipping privileges, check out the $65 VIP passes. General admission otherwise starts at $25.

Lemon Festival

It’s weird if you don’t wear a lemon-themed outfit at Chula Vista’s annual Lemon Festival. For one day each August, Third Avenue pays tribute to the city’s former “Lemon Capital of the World” status with live music, citrus-themed photo ops, arts and crafts vendors, a lemon cook-off competition, and plenty of other food that doesn’t include the famed hesperidium. But who would want that at Lemon Fest?

What the hell just happened?

That was the question on loop in my head as I sat, nearly catatonic, watching my chickens scratch and crap, from a chair on my patio. It was the first Monday after dropping my one and only at college on the other side of the country. I was tired to the bone and in shock. Eighteen-plus years of permission slips, math homework, Barbie play (ugh), carpooling—my God, the carpooling—and a teenager who, for four years and counting, communicated almost exclusively through side-eye and not-so-under-the-breath clapbacks. Parenting is insanity, and when it stops, it feels so good and so bad all at once.

I won’t linger on my personal recovery here, except to say: Part of moving on is dealing with that empty room. What do we parents do with the utensil vortex, and more importantly, when do we do it?

My daughter’s room sat for two years like a forgotten museum exhibit, preserved—not because I was sentimental, but because my husband was. While he didn’t want her to feel erased when she came home, I wanted to expunge her Totoro-meets-Pepto-Bismol gray-and-pink aesthetic, the sports jerseys, the inspirational stick-on decals from Etsy, the bazillion discarded beauty products that didn’t make it into the blue duffel bags.

But with no will to fight, I focused on myself and let the shrine exist while I worked out some big feelings.

My metamorphosis took a while, but I built a new, brilliantly free, empty-nest life. No more driving hundreds of miles a week, no more bleachers, no more ref whistles reverberating in my dreams. I reclaimed myself, then I hired a professional to help me reclaim my kid’s bedroom.

EBSCO’s Research Starters series says that “empty nest syndrome” is a real, if not clinical, diagnosis—no chart line, no billing code. Just a recognized experience of grief, loneliness, and diminished purpose that can take up to a year to resolve.

Creating a Sanctuary

I turned to Treci Smith of Treci Smith Designs because I loved what she did with her son’s bedroom. (Full disclosure: She’s a friend.) After several interrupted attempts at reimagining the room, she designed a den for her husband, Amir. The couple, married 32 years, raised four kids in their four-bedroom ranch home in Bonita, and over the years, the kids switched rooms and pairings countless times.

The house Tetris continued as each child went off to college. But when their youngest left, his bedroom atrophied. It became a haphazard office and, for one stubborn stretch, nothing at all. A purgatory.

“We wanted to utilize every room in our house,” Smith says, “not letting it be a room that just sits empty.” She finally made a plan to evict purgatory, but the pandemic hit, and all four kids moved back home. It took a while longer before the room was finally hers to play with.

What Smith created in its place is magic. It feels like a speakeasy. Dark, moody, and deliberately masculine, the den looks like how sandalwood and musk would smell if they took physical form. It’s got a bar cart, Amir’s cigars, a speaker, a desk for his real estate research, and French doors that open to a courtyard and pool.

“When we think of meditation, we think of light and airy,” Smith says, rejecting that there’s only one way to create calm. “It’s a sanctuary. It’s a place where the rest of the world doesn’t really feel like it exists.”

Smith doesn’t talk about trends. “I think everything has to have a purpose, and not just to be magazine-ready,” she says. “So I ask clients, ‘How do you want to feel in this space?’”

For my project, Smith isn’t interested in erasing the past so much as spotlighting it. As she guides me in reimagining my kid’s former room, she’s pushing back on my urge to wipe the kid out of it entirely. “I don’t want her to feel like she’s been pushed out of the house, essentially,” she says. “The room is now functioning for other purposes, but it’s still hers.”

She pulls a painting of my daughter off the wall in another part of the house for use in the new space. She also caught sight of a planed section of a pantry door from our last house, which has my daughter’s height marks in my handwriting, climbing as she grew. “Grab that,” she tells me. “It has to go in.”

That’s not just decoration. It’s continuity.

From Playroom to Paycheck

For years, the biggest room in Melissa Gaviria’s Rancho Peñasquitos house was a shared bedroom and playroom for her two kids—absorbing blocks, toys, and balls that, with impressive consistency, never made it into the ball pit. As the kids grew, the room saw less use, then emptied out entirely: Her older child moved out, her younger one moved upstairs.

Gaviria tried turning it into an office, but “that was just one little corner of a whole big room,” she says. When a coworker converted part of a house into an Airbnb-ready ADU, Gaviria was inspired.

She hired award-winning designer Jen Guerin of JG Color Studios to create a junior ADU. It’s technically attached to the house but is functionally its own unit, with a French-door entrance on the side so guests never have to walk through the home’s main living space.

Gaviria didn’t wait until both kids were gone to build her nest egg (the unit pays her mortgage, and she rents the whole house in the summer and travels). The kids were 14 and 10 when construction started, and she gave them markers and crayons for one last pass at the walls. I ask whether she left any of their artwork as an homage. She laughs, “I can’t rent with a Godzilla on the wall.”

I beg to differ there.

Guerin pulled from Gaviria’s Colombian background, incorporating blues and a deep burnt orange as nods to home.

Guerin, who’s designed dozens of these transitions over 20 years, says most parents pivot more slowly than Gaviria. “It always starts with paint,” she says, “then flooring and slowly a replacement of all items.” But the instinct, fast or slow, is the same: “This chapter isn’t about erasing the family story. It’s about making room for the next one.”

Enveloped. Safe. At ease, creative, and a little bit sexy. I wanted an understated drama that didn’t match our minimalist, midcentury design elsewhere in the house, but that matched the inside of my soul. I wanted dark and light, color and whimsy. I wanted to never want to get out of bed, and for guests to feel that too.

Another parameter: I had a tight budget. I mean, let’s be real about the economy, right? Smith guided me toward a dark paint my husband and I put on ourselves, then sourced used and vintage pieces to go with the bed and other accoutrements we already had, and mixed in a few new pieces from Ikea—like the two-tone green speaker lamp. She nudged me not to erase my kid entirely, so I dug through boxes of ephemera in the garage, framed some old artwork, and tucked a few other mementos away for discovery, should someone look closely.

Most guests won’t notice. They’ll just sink into the bed and not want to leave, which is the whole point. But if you know where to look, my ladybaby is still in there—she’s just not running the place.

We’re officially in the heat wave portion of the summer, meaning evening outings, museum trips, and time spent along the coast will all come in handy this week. Free outdoor activities throughout SD include the 20th annual LeucadiART Walk as well as the first-ever Little Saigon Night Market. Admirers of live music and musical theater can check out concerts at The Conrad, The Rady Shell, Petco Park, and more, along with the Carnaval of New Latinx Musicals. Plus, soccer fans can see games featuring the San Diego Wave and San Diego FC.

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Food & Drink Events in San Diego This Weekend

Little Saigon Night Market

August 29

This Saturday from 5-10 p.m. at Pop-Up Winona, Nhu Y Restaurant and the El Cajon Boulevard BIA invite all to enjoy live music, indulge in cold drinks and sizzling hot entrees, and kick off the inaugural Little Saigon Night Market. During this free event, attendees can purchase a range of Vietnamese culinary specialties, such as iced Vietnamese coffee, sugarcane juice, and shrimp, beef, pork, and squid straight off the fire.

4951 El Cajon Boulevard, City Heights

Cabrillo Under the Stars

August 29

Head to the southernmost edge of Point Loma and wear your best ‘60s/’70s attire during Cabrillo Under the Stars. This year marks seven decades since the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation’s advocacy began, with this 21-plus fundraiser serving as its annual cornerstone event. This Saturday from 6:30-9 p.m., guests can contribute to Cabrillo’s ongoing landmark legacy, enjoy live music from That Beatles Cover Band, and sample food, beer, wine, and mocktail tastings from 15 local purveyors. Ticket options include general admission ($170) and premium seating ($500), which comes with exclusive seating and complimentary goodies.

1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, Point Loma

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Concerts & Festivals in San Diego This Weekend

SummerFest Closing Weekend

August 27-29

The La Jolla Music Society’s 40th annual SummerFest will conclude with a piano tribute, famed composer selections and a trio-filled finale. This Thursday (7 p.m.), pianist Brad Mehldau and a talented ensemble will perform his Ride into the Sun album, paying homage to folk legend Elliott Smith; tickets start at $65. Then, on Friday (7 p.m.), musicians will engage with works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Vaughan Williams and more during Conversation Across Centuries; tickets range from $40-$99. Finally, SummerFest will take one last bow on Saturday (7 p.m.) with Finale: Rule of Three, a nod to the power of musical trios; tickets range from $90-$125.

Balboa Theatre: 868 Fourth Avenue, Gaslamp | The Conrad: 7600 Fay Avenue, La Jolla

San Diego Symphony Orchestra Concerts at The Rady Shell

August 28 & 30

This weekend, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra will anchor a pair of visually and audibly stimulating performances at The Rady Shell. On Friday (7:30 p.m.), audiences can watch Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with a live rendition of Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer’s adventurous score, including its ultra-triumphant theme; tickets range from $57-$124 for this performance. The orchestra will finish off the weekend with a firework-laden tribute to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, featuring pianist Joyce Yang, on Sunday (7:30 p.m.); tickets range from $45-$129 for the annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular.

222 Marina Park Way, Embarcadero

Muse at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre

August 29

For British alternative rock trio Muse, outer space has been a longtime area of fascination, most notably on their 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations. But their newest project, June’s The Wow! Signal, was not just an excuse to sing about aliens, galaxies, and futurist anxieties, it was also a form of “catharsis” for lead singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy, who wrote the album in the aftermath of his divorce. This Saturday (7 p.m.), Muse will headline an evening of alternative rock at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, with Portugal. The Man and The Temper Trap as opening acts. Tickets start at $70 for this concert.

2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista

My Chemical Romance at Petco Park

August 30

On their legendary 2006 album The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance found jubilant irony in painful death. Twenty years on, they’ve reimagined the album’s concept, with its bleak pop-punk sound now accompanying a defiant story set under the fictional authoritarian regime of Draag. The whole atmosphere is completed with costumes, lyrical alterations, a detailed narrative, and seismic performances of the full album, along with an assortment of other hits. This Sunday (7 p.m.), the band’s Long Live the Black Parade tour will head to Petco Park with kawaii metal trio Babymetal as special guests. Tickets start at $74 for this concert.

100 Park Boulevard, Downtown