{"id":111456,"date":"2025-12-28T18:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/111456\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T18:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:15:09","slug":"our-5-most-popular-arts-stories-in-2025-a-painter-perseverance-and-petco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/111456\/","title":{"rendered":"Our 5 most popular arts stories in 2025 \u2013 a painter, perseverance and Petco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Times of San Diego is home to a bustling arts section, with weekly concert listings<\/a> and frequent theater reviews<\/a>. A neighborhood focus gives local artists a space to shine<\/a> while still promoting hometown heroes who made it big<\/a> and various visiting national creatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond artists themselves, we\u2019ve also done standout reporting on how local orgs are coping with funding cuts<\/a>, what a proposed downtown arts district<\/a> would look like and the private equity acquisition that left the historic Spreckels Theatre abandoned<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are the five articles that resonated most with you in 2025, gaining wide readership. Chula Vista had a particularly stellar year and of course La Jolla has a spot on the list. It also highlights the diverse range of the arts and your interest in it: We start with a painter and end with a musician.<\/p>\n

1. La Jolla painter Concetta Antico can see 100 million colors<\/p>\n

\"La<\/a>La Jolla painter Concetta Antico in her Salon of Art Gallery at 7655 Fay Ave. (Photo by Dave Schwab\/La Jolla Village News)<\/p>\n

Coastal reporter Dave Schwab starts us off with a look at impressionist oil painter Concetta Antico\u2019s new art gallery<\/a>. The artist and teacher has a rare condition: functioning tetrachromacy, which means she can see colors indistinguishable to those with normal vision. Most humans can see 1 million colors. She\u2019s the only known and scientifically confirmed working artist with an extra cone in each eye so she can see 100 million colors.<\/p>\n

2. Breathing new life into Chula Vista\u2019s historic Vogue Theater<\/p>\n

\"Vogue<\/a>The Vogue Theater at night from long ago, notice the marquee and what\u2019s playing. (Photo courtesy of the city of Chula Vista)<\/p>\n

Our resident history buff, Debbie Sklar, examined Chula Vista\u2019s cultural anchor, the Vogue Theater<\/a>, which opened in 1945 to postwar optimism. But single-screen neighborhood theaters struggled as suburban multiplexes gained popularity. Vogue Theater closed in the 1980s but four decades later, the city of Chula Vista is working on reopening its community gathering center, this time as a flexible performing arts venue.<\/p>\n

3. Chula Vista\u2019s Jessica Sanchez wins \u2018America\u2019s Got Talent\u2019<\/p>\n

Contributing editor Elizabeth Ireland brings us the 20-year story of Chula Vista native Jessica Sanchez<\/a>, who debuted on the \u2018America\u2019s Got Talent\u2019 stage during its first season when she was just 10 years old. The Filipina musician was later a runner up on \u201cAmerican Idol.\u201d Now at 30, she was back on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d and finally clinched the title, winning a $1 million prize and a headlining slot at AGT Live in Las Vegas \u2013 all while nine months pregnant.<\/p>\n

4. YOUtopia is San Diego\u2019s mini Burning Man<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>An art installation at the 2024 YOUtopia. (Photo courtesy YOUtopia)<\/p>\n

Contributor Hoa Quach highlighted an event in Jacumba<\/a> this year which let locals dip their toe into what Burning Man is like. For those who can\u2019t commit to nine days in the desert at the flagship event, this regional five-day campout brought local artists and makers to craft a similar sensory adventure. Attendees saw art installations and participated in sound camps while building fellowship.<\/p>\n

5. A vulnerable Teddy Swims wins over San Diego <\/p>\n

\"Teddy<\/a>Teddy Swims in concert at Gallagher Square. (Photo by Donovan Roche\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Back in July, Teddy Swims sang to a devoted crowd at Petco Park\u2019s Gallagher Square with an 8-piece band rocking custom Padres jerseys. Music writer Donovan Roche was in attendance and delivered this review which highlighted Swims\u2019 tender, warm and authentic stage presence<\/a>. The genre-bending Atlanta crooner has seen a meteoric rise but still connected with the huge crowd, appearing genuinely moved when he found out a couple was engaged. Roche had more on Swims\u2019 musical chops and roots as a cover artist on YouTube.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Times of San Diego is home to a bustling arts section, with weekly concert listings and frequent theater…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[13014,9974,59771,930,74,76,75,59772,40395,4688],"class_list":{"0":"post-111456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-burning-man","9":"tag-chula-vista","10":"tag-concetta-antico","11":"tag-la-jolla","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego-news","15":"tag-teddy-swims","16":"tag-vogue-theater","17":"tag-youtopia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}