Same Old Paradise

Located in the largest lecture hall on the UC San Diego campus, legendary visual artist Alexis Smith's Same Old Paradise makes no small statements. Measuring 62 feet long, the monumental mural is packed with references to the adventures of Jack Kerouac in On the Road. But each of its mixed-media objects, located throughout the piece, tells a smaller story of its own.

The piece was originally installed in 1987 at the Brooklyn Museum, New York City. Smith was inspired by the piece to create her later Snake Path for the Stuart Collection. Smith promised the Stuart Collection that, if UC San Diego could ever find a place for it, she would donate Same Old Paradise to the campus. When Sixth College moved into the new North Torrey Pines neighborhood in 2021, a place was found.

Alexis Smith (1949-2024) was a groundbreaking conceptual artist who graduated from UC Irvine and whose work has been exhibited in dozens of solo exhibitions worldwide.