Get ready to paint the town red, blue and every color of the rainbow this ARTober! San Luis Obispo is celebrating Arts & Humanities Month all October long with some incredibly creative events, a new musical installation in Mission Plaza in the heart of downtown, and a grand-prize giveaway you won’t want to miss.
The city of SLO has a thriving arts and culture community, from live performances and concerts to numerous public and private galleries and museums to a robust collection of more than 100 pieces of public art on display 24-7 throughout the city. San Luis Obispo loves color and creativity, and ARTober is all about celebrating that!
With art and culture at every turn, there’s a little something for everyone to enjoy this ARTober. Let this handy guide serve as both your calendar and map, leading you around all the different ways you can make the most of ARTober in SLO.
Piano in the Plaza
You’ll find the centerpiece of ARTober – or maybe we should say masterpiece – right in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo in Mission Plaza. Our new Piano in the Plaza installation features a colorfully painted piano that will live in the community gathering space all month long. We’ll invite pianists from the region to sit down and perform during ARTober, filling the plaza with beautiful music.
Want to step up and take a turn tickling the ivories yourself? By all means! Experts, beginners and just plain enthusiasts are welcome to make music, too. The Piano in the Plaza will be open to the public during regular downtown dining hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily.
Painted by Missy Reitner-Cameron, the Piano in the Plaza is as striking to look at as it is to listen to. We hope its colorful design strikes a chord with passersby!
Experience ARTober Giveaway
To encourage all you arts and humanities lovers out there to visit and take advantage of the incredible array of artistic experiences available to you in SLO, we’ve also planned a fun giveaway contest. All you have to do is enjoy art in our community this month, and the first 500 participants will get a free tote bag and will be entered to win our artfully crafted grand prize.
- A beautiful Karson Butler gift basket
- 4 tickets to SLO Repertory Theatre
- $200 gift card to the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center
- 2 tickets to the SLO Symphony
- $90 gift certificate to Anam Cre Pottery
- 2 Movie Star Passes for the SLO Film Fest
- Membership Package to SLOMA
![a couple plays near a sculpture in San Luis Obispo](https://visitslo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ArtsCulture_1080-1-1024x1024.jpg)
How to Enter & Win!
- Step 1: Visit at least three arts or cultural experiences in SLO between Oct. 1 and 31 and document it. Take a photo on your phone, keep a receipt, ticket stub or brochure, or show us some similar proof you visited. Consult the list of experiences below to get inspired.
- Step 2: Bring your documentation to the SLO Chamber Visitor Center at 895 Monterey St. downtown, and show us what you visited.
- Step 3: Receive a free ARTober tote bag, plus get entered to win the ultimate GRAND PRIZE!
![SLO County Arts](https://visitslo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/SLOCountyArts2-1024x819.jpg)
ARTober Experiences
So you know you need to visit at least three art or culturals experiences to enter our giveaway, but what does that mean? Well for one thing, they need to be in SLO, at Cal Poly or at Cuesta College to count. Other than that, get creative! There are so many ways to Experience ARTober. Here are some ideas:
- Play the Piano in the Plaza.
- Take a selfie with a piece of SLO public art.
- Go to a class at Art Central.
- See a concert or stand up comedy show at The Fremont.
- Attend an Open Studios Art Tour event, taking place at multiple locations in ARTober.
- Make a hat at Kate Kaney Hat Bar.
- Take a dance class at Nexus Ballroom Dance.
- Sign up for a pottery class at Anam Cre.
- Catch a performance of Nunsense, a musical at SLO Rep.
- Watch a classic film during SLO Rewind at the Downtown Centre Cinema, or catch an indie flick at Palm Theatre.
Visit a museum, gallery or cultural center, like:
Need even more ideas?
Here’s a week-by-week guide of creative events happening all month long.
OCTOBER 1 – 7
- Oct. 1: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 1: BENISE – Fiesta! at Fremont Theater
- Oct. 2: LAST DAY of SLOMA Vanessa Wallace-Gonzales Exhibition
- Oct. 4: Bobby McFerrin Concert at the PAC
- Oct. 4: Kurt Vile & the Violators Concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 4: SLO Rewind Scorsese Film Festival: Casino
- Oct. 5: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 5: Dirtwire Concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 5: Psychedelic Porn Crumpets Concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 5: My Time at SLO Children’s Museum
- Oct. 6: First Fridays at the SLOMA
- Oct. 6: Art after Dark
- Oct. 6: Brass Mash Concert at Liquid Gravity
- Oct. 6: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 6: Central Coast Railroad Festival
- Oct. 7: Central Coast Railroad Festival
- Oct. 7: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 7: SLO Symphony: No Ties Allowed Dress Rehearsals at the PAC
- Oct. 7: SLO Symphony: Symphonic Forays Discussion at the PAC
- Oct. 7: SLO Symphony: Classics Concert, Rachmaninov Rocks at the PAC
- Oct. 7: Mike & the Moonpies Concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 7: DB.Boutabag concert at the Fremont
OCTOBER 8 – 14
- Oct. 8: Central Coast Railroad Festival
- Oct. 8: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 8: Avatar concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 9: SloDrawz (Figure Session) at Art Central
- Oct. 10: Dreamer’s Circus concert at the PAC
- Oct. 11: Jalen N’Gonda concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 11: SLO Rewind Scorsese Film Festival: Gangs of New York
- Oct. 12: Diggin Dirt concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 12: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 12: Mersiv concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 12: Hilary Watson concert at Region
- Oct. 13: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 13: The Polish Ambassador concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 13: Niko Moon concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 13: 25th Annual Open Studio Art Tour Kickoff Event at the Bunker SLO
- Oct. 14: SLOMA Second Saturdays
- Oct. 14: Leslie Jones standup at the Fremont
- Oct. 14: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 14: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour
- Oct. 14: Brian Jonestown Massacre concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 14: C.S. Lewis On Stage: Further up & Further In at the PAC
- Oct. 14: Whimsy Boards with Linda Cunningham at Art Central
- Oct. 14: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour: Demonstration with Jen Goodell
OCTOBER 15 – 21
- Oct. 15: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour
- Oct. 15: SLO Rep Presents: Nunsense
- Oct. 15: Opera SLO Presents: Wait, I’m Singing What? at the PAC
- Oct. 15: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour: Demonstration with Colleen Gnos
- Oct. 17: Dean Lewis concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 18: SLO Rewind, Friday the 13th
- Oct. 18: BODYTRAFFIC dance performance at the PAC
- Oct. 18: Joshua Ray Walker concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 18: Joyce Manor Concert at Alex Madonna Expo Center
- Oct. 19: Bikini Trill concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 19: 18th Annual Great Pumpkin Contest at Mission Plaza
- Oct. 19: Hakeem Sanusi concert at Region
- Oct. 19: Moonlight Hours at SLO Children’s Museum
- Oct. 20: Circles around the Sun concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 21: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour
- Oct. 21: Patty Griffin and Todd Snider concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 21: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour: Demonstration with Jen Goodell
OCTOBER 22 – 31
- Oct. 22: 25th Annual Open Studios Art Tour
- Oct. 22: Lupita Infante concert at the PAC
- Oct. 22: Tanukichan concert at SLO Brew
- Oct. 22: The Radical Audio Visual Experience at the Fremont
- Oct. 22: Painting with Pinot: Monochromatic Landscape with Linda Cunningham
- Oct. 25: David Cross standup at the Fremont
- Oct. 25: SLO Rewind, Halloween (1978)
- Oct. 26: Phantom of the Organ with Raul Prieto Ramirez at the PAC
- Oct. 26: STRFKR concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 26: Beats Antique concert at the Fremont
- Oct. 26: Lindsey Marie concert at Region
- Oct. 27: Learning Calligraphy & Its History with Cheryl Barton at Art Central
- Oct. 28: Demetri Martin standup at the Fremont
- Oct. 29: LAST DAY of SLOMA Anila Quayyum Agha Exhibition
- Oct. 30: SloDrawz (Figure Session) at Art Central
Those are just a few of the ways you can Experience ARTober. Have a wonderful time exploring all the inspiring events, from canvas to community, this ARTober!