Dancing cats. Rainbow walls. Buildings as old as the town itself. I spy with my little eye…something cool, colorful and quintessentially San Luis Obispo.
Massive murals, life-sized sculptures and historic buildings are waiting to be discovered. Check out galleries and museums where you can get up close and personal with Central Coast craftwork. And don’t forget to catch live performances at the SLO Repertory Theater, The Fremont and others.
Here’s your comprehensive, must-see SLO public art checklist. Happy hunting!
Murals
Archway to Happiness
Where: March Street
What: A bright, eye-catching archway over the entrance to the Marsh Street Parking Structure.
Artist: Canned Pineapple Co.
Seven Sisters
Where: Higuera Street, beside Woodstock’s Pizza
What: A giant rainbow mural depicting the locally famous Seven Sisters mountain peaks.
Artist: Maria Molteni
Love and Double Joy
Where: Palm Street Parking Structure
What: A mosaic tile mural of the Chinese characters for “love” and “double joy” joined by a lucky dragon.
Artist: Peter Ladochy
Movimiento Mundial
Where: Downtown Public Library
What: An 80-foot mural depicting the universal activities of daily life: working, living and playing.
Artist: Robert Maja
Marsh Street Bridge Mural
Where: On the bridge over San Luis Obispo Creek
What: A 12-foot painting depicting native Central Coast flowers, including lupines and poppies.
Artist: Amy McKay
SLO Irresistible
Where: Higuera Street
What: A flower-powered Instagram-famous mural that’s perfect for snapping selfies.
Artist: Canned Pineapple Co.
Meter & Time
Where: SLO Museum of Art
What: World-renowned muralist Momo has just completed SLOMA’s newest exterior mural.
Artist: Momo
Sculptures
Hey Diddle Diddle
Where: Intersection of Marsh and Chorro
What: A bronze sculpture of the nursery rhyme-famous cat balancing carefully on a fiddle.
Artist: Sandra Kay Johnson
Islay Hill Cow
Where: On top of Islay Hill
What: A cheeky fiberglass cow sporting a pair of binoculars, part of an international public art exhibit that featured statues of cows installed throughout SLO County.
Artist: CowParade
Puck Statue
Where: Marsh Street
What: A bronze cast of the famous character from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Artist: Elizabeth MacQueen
Bonding Dance
Where: Marsh Street Parking Structure
What: Five layers of circuitous polished aluminum, representing the fluid connections between Cal Poly and the SLO community.
Artist: Alan Riggle
Strong Play Ethic
Where: Damon-Garcia Sports Complex
What: Two playful figures tossing colorful balls back and forth along a winding metal track.
Artist: Carol Paulsen, Stephen Plowman and Stephen Van Stone
Perpetual Hope
Where: Mitchell Park
What: A colorful metal sculpture depicting children at play, curving and stretching up into the sky.
Artist: Allen Root
Fish Life
Where: Broad Street, over San Luis Obispo Creek
What: A spinning metal mobile depicting native fish: Steelhead Trout and Three-Spined Sticklebacks.
Artist: Jim Jacobson
Iron Road Pioneers
Where: Amtrak Station Roundabout
What: A bronze statue approximating the likenesses of immigrant Chinese workers who worked on Central Coast railways.
Artist: Elizabeth MacQueen
Chumash Pictographs
Where: Downtown SLO Creek Walk
What: A metal sculpture after the artistic style of Chumash Native Americans who lived along the Central Coast for 14,000 years.
Artist: Jim Jacobson
Oh Great Spirit
Where: Intersection of Prado and South Higuera
What: A larger-than-life bronze sculpture honoring the Native Americans who settled the region.
Artist: Nell Banister Scruggs
Storyboard
Where: Intersection of Los Osos Valley and Madonna
What: A tall, building block-like brick, river rock and steel sculpture capturing past inhabitants of DeVaul Ranch land.
Artist: Jim Jacobson
Olas Portola-Fuenta Seca
Where: Intersection of Marsh and Higuera
What: A 30-foot geometric kinetic sculpture paying homage to site’s previous occupant: a fountain.
Artist: Jeffrey Laudenslager and Deanne Sabeck
Architecture
Southern Pacific Railroad Freight House
Where: Railroad District
What: An original freight house for the Southern Pacific Railroad and the home of the SLO Railroad Museum.
Seven Sisters Railing
Where: Santa Rosa Street Bridge
What: Pretty pink metal railing capturing the silhouettes of the locally famous Seven Sisters mountain peaks.
Artist: Jim Jacobson
Chinatown Historic District Signs
Where: Chinatown
What: A series of historic custom markers for Chinatown destinations, including images of lucky dragons.
Artist: Pierre Rademaker
Cheng Park
Where: intersection of Santa Rosa and Park
What: An 11,000 square-foot garden with a pavilion, pond and Chinese lion statues.
Artist: Alice and Larry Loh
Cal Poly Design Village
Where: Cal Poly campus
What: Nine acres of “experimental construction” created by past and present architectural and engineering students.
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
Where: Mission Plaza
What: Our town namesake’s beautiful mission and campus, originally constructed in 1772.Artists: Early Spanish missionaries
Bubblegum Alley
Where: Between Broad and Garden
What: An alley bursting with the gum of visitors long since past. Add your own piece and become part of an ongoing work of art!
Spy all sorts of art, all over town, during Arts & Humanities Month in SLO. October is ARTober: an annual, 31-day celebration of our community’s creative spirit. Join us by playing a song on the Piano in the Plaza installation, which returns this year and is open for the public to play from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily . Tag your artistic adventures with #ShareSLO and #ARToberSLO!