Expanding public art portfolio continues Santa Maria’s goal to transform the city’s image

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The City of Santa Maria has announced several more colorful murals on utility boxes located along Broadway have recently been completed.

"It's exciting to see new public art going up in the city of Santa Maria featuring local artists," said Hannah Rubalcava, Santa Maria Arts Council President. "It really helps to liven up the street as you're driving down Broadway and it gives a great opportunity for people to see the local talent here in town."

The 15 repainted boxes are part of the city's ongoing efforts to increase public art displays throughout Santa Maria.

"The City Council made a decision back in 2019 to adopt the Santa Maria Public Art Master pPan," said Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Director Alex Posada. "That plan calls for several angles of public art being addressed. The goal is ultimately to improve the appearance of the city, but then also to build a sense of community around public art."

The mini-murals depict scenes inspired by the community that were hand-painted by local artists and were chosen by a panel of multiple judges.

The newly painted traffic signal utility boxes can now been seen along Broadway from Carmen Lane to Preisker Lane.

"I feel that having all this artwork, especially done by local artists, is a really great, positive message to our youth," said Santa Maria-based artist Riko Rivera, who painted two of the recent remade utility boxes. "Seeing our little town just become more and more colorful with time. I feel it's a it's a great message for our community to stay positive and to stay happy. It just a message of happiness."

These repainted utility boxes are the latest phase in a project that kicked off in 2017

With the latest round of artwork completed, Santa Maria now has approximately 28 utility boxes that have been painted by local artists.

"Our goal is really to see more art throughout the city," said Rubalcava. "It brings people out. It actually helps boost the economy too because you get more people out and around walking, talking and visiting businesses, so we're hoping through public art installations for murals, utility boxes, that it really gets people out and talking."