Fifteen years after San Luis Obispo first turned its utility boxes into canvases, the city’s streets are buzzing with fresh color and new voices. This fall, the SLO Box Art Program, the oldest box art program in California, is adding 20 new artworks that stretch from downtown to neighborhood corners.
This year’s anniversary celebration featured a “Meet the Artist” event, during which the 20 new art pieces were unveiled, following a theme inspired by SLO’s cultural and historic districts. The boxes included works that celebrate Chinatown’s heritage and Old Town SLO, along with representing many other local cultural traditions.
What started as a small beautification effort has evolved into a living gallery that mirrors SLO’s changing identity with 72 total painted boxes around the city.
Public Art Coordinator, Amanda Grieshop, highlighted the program’s immense evolution, noting a significant shift from hand-painted boxes to vinyl wraps just last year in 2024.
“We’ve really shifted from just honoring local painters to honoring local artists,” Grieshop explained.
The transition has expanded artistic possibilities, with the program now including photography, digital art and various media that make it more accessible to artists around SLO.
Rani Shah, Cal Poly Class of ’96, is a finalist for this year’s Box Art Program. She is a first-time box artist with a long background in the field. Shah is skilled in watercolor art and utilized those skills when designing her first box. The new implementation of the vinyl-wrapped boxes allowed her to explore those options and include the watercolor effect on her box located at Grand & Monterey.
“I love how the watercolor paper looked on the box. When the box was wrapped, they actually made it look really beautiful,” Shah said. “On the box itself, you can see the texture of the watercolor paper and then the melding of the different colors.”
Another new finalist, 21-year-old Keira Prazanowski, discovered the Box Art Program through an Instagram post and entered on a whim.
“This was my first time being involved in public art and even hearing about the SLO Box Art Program,” she said. “Never expected to be a finalist!”
Her design, Lively Lanterns, draws inspiration from her Asian American heritage and SLO’s historic Chinatown district near Palm, Chorro and Morro streets.
The artwork features many red lanterns, fireworks and a great blue heron, which is one of SLO County’s signature birds, symbolizing her special connection to the place.
“I wanted to do something representative of my culture,” Prazanowski said. “In an attempt to bring more Chinese representation back to Downtown SLO, I themed my box around Chinese New Year and digitally painted my own depiction.”
The program continues to embrace artists of all ages, from high school students to artists in their 80s. Two high school artists were featured this year, demonstrating the program’s commitment to nurturing young talent.
“We have a huge range of ages,” Grieshop said. “Our youngest artist this year was 15, and our oldest was in her mid-80s, making the program much more accessible and inclusive.”
Along with that expansion, the city’s investment in a full-time public art coordinator, a position that the city integrated just last year, demonstrates its commitment to cultural expression and beautifying the city through public art.
“Creating this position is a really big deal,” Grieshop said. “We are currently the only city in the county with a fully dedicated, full-time public art coordinator.”
With plans for community mural projects and accessible art tours, the Box Art Program continues to evolve. As Grieshop puts it, the program is about “celebrating what’s happening in our culture, in our world, in our city” through visual art.
The program not only beautifies the city but also has deeper psychological benefits.
“Studies show just being around public art increases your self-esteem,” Grieshop shared, revealing the profound impact of public art on community well-being.
Now 15 years in, Grieshop and the city plan to grow beyond utility boxes through new murals, more “Meet the Artist” events and expanded art tours.
This article was updated at 4:12 p.m. on Feb. 25 to fix a misspelled name.