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SLO Utility Box Art issues to be addressed by local leaders and community groups

City of San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo leaders and community groups will meet next week to discuss the direction of an ongoing popular public art project. 

The city has plans to paint over some of the already completed pieces of its utility box art project, but that's not sitting well with some residents. 

City policy says temporary art has a life span of about five years, so the boxes painted in 2010 are up for refreshing. But many are concerned because a lot of the box art is in good condition.

Colleen Gnos is a local artist and painted the utility box on Palm and Santa Rosa Streets. She said she would like to see the project expanded and have original boxes touched up.

"I think it's a great graffiti deterrent," she said "It just puts SLO on the map as a place to visit."

Melissa Mudgett is the City's Recreational Manager and said discussion shifted after Council heard from concerned citizens at its last meeting.

"The conversation was '[do] all of them need to be replaced or refreshed every five years, or can this be more on a case by case basis? And are there some that were painted by artists that were unknown six years ago, but now approaching a little bit more fame, or are there some we'd really like to preserve in their entirety?'," said Mudgett. 

In addition to next week's meeting, City staff will return to council in the coming months with recommendations to address box preservation.

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