An Online survey was conducted to capture the ideas of those who were unable to attend any of the workshops. In addition to the three public meetings, engagement opportunities also took place at an Elementary after-school program, during a Middle School lunch break, and during regularly scheduled San Luis Obispo High School art classes. They also discussed attributes that make San Luis Obispo stand out among other Central Coast communities, California communities, and the rest of the United States. Participants were asked to consider where new pieces of public art should go and what types of art they would like to see in their community.
San Luis Obispo residents were then invited to participate in a week-long series of events. To kick off the planning process, stakeholders were asked a series of questions about how public art relates to their sense of place, to the overall identity of San Luis, economic growth, business development, education, downtown development and community engagement. In an effort to build upon their strong legacy of public art and to look forward to the next twenty five years, the city decided to seek the input of the community to find out what is next for the public art program in San Luis Obispo. With an exceptional first twenty five years in action, the San Luis Obispo Public Art Program has secured San Luis’ reputation as a community who uses its public art to promote community excellence, creativity, and cohesiveness.
This funding included a percent (1%)of the estimated construction cost of eligible projects in the Capital Improvement Plan to be set aside for public art. In 1990, the city of San Luis Obispo established and funded a public art program. San Luis Obispo’s vision for public art stems from a long legacy of public art champions and from over twenty-five years of investment in the arts at a citywide level. San Luis Obispo Public Art Master Plan City of San Luis Obispo, California