Street Art

I went to heaven Ventura for the holiday weekend.
If you are familiar with Ventura, you know of what I speak. If you are not--well, heaven awaits, in the form of the ocean, all those charming California bungalows, a mural of gigantic poppies and another of Monarch butterflies at an arts center, a lively farmers market in Ojai, with cheeses and chocolates that make you glad to be alive, the best thrift stores EVER on Main St., a wonderful coffee house called Palermo Cafe, where you can sit and write and write and write for hours on two cups of coffee (and everyone is very nice, and there is a WiFi password, besides), and and and. Not to mention the company. I am in love with Ventura.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I was walking downtown and came across a painted utility box. It was this one:

The city of Santa Cruz also has a similar wonderful program whereby artists are invited to use the ugly, putty-colored utility boxes as their canvases, and the utility boxes became these colorful, beautiful and/or funny and/or interesting landmarks throughout the city. The painted boxes changed my experience of waiting at traffic signals.

We are changing the world, all of us, every artist, every arts champion, we are changing the world, we are making it a better and more beautiful place, one step at a time, one utility box at a time.



P.S. I was also told San Diego has painted utility boxes.