Helene Pedersen of San Francisco listens to music while sitting at the base of the carved cedar tree sculpture by artist Po Shu Wang on Monday, April 15, 2024 located near the intersection of California Avenue and Birch Street in Palo Alto, Calif. The artwork is one of many public art pieces commissioned by the City of Palo Alto Public Art Program. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Public art installations pepper cities across the Bay Area, and as the rain clears and the weather warms up, there’s no better time to enjoy them.
California Avenue — one of Palo Alto’s two primary business districts — alone boasts at least 14 public art pieces installed since 1996, earning it the nickname “Palo Alto’s Avenue of the Arts.”
Permanent and temporary installations adorn building walls and alleyways.
For a map of Palo Alto’s public murals, check it the website.
A pedestrian walks past a 2002 mural by Christopher Johanson located in an alleyway near the intersection of California Avenue and Birch Street in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 15, 2024. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) A mural adorns the side of the vacant building that used to house the iconic Palo Alto dive bar, Antonio’s Nut House, near the intersection of California Avenue and Birch Street in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 15, 2024. The bar closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) A pedestrian walks by a 1979 mural, “Mayfield Train Station,” by Noel Consigny located near the intersection of California Avenue and Birch Street in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 15, 2024. The artwork is one of many public art pieces that is part of the City of Palo Alto Public Art Program. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
