SLO Museum of Art turns its outside walls into a colorful mural. ‘We need it right now’
As the COVID pandemic progressed, creative havens like the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art have been forced to keep their artwork shuttered away from the public eye, awaiting a time when the virus’ grip on the state has lessened and they could once again welcome patrons back into their halls.
Not so anymore.
One local work is now on full display to the public — and it’s massive.
The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art unveiled a new mural, titled “Pacificaribbean,” splashed across three walls of its Broad Street building on Saturday.
The brightly colored piece is a creation of Juan Alberto Negroni, an internationally renowned artist based in Dallas.
Negroni’s work has been the focus of five solo shows and is currently on display in public and private collections in Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Greece and the United States, according to a news release.
SLOMA Executive Director Leann Standish said the idea for an outdoor mural came to her in light of the coronavirus restrictions shuttering the museum.
“I just began to look at the building, and it’s sort of low-profile,” Standish said at the mural unveiling Saturday. “And I thought, with COVID and you can’t get into the museum, now is the time to do something really joyful and really turn the medium inside-out.”
Guest curator Emma Saperstein said she knew immediately she wanted to feature Negroni’s work on the museum’s walls.
“We were intentional in thinking about artists whose work is abstract and colorful,” Saperstein said. “We need it right now.”
“Pacificaribbean” draws on Negroni’s childhood in Puerto Rico, highlighting connections between the island and San Luis Obispo through a lush, graphic array of vines, flowers and multi-hued paint swipes.
The white-walled building was slowly covered over the span of a week thanks to Negroni and a team of Cuesta College student volunteers.
But they aren’t the only ones who contributed to the work: Over the week, Negroni welcomed passersby to come and help paint small sections of the mural with him as it was being completed.
“And then he says to them as they walk away, ‘Now it’s yours too,’” Standish said. “He’s just the perfect person to do this piece.”
Standish said Negroni’s mural is the first of several that will adorn the outside walls annually in the coming years.
Next year, the museum will commission a new artist to paint a brand-new exterior for the museum, she said.
“My whole life I’ve worked in art museums, and they can be very intimidating,” Standish said. “When the museums just sort of reaches out and grabs you, it can break down that barrier. I want it to feel like you family room or your backyard where you are casual and relaxed.”
%20Cropped.jpg)