SLO County monolith vandalized for second time — but its artists came to the rescue again
A North County monolith was vandalized for the second time since it first appeared in late 2020 — and now the artists are raising money to cover their costs to rebuild it.
The monolith appeared on an Atascadero hill at the top of the Pine Mountain loop in Stadium Park in early December, when similar pieces were showing up in places like Utah and Romania.
It was the first monolith in California, and a similar structure later appeared on Los Padres National Forest land in San Luis Obispo County.
A group of local artists — Wade McKenzie, Travis Kenney and Randall Kenney of Atascadero, and Jared Riddle, who lives in the Bay Area — created the monolith to “spread positivity and get people outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The monolith was first vandalized in December when a group from Southern California drove up and ripped it out.
Then, on the night of Aug. 15, the restored structure was again targeted by vandals, according to a GoFundMe page started by Melissa Kenney. Photos on the page show the normally gleaming metal structure ripped apart and possibly burned, exposing the support beam underneath.
Kenney, who’s married to one of the artists, is raising $4,500 to pay for the materials needed to rebuild the monolith. The GoFundMe had raised $1,045, as of 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The artists have already restored the installation a second time, but “inflation of these types of materials has skyrocketed and continue to go upwards,” Kenney wrote.
The artists also hope to add cameras near the monolith to “hopefully avoid a reoccurrence,” she wrote
Monolith vandalized for second time in eight months
The latest vandals damaged the monolith but didn’t completely tear out the structure, as occurred the first time.
Around the time the Atascadero monolith appeared in December, a group of vandals from Southern California livestreamed themselves driving to Stadium Park, ripping out the installation and replacing it with a wooden cross.
After that incident, the artists behind the monolith rebuilt the structure, and it’s remained in place since that time.
Kenney wrote the artists created the monolith “out of the goodness of their hearts using their own hard-earned money.”
“So, with this disappointing and unfortunate chain of events, I would love to see the community rally together and help these selfless men out as they work to get the monolith back on Pine Mountain,” Kenney wrote. “The monolith has brought such joy, hope, happiness, health and wellbeing for our community and monolith followers alike.”
“It would be much appreciated if you could donate to this precious piece of art so these artists can continue to bring joy, hope, happiness, health and wellbeing to our community and tourists,” Kenney added.
To donate to the monolith GoFundme, visit gofundme.com/f/atascadero-california-monolith. For more informatio on the monolith, visit californiamonolith.com.
