Last Sunday, my wife and I had the great pleasure of participating in a public walk that showcased many of the artworks scattered throughout downtown Redwood City. As it was the Arts Commission’s first such event, I assumed it might not be as well attended. However, I was pleased to see that not only had word of the event spread, but that dozens of people had taken an hour or so out of their Sunday morning to look at some of the many publicly accessible artworks in the city.
Redwood City’s public art comes in many forms. For example, painted household boxes. These metal boxes, which you can occasionally find on street corners throughout the city, contain devices for controlling traffic signals, telephone switching equipment and connecting cable TV. For years these monochromatic sentinels stood silently, unnoticed as they went about their business. But sometime, somewhere, someone had the bright idea of using it as a canvas for public art. Others picked up on the idea, and in early 2015 the trend reached Redwood City. Today we have about 80 of the painted metal boxes, all different. There are boxes covered in flowers, boxes that look like historic Redwood City buildings, boxes painted like playing cards, and boxes displaying all sorts of strange creatures. While I haven’t seen all 80 yet, I’ve seen most, and my favorite remains the one at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Middlefield Road, in the parking lot next to the library. There, four side-by-side boxes illustrate the joy of reading, with two showing friendly monsters reading to a group of children, and two giving insight into the imaginations of young children reading classic adventure tales.
Painted utility boxes look beautiful while serving a practical purpose. There are also a handful of bike racks scattered around the city center. These artistic racks are designed to look a lot like bicycles, with a bicycle frame and tires made from metal tubing, and wheels that are flat metal discs. These discs are the perfect canvas for a variety of whimsical artwork. One rack in the center, for example, presents these discs as hamster wheels, with a painted hamster running forever on each of the rack’s two stationary wheels.
I have a penchant for whimsical art, so Redwood City bike racks tend to tickle my fancy. Even more whimsical, however, are the examples of shadow art that can be found near the city’s Caltrain station and on various downtown sidewalks. These monochrome gray images are painted directly on the pavement and represent shadows cast by benches, mailboxes, fence posts – anything permanently installed on this pavement. Unlike real shadows, however, the painted ones look like daisies, robots, or, in the case of shadows emerging from the legs of some public mailboxes, mailbox-shaped monsters.
Of course, Redwood City also has more classic art forms. For example, there’s The Heron, a 14-foot metal sculpture on Redwood City’s harbor. Or there are murals of the city. The most visible of these is the one along Jefferson Avenue under the Caltrain overpass. Although the city commissioned this wonderful (and huge) mural to promote racial equality, the result draws on the history of Redwood City to show the diversity of people who have lived in the area over time. Almost as impressive, but not as well-known (except, perhaps, to regular Caltrain riders) is the city’s “mural corridor,” which can be found along Commercial Way, mostly on the backs of buildings facing the city parking Perry Street Lot. Finally, there is the city’s “Mural Alley,” off Main Street on the side of the Sequoia Hotel, where several large works of art painted by Redwood City youth can be found.
Sunday’s walking tour covered all these works of art and more. It starts and ends at Courthouse Square, where the City Art Pavilion is located (at the corner of Hamilton Street and Broadway). There you will find a new art installation every month. As part of our walk, we had the opportunity to speak with Pilar Aguero-Esparza, creator of the current installation. Her project illustrates the diversity of the city’s population through the use of colored glass and, interestingly, old shoes – the models of feet that shoemakers use to create shoes of different sizes and styles.
With so many artworks, from so many different styles, from so many different artists, there is sure to be something for everyone. All that is needed is for people to keep their eyes open as they move around town. For those looking for a more formal experience, stay tuned for announcements from the Redwood City Arts Commission. Not only do they intend to host additional Art Walks in the future, they hope to soon have a smartphone app that will direct people to all the public art Redwood City has to offer.
Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks around Redwood City and neighboring communities. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.
