Santa Barbara’s largest downtown intersection will soon feature Mixtec and Zapotec art.
The City of Santa Barbara received $100,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies to decorate the intersection of Carrillo and State Streets. In addition to serving as an art feature, city officials said the elements will also make the street safer and draw attention to the Saturday Farmers Market.
“We hope to create a more plaza-like feel for the market, as well as day-to-day visitors,” York Rubin said. “We look forward to bringing this installation to life.”
She said the project will last for two years, and then the city will decide whether to make elements permanent.
The installation is intended to align with broader city goals related to downtown revitalization, cultural celebration, pedestrian safety, and creative placemaking. Additional artwork will be painted on State Street reaching to De la Guerra.
The project includes painted crosswalks and painted curb extensions along the four corners of the intersection.
The planters and bollards will also be decorated and crews will string lights in the intersection. City officials hope the intersection becomes a gateway for downtown.
The art will be installed beginning April 6 and be completed by May 1. Carrillo Street between Anacapa and Chapala streets will be reduced from two lanes to one in each direction during the installation only.
Tess Harris, the State Street Master Planner, said Santa Barbara was one of 10 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada to receive the asphalt art initiative grant. The lead artist is Eddie Jimenez.
“A lot of the patterns and designs we have are actually direct images from ruins that are left behind so for us it is a way to stay in touch with our ancestors and to honor the foundation they laid down,” Jimenez said in a video played at Tuesday’s council meeting.
The grant program was created in 2020. About 90 cities have used asphalt art and 50 of them have been through the Bloomberg program.
“Cities around the world use asphalt art as a relatively low-cost, quick to implement strategy that tests street design improvements before making larger investments,” Harris said.
The art is intended to improve safety by increasing visibility for pedestrians and other users, and indicating that the intersection is a shared-use environment.
“The asphalt art treatments are designed to be highly visible,” Harris said. “They are intended to signal to drivers that they are entering a different, shared, people-oriented environment.”
She said crash rates involving pedestrians and cyclists in cities with the asphalt art installations dropped by half. There was a 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians with the right-of-way, and a 38% decrease in pedestrians crossing against the walk signal.
“I am so grateful for this,” said councilwoman Kristen Sneddon. “This is so exciting. It is going to bring people downtown.”
Councilman Eric Friedman also said he supported the artwork.
“It just shows the many facets and uses of art not only for the revitalization of downtown, but also bringing people down there and showing our history, but also just getting motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists to look at intersections in a new way,” Friedman said.
