Box Set: Walking Art Trail Has Miles and Miles of Heart

Charlotte Schriefer calls them “delightful”—the painted utility boxes around La Mesa. Waiting to cross University Avenue across from the Senior Adult Center on a warm, sunny weekday, Schriefer pointed to a box across the street.

“I especially like the dogs on that one on the corner,” she said.

But Schriefer, who is no La Mesa newcomer—she went to Helix High and is a longtime resident of the Mt. Helix area—wasn’t aware the boxes were part of the city of La Mesa’s Walking Art Trail.

“Oh, yes. I’d seen them,” she said, laughing. “But I didn’t know there was a plan.”

More than a plan, the city offers a pattern—not random acts of art with little dabs of color.

The Walking Art Trail covers about two miles and 22 sites (some of which include two or three painted boxes) by various artists. It was created in 2006 by the city of La Mesa and the La Mesa ARTS Alliance, the result of conversations between the two about coming up with a manageable public art project in the city.

Other communities have done similar public art projects, and they’d been well received, says Yvonne Garrett, La Mesa’s assistant city manager and director of community services.

Garrett says the idea evolved into combining art with walking to promote wellness.

“People can walk in a circular fashion through town,” she says. “The goal was to provide public art and encourage physical activity and visiting The Village.”

The entire project, which was funded by corporate and community donations, cost $5,500, Garrett says. Initially, artists competed for a chance to be a part of the project, and were paid. Later, unpaid volunteers have painted the boxes, including Helix Charter High School students as part of their senior projects.

Garrett calls it a “continual process,” with other boxes eventually added to the mix, she hopes.

No sidewalk markers exist to indicate the trail (as occurs on the city’s three urban walking trails), so many residents—such as Schriefer—may not know of its existence. But brochures were distributed to Village shops, and the map is available on the city’s website (which will be updated soon in a project by Helix students).

The art on the boxes has no theme; each painting is the concept of the artist, Garrett says. Remarkably, the boxes are mostly graffiti-free.

 “We’ve had very little trouble,” she says. “People have left them alone. That seems to hold true with this kind of project. People seem to respect the art.”

Walking the Walk for Unexpected Treasures

Walking the Art Trail is a bit like a scavenger hunt. With map in hand, a trekker starts from the first utility box at the Community Center at MacArthur Park, and follows the trail down Memorial Drive, across University Avenue, up La Mesa Boulevard, up to Lemon Avenue, down Spring Street, across Allison Avenue to University and back to the intersection with La Mesa Boulevard (with a few zigs and zags along the way).

The trail, box by box:

• No. 1 A large, colorful parrot is the outstanding feature on the larger of two boxes in a planter in the parking lot of the Community Center. These were the first boxes painted, by artist Penny Quirk and students from Murray Manor Elementary.
• No. 2 Located near the corner of Memorial Drive and University—across from the softball field—the box features a blooming flower and the inscription “For Dale.” By Patti Fox.
• No. 3 This one, done by preschool students, features children playing and sits outside Mario’s de La Mesa Mexican restaurant.
• No. 4 The gap between the third and fourth boxes is the longest on the walk. This one, which features large koi, is found after a walk up La Mesa Boulevard. Take a left on Palm Avenue, then a right on Lemon Avenue and cross the street to the corner of Lemon and Spring Street. By Kathryn Gordon.
• No. 5  Just 10 steps away, this one has side-by-side boxes, one a blue sky, the other showing high-rise buildings. By Mary Weldy.
• No. 6 A bird of paradise by Lisa Rene Price sits on a median between Spring Street and the trolley tracks, in front of the La Mesa Depot Museum.
• No. 7  Turn left on La Mesa Boulevard to find this three-box set by Deena Sand and Brownie Troop 6147 that displays fruit, rolling hills, trees, sunshine and rainbows.
• No. 8 Just steps away is Gloria Chadwick’s colorful painting of cars.
• No. 9 After turning left on Spring, this one—with red flowers on black background—can be found in the parking lot of Chase Bank. It’s by Reanne M. Brent.
• No. 10  Across the street are two small, low boxes by Carlos Castrejon that are all Picasso-like angles and lines and colors.
• No. 11 You like birds? This three-box set by the artist yumi at the corner of Spring and Allison features large ducks on the big box and smaller birds on two adjacent boxes.
• No. 12 Outside a store at the corner of Spring and University are two boxes by Ryan Llamas that reflect a sort of La Mesa fantasyland, filled with kids, hills, fish, dogs and cars.
• No. 13  Just around the corner on University is this airbrushed vision of a Pacific island (with no artist credited).
• No. 14 Across the street is this large box painted by Vannasin Manisouk that—facing the street—looks like a serene mountain scene. But walk around back, and you’ll find the most interesting item on the whole walk, a seemingly three-dimensional representation of birdhouses.
• No. 15 Back across University again is a small box painted to represent the arts by Elly Dotseth, with a vase, paint brush and palette and musical instruments.
• No. 16 and No. 17 Both by Christina Merrill, these low, adjacent boxes feature a night scene with stars (16) and a day scene with sunshine and sunflower (17).
• No. 18 Only three steps away is Mark Drummond’s creation—with a large wave carrying a sailboat as the main feature.
• No. 19 About a block up University, in front of the historic Rev. McKinney House is a box titled “Honey Bee,” by Pat Weber.
• No. 20 This flowered box painted by Jami Lyn Cravy carries the inscription “In memory of Tracee Tycee.”
• No. 21 A frog in a lily pond is the focal point of this large box in the parking lot of the La Mesa Senior Adult Center, and in front of a gazebo. It’s by Larisse Robinson.
• No. 22 The final stop on the map is a big box/small box combo by Margo Parks and Yvonne Rose that displays a girl and several dogs and the inscription “M.Y. Pet Place / Margo and Yvonne Proprietors.”

Total time for the walk: About 90 minutes (with stops for photos, talking and note-taking). Probably just an hour stroll for most.

“It’s a nice community asset,” Garrett says, “like the secret stairs and the urban walks, it’s one of the unique ways that does a lot to make La Mesa a walkable city.”