Courtesy photo.
LOMPOC — History buffs and art aficionados, start planning your trip to Lompoc. The city is home to over 30 murals depicting aspects of the town’s history, from the age of dinosaurs and beyond! Here are 8 of our favorite murals to explore when you get here as part of Lompoc’s outdoor mural gallery.
Here’s a mural map to help you plan your journey!
The Mural that Started it all: Lompoc’s Flower Industry
102 W. Ocean Ave. (SW corner H & Ocean)
In 1988, Lompoc residents Gene and Judy Stevens visited a small town in British Columbia and discovered that they were using murals and art to rebuild the town’s economy after a recession started in the wake of an industry leaving the town. By August 1988, a group of Lompoc residents decided to use the idea to revitalize Lompoc’s Old Town, and the Lompoc Mural Society was formed.
In 1990, the first mural commissioned by the society was completed, featuring Lompoc’s deep connection to the flower industry. Painted by Art Mortimer of Santa Monica, CA, the mural features portraits of important early growers as well as workers.
Domingos Blacksmith Shop
120 W. Walnut Ave.
This mural depicts one of the last authentic blacksmith shops on California’s Central Coast. The Domingos blacksmith shop operated in Lompoc for many years, and contributed ironworks to First Valley Bank, The Lompoc Record, The Fabing-McKay-Spanne House and The Lompoc Valley Historical Society. The Domingos family also created the gates for the Lompoc Cemetery and even repaired woks at the Rice Bowl.
The mural was painted as part of Mural in a Day in 1995, by master artist Suzanne Cerney of Santa Barbara, CA, and participating artists.
Early Education
215 North H St. (north wall)
Painted by Lompoc artist Shirley Wallace in 1992, this mural depicts the earliest days of formal education in the Lompoc Valley. It features the Santa Rita school, which was built in 1876, between Lompoc and Buellton. In a cameo inset, Lompoc pioneer and teacher Ann Calvert represents all the women who taught the children of the area in the early year. The images of the children in the mural are from an 1884 class photo of a different Lompoc school.
An Artist’s Cottage
119 E. Cypress Ave.
In 1998, Lompoc artists Linda Gooch and Vicki Andersen transformed this once-unremarkable mid-century cinder block building into a trompe l’oeil Victorian cottage. It’s the perfect façade for a building that’s home to the Cypress Gallery and the Lompoc Valley Art Association.
The Price of Freedom
125 South H St.
One mural with massive impact is The Price of Freedom. Created in 2000 by Eliseo Art Silva of Corona, CA, it’s a tribute to the men and women who served, fought, and died in the fifteen wars and conflicts of the 20th Century. The work conveys the high cost of liberty, including the estimated 293,131 men and women killed, and 1,300,000 wounded in these conflicts. The mural also pays tribute to the flowers of the Lompoc Valley, and its military neighbor since 1957, Vandenberg Air (now Space) Force Base.
Temperance
137 South H St.
In 1874, before Lompoc became a city and well before Prohibition was the law of the land, the Lompoc Land Company purchased nearly 43,000 acres of land to establish a temperance colony. The deed to every plot of land prohibited the sale or manufacture of liquor.
Many townspeople (particularly women) fought against illicit liquor in Lompoc, though the city’s location between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo made it difficult. Painted by Dan Sawatsky of Chemainus, BC, the Temperance mural on South H Street depicts a colorful instance from city history. Two local purveyors of liquor rebuffed a group of women, refusing to stop selling alcohol in town. Though the men thought they were victorious, the women were undeterred. They secured a rope around the building, and with a hearty tug, pulled the building off its foundation and halfway down the block.
Temperance in Lompoc ended in 1888, when the town was incorporated. Today, you can enjoy alcohol in many local bars, wineries, and the Lompoc Wine Ghetto!
Monarch Magic
316 E. Ocean Ave. (east wall on E Street)
The 15th Mural in a Day, Monarch Magic features a unique combination of nature and technology that you’ll find in Lompoc. Master Artist Colleen Goodwin Chronister of Salem, OR and a group of volunteer artists painted this scene of Monarch butterflies taking shelter in a grove of eucalyptus during their yearly migration. Through the trees, you can see a glimpse of Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 6.
The eucalyptus groves on Vandenberg SFB provide shelter to the endangered Monarch during their yearly migration. Multiple organizations work with the base to manage and enhance the habitats.
Chumash Indians
126 E. Ocean Ave.
It was only fitting for Lompoc’s first Mural in a Day to feature Lompoc’s first people, the Chumash. The mural depicts the coastal life of the Chumash, whose territory once spanned from Malibu to Paso Robles. Painting was led by master artist Robert Thomas of Kooskia, ID and completed with the help of nearly 20 volunteers.
The mural features the Chumash’s large, dome-shaped homes, constructed from willow branches. They also constructed one of the most technologically complex watercraft in the New World, the tomol. Chumash for “house of the sea,” the boats were used for ocean fishing and trade journeys between the Channel Islands and the mainland. The Chumash preferred to construct their tomol from redwood that had drifted down the coast.
There are nearly 30 more murals to see in Lompoc, each one exploring the city’s history. Bring your sneakers and spend a day exploring history and all the other fun Old Town Lompoc has to offer!
ABOUT LOMPOC
Located on scenic Pacific Coast Highway 1, just 155 miles northwest from Los Angeles with close proximity to Santa Barbara and Solvang, Lompoc takes
on a world of its own. Its valley setting, surrounded by spectacular rolling hills and vineyards, creates an invitation for visitors to detour off the main road, and explore
what’s around the bend. Lompoc is a destination for wine tasting, golf, cycling, hiking, skydiving, birding, and surfing at nearby Jalama Beach. It is home to
La Purisima Mission State Historic Park, the most fully restored and furnished of the 21 California missions, and adjacent to Vandenberg Air Force Base, where
rockets are launched throughout the year by such entities as NASA, SpaceX, and ULA, to name a few. Lompoc has 12 hotels to welcome visitors. To discover more
about the Lompoc Valley, and other things to see and do, visit: www.explorelompoc.com.