Monrovia Public Street Art - Jack Gonzalez




    So, I've lived in Monrovia for about three years, and during that time I've been around the neighborhood a lot. When I started this blog, I actually had a hard time deciding what area I wanted to cover because there are a lot of places with unique public art. I even thought about going somewhere like Olvera Street and talking about the different artwork there. But when it really came down to it, I realized I pass by so many pieces of public art right here in the city where I live. I've seen various statues, murals, and other displays around town that, at the time, I didn't really think much about. So, I thought, why not cover the place where I live and experience every day? I think it's a good opportunity to talk about these different pieces of public art that are part of the community and that I get to see on a regular basis.


Public Piece 1: Bears 


          Name: Samson Bears 

 Year: 2011-2024

                                                             Artist: Rachael Quimayousie, Rick Kess, Ann Battle, 
Traci Loving, Lynne Fearman, Rick Kess

    A public piece that most people who will either instantly recognize or see is the various bear statues placed about the city. They have become very popular points of interest with becoming a somewhat unofficial mascot of the area. Lot of various artists have been involved in creating these bears since 2011. A lot of the bears have various themes to the area like Merengue Bear which was dressed as a baker from the bakery Merengue. To even one themed as Upper Water District which plant native California flowers and drought-resistant plants to further push water resilience in our area. Now the reason why Monrovia even has these bears is that in 1990s a 500 pound black bear made the city his home basically coming down from the foothills to grab food. His popularity further grew when resident notice the bear had a love for resting in hot tubs. Eveantually Samson was put into a zoo for health reason but in his stead put erected a statue of Samson located in front of the Canyon Park Nature Center in the early 2000s. Later on, for the cities 125th Anniversary multiple Samson the Bear statues were sponsored and painted by the Art in Public Places Committee, Mount Sierra College, and various local businesses being placed around town to celebrate Samson's legacy.


Public Piece 2: Red Box Car 


Name: The Stop

Year: 2010

Artist: Walter Redondo


    Another significant piece of public art that I have noticed around the Monrovia neighborhood is a little bright red box that's actually called The Stop or it's alterative name Red Box Car at the Paragon. This is another public artwork located right outside the Paragon at Old Town Apartments, near the corner of Myrtle and Olive Avenue. The reason it was created was to honor Monrovia's railroad history. Specifically, it is modeled after the Pacific Electric Railroad red cars that once connected to the area. The site is also where the original Monrovia Pacific Electric Station was once located before it was eventually demolished in 1967. The sculpture even includes different car numbers representing the first car to arrive in 1903 and the last one, which marks the final stop for the red cars in 1951. The main artist behind this piece was Walter Renato, and the steel sculpture was installed around 2010. As mentioned before, it was designed to commemorate Monrovia's ties to its early railway system.



Public Piece 3: Bob Bartlett



Name: Bob Bartlett Memorial
Year: 2018
Artist: Carole Choucair Oueijan

    Another piece I would like to mention in Monrovia is the Bob Bartlett Memorial, which is located by Station Square Park, where the Gold Line station is. As the name suggests, it honors former Mayor Robert "Bob" Bartlett, who served as Monrovia's mayor and as a city council member for many years. He is highly remembered for helping improve various parts of Monrovia that needed attention. The artist who created this piece was Carlos Oueijan, and it was installed in 2018. Each part of the public artwork is made up of mosaic panels, and together they tell a story about improvements to public transportation, preserving parts of Old Town Monrovia, and his push to promoting equality within the community. This is a very beautiful piece that tries to capture a public servant who did a lot of good for the city. It serves as an appreciation of his work and as a public piece that helps people understand what he did for his community.
    

Public Piece 4: Action!

Name: Action!
Year: 2016
Artist: Daniel Stern

    This is a bronze statue that is installed in front of what used to be, for me, the Krikorian Theater, which I used to go to a lot as a kid. It is kind of sad that it is gone now. In its place, they put the Look Theater, which is unfortunately gone now as well. This is a statue that I have seen since I was little because I have been going there for many years in Monrovia. The sculpture was created by an artist named Downey Stern in 2016, who is known for being a part of the film industry. The sculpture was placed there because there was a movie theater at that location, and also because Monrovia has a history of connections with the film industry. The area has been used numerous times for different movies and TV shows because of Monrovia's appearance. The sculpture also references the silent film The Argonauts of California, which was filmed in Monrovia and was released in 1915.


Final Thoughts

    I think Monrovia has a lot of interesting public artwork. While some of the pieces are not as dramatic or stylized, I think this kind of artwork is important because it really shows the public outreach and civic engagement that Monrovia likes to promote. It is something that I see throughout the community, and I think it is nice that a lot of the art focuses on remembering the past. Obviously, a lot of artwork commemorates past events, but I feel like these pieces also highlight the fact that cities like Monrovia have been here for a long time. Even small landmarks may have affected many people's lives at some point, maybe not in my lifetime, but for a lot of people in the past. I think it is really interesting to learn about that and understand that there is more to the city than just what is happening right now. On top of that, I think it is nice that there are programs and systems that encourage people to create new art and place it throughout the city. Through community funding and support, people are able to create these works, and the community gets to appreciate them on a day-to-day basis.



Art in Public Places | City of Monrovia. (2019). Monroviaca.Gov. https://www.monroviaca.gov/your-government/community-development/planning/art-in-public-places#ad-image-0

Monrovia Association of Fine Arts - Home. (2025). Monroviafinearts.Org. https://www.monroviafinearts.org/

Public Art Archive - Make Public Art More Public. (n.d.). Publicartarchive.Org. Retrieved July 18, 2026, from https://publicartarchive.org/









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