We’ve seen all kinds of public art on walls: ones painted with brushes, spray-painted ones, mosaics and so on. In California’s Central Coast, in the city of San Luis Obispo are a couple of walls painted with — guess what — gum! This unusual attraction that’s made its way into the area’s list of tourist attractions and travel brochures has come to be known as Bubblegum Alley.
Bubblegum Alley
Tucked between two buildings, these colorful walls make you want to go ‘ooh’ and ‘eww’ at the same time. Plastered with chewed gum, Bubblegum Alley is spread over 70 feet and goes as high as 15 feet, with the buildup densest at the bottom.
These twin canvases colored with pink, white, green and yellow globs, is a group project that has been attracting people since nobody-knows-when. Even its origins are unclear. Some people believe it dates back to the Second World War, when the students of the local high school decided to mark their graduation by leaving a mark here on these walls. Yet another lore says it began as a sign of rivalry between the students of San Luis Obispo High School and California Polytechnic!
Whatever the beginnings of this graffiti in gum, Bubblegum Alley, as it has come to be known, has become an attraction that’s hard to ignore. Over the decades of its existence, hundreds of thousands of chewed pieces of gum have been stuck here by locals and tourists alike. These walls have been cleaned a few times, but they seem to come back to life. It does seem like this community art project is here to stay.
How to get to these Gum Walls
If you just drive through San Luis Obispo hoping to see Bubblegum Alley, you’re going to miss it. You’ll have to be on foot and walking up or down Higuera Street to catch sight of it between the stores, restaurants and boutiques of this tourist town.
It’s in the 700th Block, the block between Churro Street and Broad Street. To be exact, Bubblegum Alley is situated between 733 and 737 Higuera Street.
It’s a one-way street and has limited street parking, so go prepared to drive around a bit before you find a place to park.
More murals from California’s Central Coast:
Mack and the boys, Cannary Row
An open-air gallery in Oxnard, CA
Found in Solvang
Colors from Pismo Beach
Linking to —
Monday Mural on Colourful World
An unusual mural. Thanks for participating in Monday Murals Dee.
I’ll just call it unusual art that supposed to work as a mural. 😀
Thank you for hosting, Sami. 🙂
The similarly disgusting bubblegum wall in Seattle may not be as historic, but it’s just as gross!
Oh yes! Yeah, quite gross. 😀 Years ago I gave it a pass coz I had a baby with me. However, during my last year’s visit to the Pikes Place area, I went and checked it out.
Thank you for coming this way, Mae. 🙂
Well, I don’t really know what to think of it. This chewing gum is definitely not on the ground. I once saw a wall like that in Belgium too, don’t remember where
It’s a very odd attraction. Fascinating, too.
Oh you did? So there are more places like this. Good to know that.
Thank you for visiting. 🙂
OMG, I’ve never heard of Bubblegum Alley before! Very unique, kind of quintessentially American, isn’t it!
Quite, I thought. And then I heard about the one in Belgium. 🙂
So I this one, and the one in Seattle aren’t the only ones.
Thank you for stopping by, Debra. 🙂
…my first thought was, this disgusting and second thought was, this is disgusting!!!`
haha! That, it is. 100% 😀
I hope your week is not going to be disgusting. Have a good week, Tom. 🙂
Looks wonderful, Glad to know about Bubblegum walls.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Public art of a different kind, eh. 🙂
Thank you for visiting, Rupam.
Haha, this is both cool and kinda gross at the same time! 😅
Bubblegum Alley really proves that people can turn just about anything into “art.”
Definitely one of those spots you’d have to see in person to believe.
Thanks for sharing, Dee!
I swear! 😀
Right? This is one of those places you don’t want to go to but you also want to see the weirdness of it. 😀
Thank you for coming this way, Veronica. 🙂