Fallbrook Art in Public Places

Walking Tour Guide of Fallbrook

Start in the Town Center parking lot behind the Fallbrook Art Center (A). To the south is “The Old Ones,” (1) a mural by local artist Brett Stokes. Dedicated in 1997, the mural honors the local native people whose grinding stones and artifacts virtually surround Fallbrook.

From this spot turn east going to Main, turn right and walk one block to Elder. On the south side of the corner building is a Stokes mural, “Santa Fe Crossing Main”, (2) dedicated in 2008. Brett remembers hearing the train horn on its serpentine journey through Fallbrook.

Walk north on Main to Fig, and there in front of the Wells Fargo Bank is Glenna Goodacres’s bronze, “Facts of Life”, (17). Continue walking to Alvarado, and you will see on the north corner a sepia-tone mural, “Main Street, circa 1920”, (3) by Jim Fahnestock, another Fallbrook artist.

Looking into the Village Square (D), you’ll see the very first Fallbrook mural (4) by the four women who started the Fallbrook Mural Group. Kathleen Gee, Toni Inman, Neill Ketchum, and Liz Yamaguchi repaired the old shack and painted on it, the floral and fauna of our environment. Also in the Village Square are four bronze sculptures: “Bearfoot in the Park” (5), by Nancy Scott, “Bonjour”(7) by Celou Bonnet, “Watchful Eyes” by Cliff Hollestelle, (8) and “Guardians of Freedom” (9) by Christopher Pardell.

Turn to your right (east) on Alvarado and proceed one and a half blocks. On the north side at Vine, is Peter Mitten’s “Yeibichai” (10), a bronze sculpture expressing his love of land formations of canyons that wind behind and into the mountains.

As you approach the Fallbrook School of the Arts (C), on the north side of the street, enjoy the intricacy of The Fallbrook Fence (11), a 2001 work by artist Wendell Perry. The iron fence incorporates found objects like railroad tracks, glass objects, and aluminum. On the east side of the school building is a 2002 mural by Clayton Parker, “Building Pride through Beautification” (12). Near the front door is “The Children’s Totems” (13) a 2001 ceramic piece created by the students.

Return to Main and walk north one block and turn right on Hawthorne. On the south side is “Sleeping Indian Landscape” (15), by Brett Stokes depicting our agricultural history and the Santa Margarita River Valley.

Back to Main, and north to Ivy, turn right. In front of the fire station is a life size bronze sculpture by Celou Bonnet, “Joy of the Rescue” (16). Walk back to the parking lot and go in the new library (B) and see the large collection of permanent art pieces including “Fallbrook Friends”(22) by Marsha Brook.

The rest of the collection is more easily viewed by driving to an area and walking around.

Drive south on Mission. The bronze “Totem Bird” (18) by an art student stands in the Beech St. Park, at Beech and South Mission, which is a good place to park. The mural, “All Creatures Great and Small”(19) runs along the wall facing the park and was painted by the students of Fallbrook Country Day School. Walk south on Mission and at Ash St., turn left and walk over the “Ash Street Bridge” (30) by Wendell Perry and Peter Mitten.

You may drive or walk on Mission down to Fallbrook St and see “The Happies” (20) in front of May Ellis Elementary School.

Drive south on Mission and turn left on Stage Coach Lane and go 3 miles, parking at the Palomares House (E), home to the Land Conservancy and across the street from Dinwiddie Preserve. There are five bronze sculptures in the gardens of the House: “Tukwut” (25), “Crowned Prince” (26), “The Gathering Quail Family” (27), “Beacon” (28), and “The Dawning” (29).

Once you have discovered these five art pieces, you have concluded the Tour…for the present.
Art in Public Places is always adding to Fallbrook’s collection.