Thank you for your interest in wanting to beautify San José! Murals can greatly add to sense of place. There are some considerations that must be made before venturing into a mural project and the first is: who owns the property you wish to paint a mural on? If the mural is to go on private property – the City of San José is not involved, and it is recommended you contact the owner to discuss further. It is also recommended you consider speaking with legal counsel regarding the Visual Artist Rights Act (VARA) and the California Art Preservation Act (CAPA) before forming an agreement with a private property owner. If you are looking to do a mural on City property, a key consideration is funding. Do you have the funds for the design, fabrication, installation, administration, and long-term maintenance of the mural which includes coating the mural with an anti-graffiti clear coat?  

For utility box murals: there are hundreds of thousands of utility boxes in San José, and most of them are not owned by the City but rather PG & E, Valley Water, Comcast, ATT & T, County of Santa Clara, and other organizations. The City has no approval authority over utility boxes owned by other organizations so you would need to figure out who owns the utility box – by physically visiting the box – locate the owner tag on the box, and then contact that owner for permission. The City is not funded to paint murals on utility boxes, so any costs to implement a project would need to be provided by the requestor. 

Below are key information resources for community members and artists who are interested in pursuing community mural projects and artwork projects on City property, utility, and service boxes.

MURAL DESIGN INFORMATION fORM

• Access the Mural Design Information Form (PDF)

MURAL GUIDELINES

• Review the Mural Guidelines (PDF)

UTILITY & SERVICE BOX Art TREATMENTs

• Review information regarding art projects on utility and service boxes (PDF) 

If you have questions, please email our office at publicart@sanjoseca.gov.