September 26, 2015
San Luis Obispo (often known simply as SLO) is a city of about 50,000 and is the home of California Polytechnic State University. It is named after San Luis, Obispo de Talosa (Saint Louis, bishop of Toulouse). Louis (1274-1297) was the second son of King Charles II of Naples, but having been placed under the care of Franciscan friars for his education, he gave up all his claims to his inheritance, taking the Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He was named Bishop of Toulouse at the age of 22 and gained a reputation for serving the poor, feeding the hungry and ignoring his own needs. However, after only six months he had abandoned the position of Bishop and within the year had died, possibly of typhoid.
We spent the afternoon strolling around the downtown area and checking out the Mission and SLO art museum.
One of the town’s most well known attractions is Gum Alley.
The Mission was founded in 1772. It’s not as large as the Mission in Santa Barbara but still very beautiful.
Next to the Mission is the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. It is a small museum with only three rooms of exhibits while we were there.
We liked the exhibition Little by Little by Trish Andersen, an immersive textile exhibition which, according to the museum guide, explores the importance of patience, presence and persistence.
We also liked this painting by Philip Guston, called Cigar and painted in 1969. It reflects and criticizes the KKK members he saw while growing up in Southern California. We think of the Klan being associated with the south but white extremists have a long history in California. The state had about 200,000 Klan members in the 1920s and there are a number of white supremacist groups that are still active throughout the state.
Mal and Lauren 