RYAH COOLEY

Famed Nipomo-based cartoonist Leigh Rubin is a cowman. Heifers make regular appearances in Rubes, his daily cartoon that’s syndicated in 400 media outlets worldwide. He even co-created a life-sized cow sculpture with a cape (dubbed Adventure Cow) for the CowParade in SLO a few years back. But when the SLO Botanical Garden asked Rubin to […]

In the back left corner of an RV Park in Arroyo Grande stands a hulking, industrial steel box of a building. It doesn’t look like much, but inside, woodworker and sculptor Ben Riddering is toiling away to give discarded scraps of wood a second life. The whirring of a chainsaw fills the air. Wearing a […]

While other Central Coast kids are busy dreaming up their Christmas wish lists, Sacha Carlson is still glowing from a gift he got months ago. Just two days before his 14th birthday back in October, San Luis Obispo-based Carlson got his big break as an actor: the role of bully Scut Farkus in Fox’s A […]

Brooklyn-based artist Oliver Herring tells people, “I don’t know,” when asked what the plan is for one of his collaborative art happenings, and he really means it. To be fair, Herring’s work is both outside the box and elaborate. Think, using humans as sculptures or people wearing clothes drenched in colored food dye while they’re […]

While the most popular toy may change with each holiday season, there’s one gift that will make any kid speechless with joy: a puppy to call one’s own. Dog mom and Nipomo author Ethel Landers knows a thing or two about caring for puppies. The SLO Gay and Lesbian Alliance Center art gallery curator is […]

We humans are lucky if we get a solid 100 years on this planet, but imagine what it might be like to live for several centuries, all in the same exact spot you were born. Well, in a fascinating work of magical realism, author Melina Sempill Watts’ novel released earlier this year explores just that. […]

Drive too fast on North Thompson Road in Nipomo and you just might miss it. But right across the street from Jocko’s Steak House, there it is, a cute nondescript wood building painted gray with succulents peeking around the edges. Step inside and you’ll see art by local artists covering nearly every available inch of […]

It’s only noon on a recent Saturday in Paso Robles, but the sun’s rays are already oppressively warm, clocking in at around 91 degrees as I drive around downtown, looking for a parking spot. I’m heading to the Paso Robles Wine Festival. Even though the downtown park and immediate surrounding streets are blocked off, it’s […]

The niceties of a play—that is a set and props, elaborate costumes, and the creation of a world the audience can see but remains invisible to—are all stripped aside in favor of the stuff of life that actually matters in the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre’s production of Our Town. On opening night May 12, […]

Two years ago, lab assistant Ryan Carroll didn’t even know what paper cutting was. Carroll did grow up crafting origami creations of everything from geometric shapes to animals. So when he stumbled across the art of paper cutting (which has roots going back to sixth century China) on Instagram while in between jobs, he was […]