A new project is fighting billboard blight on Castro Valley Boulevard with art…at least temporarily.

The Art Everywhere US Project aims to make art more accessible and “is the first of its kind in the US and follows a successful 2013 version in the UK, with plans to be repeated this summer. It affords an unprecedented opportunity to acquaint millions of Americans and visitors to our country with some of America’s best and most memorable artworks,” according to the Art Everywhere US Project website.”

The US campaign was officially launched on August 4, 2014,  and the first billboard in Castro Valley was erected on August 6.  Castro Valley will be home to two billboards and two bus shelters adorned with masterpieces

Here are the four artworks slated for Castro Valley, and their locations:

• Green River Cliffs – 1881, by Thomas Moran – Billboard on Castro Valley Boulevard near Wisteria
• Magnolia Blossom – 1925 by Imogen Cunningham – Billboard on Castro Valley Boulevard, near Stanton
• The Fountain – 1907, by John Singer Sargent – Bus Shelter on Castro Valley Boulevard, near San Miguel
• Pueblo Woman – 1932, by Emil J. Bisttram – Bus Shelter on Castro Valley Boulevard, near Marshall

The 21 year old Castro Valley Downtown Area Specific Plan specified that all billboards in the Downtown area were to be removed by December 31, 1995.  Clearly this plan has not yet been implemented,  but at the July 21st Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council meeting Chris Bazar, Director of the Alameda County Development Agency said that Billboard Reduction and Relocation Program was one of their top priorities in the near future.

More information, including maps and information for all art being installed nationwide, can be found at the Art Everywhere US Project website.