The banjo-shaped planter on the north side of Downtown City Park is the stretch of lawn between the Carnegie Library and the corner at 12th Street. It is now a construction site. On October 30, Sensorio posted that work had started on its "Gift of Light to Paso Robles." The gift is three illuminated steel sculptures by HYBYCOZO, the artist duo behind the DIMENSIONS field on Sensorio's hillside.
The timing puts the project right before downtown's busiest stretch of evening events, which start with a lighting ceremony in the park on the day after Thanksgiving. These sculptures run on a longer schedule than any holiday season. The City's approval lets them stay for three years, lit for 12 hours every night, with an option to extend. That gives the downtown square a light installation that will still be on long after this year's holiday calendar ends.
A gift that began as a grant application that didn't get funded
Sensorio was not the first funding plan. The City's agenda report for the January 14, 2026 Council meeting lays out how the idea moved from a funding request to a donation:
- Early 2025: The City and Sensorio start talking about public art in Downtown City Park, as part of the City's 5-Year Economic Development Strategic Plan.
- March 2025: The City sends a Letter of Intent to the Arts in California Parks grant program. It asks for $70,000 for a "Paso Robles Downtown Public Art Placemaking Initiative."
- May 2025: The City learns the project was not selected for funding.
- July 2025: Sensorio offers to pay for the design, fabrication, installation and maintenance itself, as a gift to the community.
- Fall 2025: Ryan Hopple of Sensorio and Stacie Jacob of Solterra Strategies present the plan for three sculptures in the banjo planter. The report says Sensorio owners Bobbi and Ken Hunter want to donate it as "A Gift of Light."
- December 8, 2025: The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee unanimously recommends approval.
- January 14, 2026: City Council approves the installation unanimously.
- October 30, 2026: Sensorio announces that construction has started.
The City went looking for $70,000 to put art in the park and came away with no grant. It ended up with a privately funded installation by an artist collective with an international reputation. Its own ongoing cost is mostly an electric bill.
What a dollar a night pays for
The report spells out the specs. Each sculpture is steel, set on a concrete footing sunk into the planter bed. The lighting is static warm white or a single color. The installation draws 180 watts and runs 12 hours a night. That comes to 2.16 kilowatt-hours a night, at an estimated cost to the City of about $1.00 per night, or roughly $365 a year. Sensorio pays for commissioning, fabrication, installation and all ongoing maintenance.
Set that $365 next to the $70,000 grant request and you can see why the vote was unanimous. The City pays for power. Sensorio carries everything else for at least three years.
The design is meant to show from the street. According to the report, HYBYCOZO's goal is to bring light, art and community together at "a highly visible entryway to downtown Paso Robles." The San Luis Obispo Tribune's coverage of the vote describes three geometric shapes lit from within, throwing detailed patterns of light and shadow onto the area around them. As the Tribune reported, Councilmember Steve Gregory thanked the donors from the dais:
"I'd like to say thank you to Sensorio for this wonderful gift and continued partnership with our community."
The Tribune also reported that Mayor John Hamon suggested looking into changing the light color through the year to match the seasons. If that happens, a sculpture that stays all year could also change with the calendar. Up to two 18-by-24-inch interpretive plaques will go next to the pieces. The plaques use near-field communication, so a tap with a phone links to Sensorio content.
The City's estimate was two to three months to fabricate the sculptures, then two to three weeks to install them. On-site work started at the end of October. By that estimate, installation would finish around the start of downtown's holiday events.
The season that now runs around them
Most of downtown's holiday programming happens in or around City Park, and this year all of it takes place within sight of the north-end planter. Downtown Paso Robles Main Street Association lists these free events:
| Date | Event | Where and when |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | Elegant Holiday Evening Downtown | Downtown, 5 to 8 p.m. |
| Friday, Nov. 27 | Downtown Lighting Ceremony | City Park, 5 to 6:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, Dec. 5 | Christmas Light Parade | Downtown, 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Vine Street Christmas Victorian Showcase | Vine Street from 8th to 21st streets, 6 to 9 p.m. |
Saturday's Elegant Evening on November 14 starts holiday shopping downtown. Travel Paso describes merchant open-house specials, live mannequins, refreshments and entertainment.
The Lighting Ceremony on the day after Thanksgiving takes place in the park itself. It includes candlelight caroling, coffee and cocoa, City officials, Mrs. Claus, elves and Mr. Ginch. The Main Street Association's Black Out Bingo shopping game begins the next day, Saturday, November 28. The three steel pieces on the north lawn will be there for that ceremony and for the next three holiday seasons after it.
The Christmas Light Parade goes through downtown on December 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. The Vine Street Showcase follows a week later and runs thirteen blocks of Victorian-era Vine Street, from 8th to 21st. The Carnegie Library sits between the planter and 12th Street, which makes the north end of the park a natural stop on the way from the square toward Vine.
Downtown can also expect some other construction. In September, the City announced a $2 million rehabilitation of parts of 16th, 18th, 30th, 32nd and 36th streets. Work started on 16th between Chestnut and Spring, and the project is expected to finish in early 2027. Anyone driving to the parade or the showcase from the north side may run into work zones along the way.
The 44 pieces on the hill they came from
The downtown sculptures come from a much larger HYBYCOZO installation. DIMENSIONS opened at Sensorio in May 2024. HYBYCOZO describes it as a permanent hillside field of 44 internally lit stainless-steel polyhedra. Visitors can walk into four of them, and the central sculpture holds 20 people. Sensorio's description adds interactive spinning elements and a 33-minute musical soundtrack, and it lists DIMENSIONS among the seven exhibits included with general admission. Paso Robles Daily News covered the opening weekend in 2024.
Sensorio's posted hours for November and December are Thursday through Sunday, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. It adds extra days on November 25, December 21 through 23, and December 28 through 30. Sensorio updates the hours page regularly, so check it before driving out.
The two sites compare like this. The hillside field has 44 pieces and requires a ticket. The City Park version has three pieces, costs nothing to see, and is lit every night of the week whether or not Sensorio is open. For people who live a few blocks from the square, it puts the hill's most recognizable work on a walk they already take. It also keeps the park's north lawn lit every night of the year, holidays or not.
If a lit landmark in City Park has you wondering how the blocks around the square might change over the next few years, that is the kind of question Jordan Jackson works through with Paso Robles clients, with a design-minded eye on downtown and the streets around it. Book a Consultation and we'll walk the blocks together.
