Arts Colony Culture
Though surrounded by suburbs, the Pomona Arts Colony is an urban neighborhood that is quirky, inviting and buzzing with activity 24/7.
There are murals on every street. The galleries showcase emerging artists. The shops are eclectic and one-of-a-kind. The restaurants are ethnic and mom and pop. The sidewalks serve students by day, concertgoers by night, and friends clubbing into the wee hours. Artists live in lofts upstairs and show their work in basement galleries. Musicians lay down tracks in alley studios, sell in vinyl shops, then play in clubs and concert halls. Everyone comes out for art walks, movie shoots and music festivals. The Arts Colony is a place anyone can join and everybody can enjoy exploring.
Public Artwork and Sculptures
The Pomona Loft Scene
Artists fell in love with the downtown's abandoned buildings in the late 1970s. Without permits, and sometimes without permission, they turned empty offices and storefronts into secret studios and galleries. In 1994, Pomona passed a groundbreaking live-work ordinance that officially allowed artists to live, work and start businesses in the same creative space. Today more than a dozen historic buildings house more than 200 artist lofts, the largest cluster of lofts east of Los Angeles. They are the creative heart of the Arts Colony and home to the urban pioneers that turned it into a thriving neighborhood again.
