Cuba, Missouri is known as the Route 66 Mural City, but that is only part of the story. One of the results of Viva Cuba’s 12 outdoor murals project is the support and participation of Cuba businesses for Cuba’s public art project.

Some of Cuba’s other public art is very visible along Route 66 while other examples are tucked away in not so well-known areas. On our Viva Cuba website, we have a section known as Other Public Art. Click on the link to view examples of our public art outside Viva Cuba’s 12 murals and see if you are familiar with all of it.

You may be surprised to find that we have sculpture, 3D murals that light up, mural signs, utilitarian art, and religious art. Here’s one at Meramec Valley that we haven’t included on the site yet.

Meramec Valley Mural Sign

Meramec Valley wished to contribute to public art with their sign.

According to Deter Matlock from Meramec Valley, ” It was painted by Rick & Joan Hasamear, two very talented members at Meramec Valley. They worked on this in the basement of their home painting one 4ft by 8ft panel at a time. The Mural is 16 ft wide and 8ft tall. The idea was that as the Mural City we needed to particpate in the theme for the city with our new sign.”

It is the participation of our local businesses that keep our collection of public art growing. As someone who monitors comments and interactions of visitors to our town, I often hear Cuba referred to as “friendly, cute, quaint, and attractive.” These responses are important to our local economy. This perception of our town brings more visitors who enjoy what our businesses have to offer. That brings sales tax to our town and puts money into the pockets of our workers. It’s pretty much a win-win for all of us.

And we get to enjoy our art and stories it tells year-round.

Let us know of installations that we may not have pictured on our site. We are always updating.