New Palm Springs Popsicles Art brightens Sunny Dunes 

Salinas artist John Cerney’s installation at 605 Sunny Dunes Road, across from Townie Bagels, features five hands holding up different flavors of popsicles.  The five colorful popsicles art pieces are a part of Palm Springs art commissioned through a Neighborhood Grant Program. The Palm Springs Public Arts Commission uses its grant programs to help out local artists struggling from the pandemic.

Artist John Cerney

John Cerney is a Monterey County based artist behind this Palm Springs popsicles art that has been creating larger than life, painted plywood figures since 1995. He has painted hundreds of murals on display all around the country. A California native, his artwork can best be described as giant cut-out art ordinarily viewed from the comfort of your automobile.

Wanting to reach a larger audience, John Cerney convinced a farmer to allow him to paint a mural on his barn, just for practice. This ultimately led to commissions from local business owners to paint their walls. Finally realizing that he could earn a living painting murals and gain a wider audience, he moved to Salinas in 1991 to concentrate on his wall paintings.

The Artist Evolution

The evolution of the cut-out paintings was slow, with a hand sticking out above a fence line as a start.  He then painted a complete automobile in front of a wall. From there he decided the feeling that the wall was unnecessary and that lead to the cut-outs that stand on their own. The landscape behind the figures become the background.

With all of his work now maintaining a “giant” status, the artist’s installations are almost exclusively found alongside the highways of California and the Midwest. His work is featured in numerous magazines, books, and newspapers over the years, including National Geographic, Sunset Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and the New York Times.

This Palm Springs popsicles art instillation will stay up until December 2021.

By Randy Garner