If Highland Park had a mascot, it would likely be Chicken Boy. An official stop along Historic Route 66, Chicken Boy -- a giant statue of a man with a chicken head -- has been a prominent fixture on top of Future Studio on Avenue 56 for the last 10 years. 

  • Giant chicken head statue in Highland Park known as 'Chicken Boy'
  • Statue was originally a fast-food ad in DTLA
  • Local artist rescued statue from being discarded and mounted it on rooftop

Amy Inouye is Chicken Boy’s savior and it’s a love story for the ages.

“Forty years ago I moved to Los Angeles and one of the very first things I saw when I moved here was Chicken Boy,” says designer Amy Inouye. “I'm driving up the street and I just looked up at the right time and I saw him and he basically said to me ‘Welcome to L.A.’”

Chicken Boy was originally an advertisement for a fast-food restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles, but when it closed down, Inouye inquired about what was going to happen to the statue. The owners of the restaurant said she could take it if she wanted, so she did.

After 20 years in storage, she decided to put Chicken Boy on top of her studio in Highland Park where she has an art gallery, book shop, and also curates a mini museum dedicated to chickens.

“Chicken Boy’s Chicken Museum is made up of chicken items that people have gifted me through the years since I first saved Chicken Boy and they include things like snow domes, chicken Elvis, lamps,” says Inouye. “I have collected thousands of chicken items and one of the amazing things is, there are no duplicates.”

Inouye is no ordinary Chicken Lady. An artist at heart, she’s a book designer and you’ve probably seen her work in bookstores all over the city. She designs the covers and lays out books for Angel City Press, Prospect Park Books, and Santa Monica Press. She’s done everything from non-fiction to murder mysteries and they’re all about Los Angeles.

“I found myself in this niche where I do a lot of Los Angeles history projects and it's just so wonderful. I see the best images. I meet really fantastic, passionate L.A. people. I've done histories of the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, Port of L.A., Terminal Island,” says Inouye.

And the list goes on. So if you’re planning a road trip down Route 66, you may want to start with a visit to Chicken Boy.