Utility Boxes

Listserv Thread, April 2018

Question: Hi everyone—if you have public art and/or photo wraps on your traffic signal and electric boxes, would you answer some questions, please?

Approximate cost
Life span of art/wraps
Does it adversely affect the interior workings--my Municipal Electric guy says yes ;)
Do you change it out periodically
How do you select the art
Pros/cons

Thanks so much!

Julie Glover, CMSM, Denton Economic Development Program Administrator

Calgary, Canada

(sent in by Sarah Gamble, Main Street Architect)

The City of Calgary has an extensive utility box program with over 200 temporary installations on utility boxes, including a full range of artistic media and subject matter. Images available here: http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Utility-Box-Public-Art-Program.aspx

Typically for these commissions, the artists are selected by a panel of 5 individuals, including at least 3 arts professionals (ie. Professional artists, curators, educators, etc) from the region / community and at least 1 community member representing the area where the public art will be installed. Also, a portion of these utility box commissions in Calgary were completed as part of the city’s active public art mentorship programs, where more experienced artists work with emerging artists to complete a project. As the scale of these public art commissions is on the smaller side (both size and budget), these projects are a nice stepping stone for emerging artists hoping to pursue larger commissions in the future.

Waco, Texas

Waco has wraps on many of the boxes downtown. They have an artistic map showing locations of the different mini-districts within downtown, with drawings of iconic buildings. They’ve been up for a couple of years with no visible wear and tear or impact to the operation of the boxes. Now we’ve put kiosks up with an updated map and we need to remove these. I’m told all we’ll need is some goo-gone, but we haven’t tried it yet…

Megan Henderson - City Center Waco

Tyler, Texas

Keep Tyler Beautiful, Tyler Solid Waste, and Main Street Gallery teamed up to find a creative way to upgrade the look of the many metal traffic boxes around the city. Now the public can sponsor any electrical box with pre-approved art work from Main Street Gallery or submit their own to be approved.

beauty-and-the-box-tyler-tx-downtown-eguide-art-gallery-museum-33yq8vasvyrexovgpghz4a.jpg

Downtown Graphics Network, Inc.

Hi Julie: We do that!

Approximate cost Figure $5-8 sq./ft. depending on the substrate, quantity per design and quality of the art (how much we have to mess with it)
Life span of art/wraps Using 3M UV outdoor inks (not solvent) expect 2-3 solid years. I can sell you liquid laminate to extend the life.
Does it adversely affect the interior workings--my Municipal Electric guy says yes ;) Was he dropped on his head at birth?
Do you change it out periodically You should. I will make more money printing them for you and you will not be accused of promoting visual clutter
How do you select the art By committee. It is the most painful, laborious, subjective process that produces the lowest common denominator.*
Pros/cons It is a great idea. It is temporary. It adds excitement and buzz to the street. Use a removable substrate (that is important).

*don’t show them anything you do not personally like…. That is the one they will pick

Do a test run. They are not that expensive.