Kelly Trom
ktrom@mustangdaily.net
In broad daylight, a man sits in the middle of the downtown San Luis Obispo sidewalk applying paint to a utility box. No, this isn’t some ill-timed graffiti attempt. And it wouldn’t have been an uncommon sight to see last year while making a trip downtown to shop or eat.
The Box Art program is a collaboration project between the city of San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo Downtown Association. It started in 2010, when 16 utility boxes in downtown’s core were painted. Round two was completed this past year, when 13 additional utility boxes were painted in areas extending beyond the downtown area, near Cal Poly and the railroad district.
The works featured on the boxes were all done by local artists.
“Artists residing in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Monterey counties were invited to apply during the open call for artists — 106 applications were submitted and reviewed by city staff and the art jury, a selection committee,” recreation and public art manager Shannon Bates said.
A passage from the application artists filled out during the open call stated the main objective of the project: “The goal of the ‘Box Art’ project is to use utility boxes as ‘canvases’ for original pieces of art as well as to contribute to the vitality and attractiveness of the city, while deterring graffiti.”
One lucky artist was able to bypass the application process because of previous work he did for the city. Jeff Claassen donated a skateboard deck for the “Deck it Out” art show in 2011 that raised money for the SLO Skate Park. He was invited to paint a box, but still needed to submit a few original design concepts to the city to be approved. The design concepts Claassen submitted were loosely based on paintings he had already created.
Claassen painted his box in October 2012, working on and off for a week or two because of some rainy days, he said.
“Every time I was out there painting, people would say ‘Thanks for doing that’ or scream it out their car as they drove by,” Claassen said.
Claassen was grateful to the city for the chance to add some vibrancy to his community.
“It adds some color to the urban landscape,” he said. “It certainly adds something different for everybody. It turns a drab piece of equipment into something colorful and interesting.”
The subjects for the art on the utility boxes range from landscapes, to animals wild and domesticated, to abstract, colorful works. Some utility boxes display local landmarks, such as Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa and Bishop Peak. The artists were encouraged to paint local scenes that featured the feel and look of San Luis Obispo.
Charlie Clingman, local artist and San Luis Obispo resident chose to bring a little piece of the sea to downtown San Luis Obispo.
“I feel like it was a neat scene that reflected a beautiful part of the coast and I wanted to bring that inland a little bit,” Clingman said. “I think landscapes are cool in a city environment because its nature in a lot of man-made stuff and it relaxes people.”
The artists were only restricted from painting any content related to advertising, religious art, sexual material, negative imagery or political partisanship. Artists were also required to use acrylic latex waterborne exterior wall and trim paint.
Local artist Lena Rushing also painted her utility box in October 2012 and decided to include some of San Luis Obispo’s nature life onto her design.
“I thought that Barn Owls would be a great way to represent SLO county,” Rushing said. “They are a common sight due to the rich farmlands and vineyards that are dotted with old red barns throughout our beautiful countryside.”
Rushing was grateful to have the opportunity to put her unique interpretation and image of San Luis Obispo into her contribution to the Box Art program.
“My vision and intent was to create vibrant, intriguing, works of art that would encourage the viewer to engage in art related conversation and get the public involved and excited about art,” she said. “Public art serves as a running commentary for the generation and location from which it is created; a window into the soul of the city.”
The project was funded by the money raised by a city fee applied to private development projects that chose not to incorporate a public art piece in the development. The fee helps fund the Box Art program and other public art programs active in the city.
The utility box art program has been taken on by numerous other cities, including Berkeley, Emeryville, Santa Clara and San Clemente. Each had its own individual spin, with some cities only asking high school students to participate. Emeryville reinterpreted classic street signs to create its utility box art program, named “Sign of the Times.”
Community members who want to know more about the background of each of the San Luis Obispo artists who painted the boxes, or simply the locations of all the utility boxes, can go online to the city of San Luis Obispo’s Public Art webpage to download a map.