With one year under its belt, the Discovering Windsor Through Art utility box painting program, run through Windsor’s public art advisory commission and the parks and recreation department, is calling artists to beautify otherwise droll infrastructure.
This year’s theme is “Together Towards Tomorrow,” and, according to the call for artists, it’s “designed to look towards the future and reflect upon all that is possible when we work together.” Artists or teams of artists hoping to display their work and help beautify the town must submit an application, conceptual rendering and up to three digital images of prior work by 5 p.m. March 7. The application and additional information are available on the Public Art Advisory Commission (PAAC) webpage.
Last year, the public art advisory commission launched this program, which saw seven artists selected from 13 applications to each paint one of the utility boxes located around town.
According to the project website, the utility box painting program “aims to help beautify the community, enhancing the lives of residents as well as those who visit and work in the town. This program is designed to grow and develop the talent from within to allow the community to discover each other through art.”
The commission has identified 24 utility boxes total to be completed in batches spread out over, with each to be replaced with new art every three to five years after its last painting — just when the paint would be starting to chip and fade.
2021’s theme was “Community Healing,” and art was installed on utility boxes near areas frequented by pedestrians or motorists, with the more detailed or subtle art placed where walkers can stop and look, and more bold art placed where drivers can see, at place like Old Redwood Highway and Pleasant Avenue, or along Shiloh Road, according to Parks and Facilities Manager Olivia Lemen.
“The main criteria last year was visibility,” Lemen said. “The one on Shiloh has very little if no pedestrian traffic, so we selected one of the works of art that was bold, that had less detail that would be missed by traffic. It’s a beautification project that turns a fairly bland and boring utility box into something beautiful.”
Other factors in last year’s selection included the appropriateness of the artist or artwork in relation to its location. For instance, a kindergarten teacher painted the box near Mattie Washburn Elementary, and a Sonoma County high school student painted the one near Windsor High School. Entries are not limited to Windsor residents but to anyone from Sonoma County, which Lemen keeps the project local.
Lemen said the utility box painting program began during the pandemic and has been a safe way to engage the public and create a dialogue around art, after the council decided it was the wrong time for a proposal that would have added a 1% to development fees for public art funding. The PAAC got council approval in June 2020, and the project planning was completed by January.
“It was about an eight-month turnaround, which in government is really quick,” Lemen said.
Artist selection will be announced on April 20, with a workshop for selected artists the week of April 25 and box painting slated to take place between May 6 and 16. PAAC commissioners will jury the first round and make a recommendation for the council to select artists and specific boxes.
Last year’s painted boxes can be viewed online here, or, of course, in person around town.
