How to Turn Boring Utility Boxes into Public Art

Bill Lindeke writes that in a few Minneapolis neighborhoods, utility boxes "have flowered into some of the best showcases for public art, bringing community together in often surprising ways."

Lindeke explains some of the benefits of turning utility boxes into colorful centerpieces for the street, including graffiti reduction and a more creative streetscape.

The article also detail process—both from the standpoint of the vinyl wrap technology that enables all kinds of artistic representation on to the boxes and the approvals necessary to undertake such a makeover. Lindeke describes that process as cumbersome, despite the city's recent adoption of pre-approved designs to streamline the process.

Of course, pre-approved designs also defeat the purpose of one of the benefits of such art projects, as described by Lindeke: "The public-space utility of utility boxes is an unexpected urban dynamic. What first appears to be the epitome of boring infrastructural blight, when given a little bit of artistic love, can become one of the small ways that people begin to make meaning in their neighborhood."