As part of Council Member Green’s Klean It Up/Green It Up Campaign, on June 6, CM Green, along with the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Public Works & Engineering Dept., and the Houston Arts Alliance, unveiled the first of 31 mini-mural civic art projects within District K at the corner of West Bellfort Ave. at Willowbend Blvd. This is a pilot project sponsored through CM Green’s council service budget to transform 31 traffic signal electrical boxes into mini-murals throughout District K.
“I’m very excited that our council office is bringing civic art to District K. Moreover I’m thrilled to work with UP Art Studio, which is the conduit for this mini-mural project,” states Council Member Larry Green. “Unfortunately, council districts outside Loop 610 don’t have the same opportunity to acquire civic art as those areas inside the Loop. This civic arts project will expose these electrical boxes’ mini-murals as a legacy initiative toward fostering civic art not only within District K neighborhoods but to the entire city.”
This civic arts project converts blight into art by reimagining electrical control boxes (also known as signal cabinets or utility boxes) as blank canvasses brimming with creative opportunity. Once painted by a local artist, the boxes, which are located at very intersection with a traffic signal, are intended to help install civic pride while beautifying neighborhoods and streetscapes across Houston. The mini-mural pilot phase will kick-off with 15 urban artist commissioned by UP Art Studio to these electrical boxes within District K into colorful works of art.
Council Member Green is the first to make a substantial commitment to this civic arts project in which this pilot phase is being made possible by the support of Houston Council Member Larry Green’s council service fund.
The first mini-mural was painted by the world-class muralist and street artist, Anat Ronen. Other participating artists for the remainder District K traffic control cabinets includes 2:12, Alex “Zu” Arzu, Ana Maria, Cutthroat, Dual, Gabriel Prusmack, GONZO247, Jessica Guerra, Lee Washington, Sebastien “Mr. D” Boileau, Pilot FX, Shelbi—Nicole, w3r3on3, and Wiley.
With the pilot phase, UP Art Studio and its partners aim to raise awareness of the project in order to expand to other areas across Houston, especially areas that are art deficient. The electrical box mini-mural civic arts project is a fiscally sponsored project of Fresh Arts, a nonprofit arts service organization. For information about the project, visit www.minimurals.org.
