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Proposal would add art to traffic boxes in Mesa
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When most people drive by the metal traffic boxes on Mesa street corners, they pass by without a second glance. A new plan going before the city might change that by adding art to the boxes.
Dave Richins, head of the nonprofit West Mesa Community Development Corp., has proposed a plan to the city to add art to those small open spaces in the city just aching for a designer’s touch.
“Right now, these are open canvases,” he said of the metal boxes that can be used to control traffic.
The plan will go before the community and neighborhood services committee this morning.
Richins said the program would not use city money, only staff time.
The additions would be made of the wraps typically seen on buses and cars for advertising.
The wraps are expected to cost $350 to produce and install.
They would feature the work of local artists and be treated with anti-graffiti material.
The city would not want to use the wraps for advertising and would restrict the use of business or product names, according to a city staff report.
Local artists, who normally charge a fee for their work, have agreed to donate the art.
Under the proposal, the Neighborhood Services Department would screen the artists’ submissions.
The transportation department would ensure that the art would not be placed in an overly distracting location.
“We want it to be ‘art by accident’ not ‘art by accidents,’ ” Richins said.
Richins’ plan is to place the wraps along Main Street in west Mesa, both to capitalize on the light-rail development and improve the area’s image.
The grant, provided by State Farm Insurance, is to be used to promote placemaking, a buzzword among the arts crowd used to describe the process of creating public art spaces to attract people and create a unique environment.
“If any place needs to have a sense of place created for it, it’s Main Street,” Richins said.
Richins said he got the idea from the utility boxes at the Mesa Riverview shopping center that had been painted to blend in with the scenery.
Richins is hoping the plan will polish the city’s image and show that the residents and business owners care about Mesa’s open spaces.
“Maybe people will start thinking this place is well cared for,” he said. “There are ways of doing things like this without spending city money.”
Pending city approval, the program would be ready to go in about 30 days, Richins said.
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