Artwork > Public Art

Utility box on Washington Blvd at Vineyard Ave:  View of all four sides
Utility box on Washington Blvd at Vineyard Ave: View of all four sides
Adobe Illustrator rendering by MJ Balvanera
2017

For this project, I have used Arts & Crafts Movement motifs as a basic framework and anchor for the overall design of the box since many of the homes in the area were built during that era. Each panel side has a border with detail on top and bottom, a pattern inset (Latin American, African, Japanese and California Indigenous), a tree silhouette (Queen Palm, Umbrella Acacia, Bonsai and CA. Oak), and colored squares/rectangles inset onto the pattern. The tree renderings resemble the Arts & Crafts graphic style of a silhouette with light outlines. I have also picked up some of the motifs on the sage green Craftsman house the is adjacent to the box on that corner.

I think of this as a collage of sorts, that plays against the larger backdrop of the neighborhood/urban landscape. Each tree type and pattern represents cultures that are or were part of the Mid-City demographic. I want people to walk by and experience a sense of recognition of the images/colors/shapes evoked. Since it is drab on that corner, I wanted it to be bright. The palette is an analogous scale from yellow to blue with ebony and gray thrown in.