Utility-box art project extends
The Burbank Cultural Arts Commission and Park, Recreation and Community Services Department will soon be bringing more public art to the community.
After successfully giving seven Burbank Water and Power pad-mounted electric equipment boxes an artistic makeover in December, the Burbank City Council on Tuesday gave the department and commission the green light to move to phase two of its beautification project.
Council members voted 4-1 to allow the Parks and Recreation Department director to continue with the project. The director was also given the ability to approve any future sites and projects related to beatifying utility boxes.
Though Councilman David Gordon approved moving forward with the project, he dissented on the vote because he wanted the dais to have the final say on projects. He said he was not comfortable delegating those decisions onto the Parks and Recreation director.
Barbara Beckley, a board member of the Cultural Arts Commission, said the Parks and Recreation Department and Burbank Water and Power have identified eight more electric boxes operated by the city-owned utility that can be painted.
The utility boxes are located in the following areas: Verdugo Recreation Center at the corner of Verdugo Avenue and Rosemary Lane, Mountain View Park in front of the tennis courts, Abraham Lincoln Park behind the library, Gross Park in front of the restrooms, Ralph Foy Park behind the restrooms, DeBell Golf Course near the driving range parking lot, Starlight Bowl inside the venue and City Hall near the parking lot.
The commission will create a subcommittee made up of local artists and community members to determine who gets to spruce up the utility boxes in the near future, Beckley said.
Nearby cities like Glendale, Pasadena and South Pasadena have also had their utility boxes decorated by artists, and Beckley said it is time for Burbank to catch up.
“We’re really kind of behind. This is a movement,” she said. “It’s been going on for quite a while now in Southern California. It took a while for us to get this off the ground, but we were finally able to launch last year and we’re very happy about that.”
Beckley said that there really is not a theme to the boxes and that the commission does not like dictating to artists how they should paint their murals.
“There was some talk about having it be Burbank-themed, but then we decided we were tired of airplanes and movie cameras,” she said. “Dictating to an artist what to paint is kind of like telling Van Gogh to forget about sunflowers and start painting ballerinas.”
For Beckley, president and co-founder of the Colony Theatre in Burbank, said being able to have artists from around the region decorate the utility boxes is an opportunity to lift the spirits of residents and the general public.
“It’s such an opportunity to beautify the city, to take these dull utilities that contribute nothing and suddenly brighten everyone’s day,” she said. “What’s the purpose of art? What does art do? It brightens your day and lifts you up. And here we have an opportunity to create this all over town.”
--
Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
