My recent photos (August 2024) of Anne Katzeff’s beautifully painted utility (aka transformer) box in Belmont combine with quotes from her chronicle of creating it during several weeks in the summer of 2021. The story Transforming Belmont: Art on the Corner on her ASK Design Blog is a very valuable resource for everyone interested in the challenges and rewards of public art. (All quotes in this post are from her blog post, Sept. 2021)

“Thanks to a generous grant from the Belmont Cultural Council, I was 1 of 5 artists awarded stipends to paint a transformer box! When I received the good news, I was super excited about diving into my first public art project and creating something that would beautify our community. But, I was also a little ambivalent because I had never painted anything this large. With a lot of guidance and encouragement, I found my way to the finish line!“

“My proposal centers around the flowers we see in our neighbors’ gardens, yards, and town venues. I walk and/or bike daily and see the ever-changing colors and shapes up close. ……. The flowers I’ve chosen cover 3 of the 4 seasons: spring (daffodils and tulips), spring/summer (irises, lilies), and summer/autumn (echinacea).“

“Early on in the project, a man driving by suggested I put a bee on the echinacea panel. I told him I thought it was a fabulous idea. In the ensuing weeks, he drove by again and asked “Where’s the bee?” I shouted back “It’s coming, stay tuned!” One of the final touches I added at the end of the project was the bee.“

“The lilies were the most challenging panel and took the longest to paint. The aqua green background showed through the orange, resulting in a muddy hue. It took several layers of orange, each one a bit brighter and lighter than the previous one, to achieve the “clean”, cheerful orange I had in mind.”

“By the time I got the the last panel, I had learned many things and applied that knowledge. Notably, I blocked in the tulips with titanium white. When I covered the white with the reds and pinks, the colors were fresh and lively!“

“The transformer box meter sticks out on the tulips panel. I had to figure out what to do with the protrusion. I decided to paint one tulip on top of it and continue the form underneath. It adds a quirky visual effect to that panel.“

“I liked how the background color unified all of the panels on the transformer box. To tie everything together even further, I added blades of grass at the bottom of each panel. The grass also helped ease the sense of floating and grounded the flowers.”

Starting to visit other painted utility boxes in the Transforming Belmont project, I plan to add related posts. Whether or not you can visit any of the many transformed utility boxes in Belmont, be sure to visit Anne Katzeff’s engaging sequence of photos and journal entries on Transforming Belmont: Art on the Corner!

KEY RESOURCES

Curious Belmont: Artists Spark Interest in Utility Boxes: https://belmontvoice.org/curious-belmont-artists-spark-interest-in-utility-boxes/

Transforming Belmont, Transforming Community: https://virtualbga.org/transforming-belmont

Transforming Belmont: Art on the Corner: https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2021/09/transforming-belmont-art-on-the-corner/