Adopt-a-Box: Love at First Site

Hamilton has a…colourful…public art record. Wait until I post about the major installations to see what I mean.

One of the art initiatives I like more than most is called Adopt-a-Box. In an effort to discourage graffiti (of the Mindless Scrawling of Illegible What-Sort-of-a-Name-Is-That variety), the city council has given residents permission to paint traffic signal boxes with pretty much whatever they like.

This is the box I see most often:

Box No. 4014, 'Elicot City'. It's on Ellicott Road. Do you think the artists misspelled the name on purpose?

Box No. 4014 took five people to paint. Sidon, Joshua, Carlos, Damian and Koshin were probably students at the local high school at the time. According to the artist statement, the arrows are meant to represent “directions and movement” around Hamilton – the signal box is on a major intersection with State Highway 1 –  and the buildings (wait for it) “show that we live in a city”.

The quality and style of painted boxes varies some. A couple are whimsical, to use an adjective du jour…

Box No. 4030, 'Across the Ocean'

Box 4031, 'We Need to Mark Our Territory!' by two Intermediate students (aged 11 - 12).

…or cheeky!

Box No. 4023, 'Moonlight Bay'

Some are simply beautiful. I realise I have chosen all blue examples – I could have chosen any colour. You can see the complete gallery to date at the Adopt-a-Box website.

In the spirit of experiencing what Hamilton has to offer, I have applied to paint a box on behalf of this blog. Yes, indeedy! My new box baby is in a prominent and iconic location. To say it’s looking drab…well, I have some work to do. I plan on scooting past to take photos of its ‘before’ state in the next few days, so check back to see the blog box in its naked beige glory soon.

THE DEETS

Attraction: Avant-garde arts trail of painted traffic signal boxes

Location: Something like 50 boxes all over the city once they are all painted. See the Adopt-a-Box website for a Google map or just go exploring.

Cost: Free like a bird.

Tourist Value: A nice addition to your stroll around the pretty parts of Hamilton, and a nice distraction in the not-so-pretty parts; entertainment is substantially increased if you can check out the artist statements online as you go.

Bonus Hoot: GraffitiCreator.net