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Traffic Box Art Wrap Project
The Traffic Box Art Wrap project is designed to enhance the public realm by adding works of art by local artists to utilitarian surfaces that are often targeted by vandalism. The wrapped boxes are intended to enhance neighborhood identity, turn ordinary spaces into creative landmarks, and promote community dialogue.
This project is brought to you by the Pierce County Arts Commission.
View The Art
Fish on Every Side
By Renee Taylor
Digital Art, Vector Fish On Every Side is a digital illustration of brightly patterned and colored salmon, where a fish is displayed vertically on each side of a traffic signal box. It is a fun artwork to celebrate living in the Pacific Northwest. I enjoy the whimsical quality of having very large salmon on display for the community, and I would like viewers to look at things in a new way. What would happen if salmon scales were replaced with flower patterns? The design is bold to be enjoyed from up close or from the street while driving by.
Wisteria Repose
By Crystal Bendel
Wisteria Repose is digital design that shows a female warrior overlooking a valley under the Wisteria trees. Precariously perched on the side of a cliff, the warrior in repose reflects upon the actions of the day as the wind creates motion through the valley, grass, and petals. Nestled on the top of the tree is the warriors faithful spirit creature enjoying a well deserved nap. The design combined the styles influenced by chalk pastel, watercolor, anime, woodcarving and pressing, and flower pressing. Three different Wisteria flowers and 2 stems were used to create the tree in two different forms a pressing and an outline. They were individually overlaid to create and give the illusion of depth and magnitude. If you look close at the image you can see the outline crates a swirling effecting that contrasts with the chalk and texture of the wood in the valley pressing.
Noise
By Brittnee Sylvester
“Noise”- 30x48” Mixed Media Oil Painting on Canvas Noise is a non objective abstract painting that is meant for you to take a deeper look into yourself. This painting is meant to show you that even with the chaos going on around you, you can find calmness and stability. It represents finding your inner peace- when the outside world is screaming at you from every direction, telling you to do or be something you are not. People, and voices from your past and present can bring us down and prevent us from being free and true to ourselves. This painting is meant to inspire the viewer to feel confident in their life and bring them happiness with a sense of tranquility
Turbans from My Fall Garden
By Juliet Becker
Turbans From my Fall Garden, an original oil on canvas, was inspired by the turban squash that grow in plenty during the Fall season. Their shape mimics turban headwraps in many cultures. Not only do they look gorgeous with whimsical shapes and intense colors, but they add additional warmth and glow to an already spectacular season.
Home
By Shawn Spencer
I am a textile artist who creates fabric collage with mostly reclaimed fabrics. I used a variety of fabric and thread, a serger, a sewing machine and hand sewing to create this piece. This piece is called “Home” and it captures the view from the house my father built and the home where I grew up in Steilacoom. It shows the Salish Sea (Puget Sound), Ketron, Anderson, Eagle, and McNeil Islands, the Steilacoom Ferry and the Olympics.
Hive Love
By Dawne Lee
Ultimately this piece is meant to help add to the conversation about, and awareness of, the need to protect honeybees. By doing this we would be adding greatly to our community by promoting the pollination of local plant life, which would then promote better air quality and beatification to the city. I am trying to dispel the idea of them as being scary or hurtful, so as to make them more appealing to more people. This is why I have depicted them with bright, warm colors, and animated in style. They are also surrounding a heart which is meant to invoke a sense of caring. Additionally, this style is very appealing to children which helps to grab their interest as well. Getting kids interested will hopefully start up conversations within families and bring everyone together in this effort.
Boulder Toad
By Karin Dhaese
The title of this piece is Boulder Toad. The original work is acrylic paint on 8x10 canvas. The Toad is rotund but he’s crouched and ready. He seems inclined to bound away at any moment, but in this moment he is content to survey this colorful landscape. The implied landscape of pointillism is bright and springy. The painting was a gift from the artist to her mother. Painted March of 2021.
Morning Divination
Hillarie Isackson
This painting is the inhale of awe captured during the morning hours of Washington State’s Glacier Peak. I wanted to portray the breathtaking views that we have available to us during the morning hours, and capture what is a fleeting moment of connection with nature. Living in Washington State, we are captured by moments like this so frequently that we often stop in our tracks during sunrise, or sunset, only to have it disappear within a moment.
Native American Mandala
By Brandi Lapointe
As an Indigenous Artist, I wanted to showcase the love and pride that I have for my family, ancestors and culture. I grew up here in the PNW and my family lineage is PNW Native. I started creating mandalas many years ago as a way to relieve stress and anxiety. This was my first time combining the styles and it captures the style of my art wonderfully. The idea behind this creation was not only to combine the feeling of love and pride that I hold for my lineage, but to express the gratitude that I have for Native American culture. A reminder to give thanks. A reminder that we belong to the earth and the earth does not belong to us. To leave this place a little more beautiful than how we found it. Take memories and leave nothing but footprints.
Peaceful Solitude & My Neo
By Linda Harrison (Peaceful Solitude) | Kenya Mee (My Neo)
This picture was the basis for a larger collage/mosaic project plan that I never got around to finishing. It depicts a girl in thoughtful repose. She’s coming from a place of darkness but transmuting it into clouds of color. She is manipulating the space around her through her peaceful, neutral reflection of the environment. Despite being at rest, her mind is active. The colors represent diversity and they are swirling but not completely merging. It shows that differences between cultures and perspectives can still be harmonious without homogenizing, staying fluid and dynamic.
The Shenandoah
By Hillarie Isackson
As a Gig Harbor native, I’ve grown up surrounded by our rich fishing community. The Shenandoah remains in reconstruction at the Harbor History Museum, after being on the water from 1925-1997. My home, and studio, are downtown Gig Harbor so I often times pass this boat being renovated, as well as the netsheds and fishing marinas currently in operation. My vision for this painting was to present the Shenandoah full of life and color, as it cruises through the harbor with a palette of colorful nets adorning it’s bow.