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ArtSpark project camouflages utility boxes on downtown Chattanooga streets

Hixson High student Sarah Bargerstock's "The Beauty of Electricity" design is seen on the utility box along Chestnut Street, across from the Creative Discovery Museum. Local students came up with the designs for streetwise utility boxes for EPB's ArtSpark Goes to School Challenge. While creating their artwork, the students learned about electricity, furthering ArtSpark's focus on STEAM projects (science, technology, engineering, art and math).
Hixson High student Sarah Bargerstock's "The Beauty of Electricity" design is seen on the utility box along Chestnut Street, across from the Creative Discovery Museum. Local students came up with the designs for streetwise utility boxes for EPB's ArtSpark Goes to School Challenge. While creating their artwork, the students learned about electricity, furthering ArtSpark's focus on STEAM projects (science, technology, engineering, art and math). Hixson High student Sarah Bargerstock's "The Beauty of Electricity" design is seen on the utility box along Chestnut Street, across from the Creative Discovery Museum. Local students came up with the designs for streetwise utility boxes for EPB's ArtSpark Goes to School Challenge. While creating their artwork, the students learned about electricity, furthering ArtSpark's focus on STEAM projects (science, technology, engineering, art and math).

By Lisa Denton 4 min read

There’s nothing particularly memorable about streetside utility boxes. Too bland to be an eyesore, they just sit there taking up sidewalk space with their big, gray boxiness.

“They’re just kind of there,” agrees Amy Donahue, director of marketing and communication for River City Co., which oversees economic development in downtown Chattanooga.

But an ArtSpark initiative coordinated by River City is working to change that. These days, when you drive or walk along Chattanooga’s streets, you might see a swirl of bats, a crowd of cats or even the arms of a pink octopus on the loose.

Fifteen bland utility boxes now sport eye-catching designs dreamed up by professional artists from the Chattanooga area. Another five boxes have been similarly adorned by high school students through an EPB pilot program, the ArtSpark Goes to School Challenge.

The professional artists taking part answered an open call to artists within a 16-county area around Chattanooga and were required to submit a resume and a sample design for consideration. The chosen artists were then sent a design template based on the size and shape of the utility box, and their final designs were made into a vinyl wrap to brighten corners and banish boring. The designs range from cartoon characters to dreamscapes to abstracts to portraits.