The Arts Council of Indianapolis, in partnership with the City of Indianapolis and its Department of Public Works (DPW), announces Streetcorner Canvases, a program that aims to enhance the city’s traffic signal control boxes and turn them into bold works of art. The goals of this initiative are to brighten city streetscapes, support community pride, develop neighborhood identity, discourage vandalism of public property, and create paid opportunities for artists.
Anyone including artists, neighborhoods, nonprofit organizations and individuals can propose a traffic signal control box art project, and each project can enhance any number of boxes. The Arts Council will receive applications and work closely with neighborhoods and artists to ensure a successful result. The Arts Council will also list the artwork in its online Public Art Directory. Projects are funded by the proposing individual or group, with the Arts Council providing fundraising ideas and guidance as needed.
Neighborhoods already participating in the program in 2015 include Broad Ripple Village and West Indianapolis.
This new initiative takes the place of the previous program, which was supervised by the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW). The Arts Council will work with DPW to reserve the boxes.
The Arts Council will hold a program orientation session on April 9, 2015 at 6 pm at the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC). The INRC is located at 708 E. Michigan Street in Indianapolis. Admission is free and open to the public. The Arts Council’s public art staff can also visit community groups and neighborhood associations on request to introduce the program. Detailed information and application forms can be downloaded from the Arts Council’s website.
