West Valley cities turn metal boxes into art

By Jason Stone
Mail | X: @thestonecave

Goodyear has seen a public art revival in the last five years, and artist Nate Butt has been in the middle of it.

Now, the Waddell native is hoping to be part of the artistic landscape in Surprise.

Butt has designed two Goodyear traffic cabinets in the past four years, putting his colorful artistic spin on blank metal boxes that sit near intersections with traffic signals.

“They’ve been a lot more proactive the last five years about getting the arts community kind of buzzing a little bit,” Butt said about Goodyear’s efforts to spruce up the city.

It turns out Surprise is taking notice of what Goodyear and other nearby cities are doing. Surprise recently put out its first ever call to artists to help decorate 10 traffic cabinets along Bell Road.

West Valley-based artists, groups and organizations can submit their qualifications to create 2D art designs for the cabinets through the end of the day Monday, Feb. 27.

Up to 10 artists will be selected for the project, with awards of $1,500 for each cabinet.

All designs will be converted to a high-quality digital format for vinyl wrap printing.

Butt said he plans to apply for one of the traffic signal boxes in Surprise and maybe have his artistic 9-year-old daughter help him out.

When Surprise Arts and Culture Manager Julie Akerly came on board last year, she organized a strategic plan and a five-year art plan as the first dedicated art manager the city has ever had.

Her goal is to bring more access to art for more people, and that’s where the traffic cabinet idea was born.

Danielle Osbourne, who was the city staff liaison to the arts commission before Akerly was hired, got the ball rolling on the traffic cabinet idea. She helped drum up support from the city’s Transportation Department and others involved.

“It’s a great way to get art in a lot of places, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money,” Akerly said.

She said the colorful boxes are about to “explode across the city.”

The plan is to design 10 traffic cabinets on a different roadway each year.

Surprise’s boxes won’t be painted but instead will be a vinyl wrap that was made digitally on a computer. Akerly said the advantages of the wrap over paint is it’s easier to replace and doesn’t wear out in the sun as much.

The city has been working with residents and businesses near the traffic cabinets to get inspiration for what the content should be.

The boxes are of varying sizes but mostly the same. They’re roughly about 77 inches tall, 44 inches wide and 26 inches deep.

Popular additions

In Goodyear, Arts and Culture Coordinator Layne Ruiz calls its traffic cabinet program a “fan favorite” since it was started in 2018.

The city plans to decorate a dozen new cabinets in 2024, which would give Goodyear a total of 43 across its limits.

“The community loves it,” Ruiz said. “The Communications Department does a great job highlighting our artists. It’s really popular on social media.”

It was so popular with the Goodyear City Council that it decided to set aside money for the art as part of the general operating fund instead of having art managers ask for supplemental funding each year.

Goodyear pays $1,000 for each cabinet with a digital wrap. Hand-painted cabinet artists are awarded $1,800 because of extra costs for materials, plus painters need to work onsite. The ones who create digital wraps can do it from their homes.

Seven of Goodyear’s 12 upcoming projects will be hand-painted, Ruiz said.

The designs are expected to last anywhere between five and 10 years. Goodyear has a public art inspection program where workers annual inspect all of the public art work.

“Luckily, we’re at six years and all of them are looking fantastic,” Ruiz said.

Butt’s first creation for Goodyear was called “Polymorphic Desert,” what he described as a “super colorful, vector-based” depiction of the desert. It’s situated near a Fry’s Food Store on Litchfield Road, south of Interstate 10. It includes a dozen animals and search games and stands out for its vibrant colors.

His named his second traffic cabinet in Goodyear “Hearts,” with its placement outside a small Banner cardiology branch on McDowell Road between Litchfield and Dysart roads.

Butt said he still gets a thrill driving by one of his creations on the side of the road.

“It’s like having a mural there that’s completely pristine,” Butt said.

For Surprise’s upcoming cabinet project, the city conducted a workshop at the beginning of the month, drawing in 15 artists who were interested in applying.

Akerly invited Butt to talk to them from an artist’s perspective about his experience in going through the process and to teach them how to apply.

Artists from local art groups WHAM, Ground Floor Artists and the West Valley Arts Council also shared their expertise.

“We’re trying to uplift the local artist community and do something that is standardized across public art but maybe new for them,” Akerly said.

The city will form a panel to judge the artist applications, with a representative from the Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission sitting in.

More art coming

Traffic cabinets are not the only item on the art checklist for West Valley cities looking for new public art.

Surprise is also looking for an artist to design a piece for an outdoor gathering space at the planned Multigenerational Community Resource Center in the Original Town Site.

“This community has been doing programing outdoors for decades, and they might want a central hub outdoors,” Akerly said about the project, adding it should be a “welcoming space that’s an identifier.”

The artwork is specifically supposed to recognize and celebrate the history, contributions and culture of the Original Town Site. Requirements also call for landscaping and some sort of shade feature.

The city is offering $400,000 to the artist or group qualified to pull it off. Applications are due by the end of the day Monday, March 11.

Surprise is also partnering with Arizona Charter Academy to decorate the construction fences with student artwork during the construction of the resource center.

Akerly said the project is intended to beautify the area during construction, build buzz and excitement about the project, connect to the history of the OTS and provide opportunities for students to experience public art and collaborative art-making.

Near City Center, Surprise Stadium is on track to get a pair of art pieces along the first- and third-base line entrances outside the stadium.

“Bounce” and “Swing” are on track to be installed late in the summer. The two-baseball-related pieces, which cost the city $527,000, will also feature landscaping.

Akerly said she’d also like to see some art in the city’s parks, beside the Surprise Community Park in the City Center.

In July, the city conducted a survey that found 80% of respondents wanted that. So, Akerly plans to bring that to the City Council as part of budget negotiations for the fiscal year 2025 budget.

The city is eying larger city buildings that don’t have much public art. The downtown City Center is a prime area to have some pieces once the bulk of the area begins to come together.

Goodyear is also working on a couple of other big projects. Artist Kristine Kollasch is creating a mosaic mural at Firestation 182 in Estrella. It’s expected to be completed by June.

The city’s main police department administration building will also be getting a bronze mural sculpture, which artist Trevor O’Toole plans to finish by the end of the year.

“We’re putting artwork where people are able to access public facilities,” Ruiz said.

Most cities have put together interactive maps online to show where public art is laid out across their boundaries.

Surprise has one at surpriseaz.gov/1344/Art-in-Public-Places. Goodyear’s map is at goodyearaz.gov/arts.

Peoria residents can find one at gis.peoriaaz.gov/peoriaarts, While Glendale’s map is at glendaleaz.com.

Tolleson (tolleson.az.gov/761/TIA---Tolleson-Initiative-of-the-Arts) and Avondale (avondaleaz.gov/our-city/public-art) are also on board with a map of public art.

Jason Stone can be reached at jstone@iniusa.org. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Jason Stone
Senior News Editor | Surprise

jstone@iniusa.com

Meet Jason
Jason Stone joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2019, after a distinguished three decade media career that included stops at the Arizona Republic, iHeart Media/Clear Channel and Beckett Sports Card magazine. He remembers when airports sold newspapers.

Community: He is a big supporter of the Valley's original sports team: The Phoenix Suns.

Education: Northern Arizona University with a BS in broadcast journalism and a minor in sports coaching.

Random Fact: The capital of Nebraska is Lincoln.

Hobbies: Surfing, backgammon and men who aren't afraid to cry.