“There is room for artists to express themselves on the street. But the difference between graffiti and graffiti vandalism is permission,” says Lilie Zendel. She’s the Manager at StreetArtToronto, known as StART, a division of the city’s Transportation Services department. One way that StART moves artists from vandalism to beauty is through their Outside the Box initiative, which transforms unassuming traffic signal boxes into vibrant works of art.
The program, now in its third year, has grown from 25 boxes in 2012, to over 50 spread across the GTA. Both professional and amateur artists are encouraged to apply to leave their mark. “We spent time criss-crossing the city and finding out where the boxes are, so people can create site-specific work,” Zendel explains. The current boxes range from colourful swirling florals to high-intensity animal portraits.
The program was initially conceived to cut down on vandalism-related cleaning costs. “It was almost by accident that I discovered that Transportation Services pays a hefty amount of money to keep those boxes clean,” Zendel explains. “I asked them to set aside some money,” which she then used to run the program and pay the participating artists. “What we’re trying to do is get people to recognize that public space is shared space. We want Torontonians to look after public spaces the way they would look after their own homes.”
So far, the reaction to the traffic signal boxes has been positive. “I heard from people about the lovely boxes that had appeared on their streets, and they started showing up on Instagram.” And, as Zendel had hoped, the cleaning costs have gone down. There is another benefit to traffic signal boxes: they transform the city into a de facto art gallery. “We don’t put any advertising on the box, or identify it as a city of Toronto box. We encourage artists to sign the boxes and include their websites,” Zendel says. “We’ve had comments that, for some people, it’s the only art they see in their daily life.”
Applications to the program are open until May 8, 2015. “I think a lot people don’t realize the enormous wealth of artistic talent in Toronto. StART has tried to make the Outside the Box program as accessible as possible. People don’t have to be professional, they just have to be thoughtful and passionate.”
Author: Kaitlyn Kochany
Source: Lilie Zendel