Over a dozen traffic light boxes will be decked out in the works of local artists.
The project is a partnership between Downtown North Bay and the city’s Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC).
The works of 13 artists will be digitally printed onto vinyl and wrapped on traffic light boxes around the downtown centre. Submissions were evaluated earlier in the year by the PAAC.
Katie Bevan, vice-chair of the Downtown Improvement Board and PAAC member says that selecting the featured artists was a challenging process.
“The response from local artists and creative professionals was wonderful. We received more than 50 creative submissions, making it very difficult for the committee to narrow the field down to only 13 designs,” said Bevan. “I would like to thank everyone for their participation and support. This project is the first of many.”
The money is coming from a 2018 grant from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) which totalled $75,000 at the time. The traffic lightbox project will cost $12,600.
The money is going towards the printing and installation of the art on each box, with the artists receiving an honorarium for their work.
Gord Young, communications officer for the City of North Bay says that the pandemic has delayed the rolling out of the beautification project. He adds though that the PAAC will still be able to meet its goal of having the project done “before the snow flies.”
Two of the traffic boxes have been wrapped already, with the rest of the installation expecting to be completed in the coming weeks.
