After successfully raising nearly $15,000 to paint a mural on the South Broadway retaining walls near the Metro Transit Center last year, the Downtown Akron Partnership’s Emerging Leaders are at it again with another public art project.
This time, the group wants to wrap 10 utility boxes along Main Street, each in a graphic representation of the city’s 10 wards.
The “Akron Art Box” project is currently trying to raise $11,150 on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to pay for the vinyl wraps of the structures, which are silver metal structures, some the size of old-fashioned phone booths
Each ward has been adopted by a different artist: Shane Wynn, Ward 1; Thomas Skala, Ward 2; Bill Lynn, Ward 3; Don Peoples, Ward 4; Joe Karlovec, Ward 5; Julie Hogarth, Ward 6; Alison Kulick, Ward 7; Brian Bean, Ward 8; Molly Judge, Ward 9; and Miller South Visual Art students, Ward 10.
The process of determining how to represent each neighborhood has been an inspiring process for all those involved, Downtown Akron Partnership Emerging Leaders President Jaclyn Flossie said in a statement announcing the project.
“While gathering art for Akron Art Box it was awesome to see how incredibly passionate community members are about their neighborhoods,” she said. “I’m excited to see how friends, family and neighbors work together to have their neighborhood represented and the diversity of our city displayed on Main Street.”
Julie Hogarth, an Akron Public Schools art teacher who has been charged with the Ward 6 (Ellet) design, said she’s seen this type of project in other cities. She wants to portray Ellet as an active place that cares about their children and education, and is grounded in the local aviation history.
“As a child, we would sit at the Big Boy (long gone) and watch the planes take off and land, and once in a while catch sight of a blimp,” she said. “Most everyone in Akron has a story about a blimp, the Soap Box Derby or watching air traffic at the municipal airport. All these memories are rooted in Ellet.”
To learn more, visit www.kickstarter.com and search for “akronartbox.” The Kickstarter campaign ends Oct. 25.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.