Since late 2023, some 322 sidewalk utility boxes — the camouflage-green cabinets that store equipment for traffic signals — from the Embarcadero to the Sunset were repainted to reflect the culture and history of their respective neighborhoods. Some 49 artists were enlisted to reimagine the boxes, pieces of “street furniture” that stand about 6-feet tall and often become targets for graffiti and blight.
The initiative, dubbed “Paint the City,” was a collaborative effort between two nonprofits that bring energy to the city’s streets, Paint the Void and the Civic Joy Fund, plus the public art studio Building 180. From an initial 100 utility boxes, its scope grew to encompass a further 222 last year.
Led by Manny Yekutiel of the Mission’s cafe and gathering space Manny’s, the Civic Joy Fund is the force behind other revitalization projects like Downtown First Thursdays, Clean Up the City, and Summer of Music. The total cost for “Paint the City” was $600,000.
Artists were compensated based on the time commitment involved. Robert “Pengoo” Casanovas was paid $800 for each of the 10 utility boxes he painted on Geary Boulevard in the city’s Inner Richmond and Laurel Heights neighborhoods. While he had to submit his concepts for approval, there were no other directives to follow. “That’s very unusual,” he said.
Covering each box in what he described as “animals, creatures, and cute monsters” took an average of four days because of the detail involved. He had numerous positive interactions while working, including several people who told him their children were following the project, excited to see every new Pengoo piece as it went up.
Fellow artist Diego Gómez, who worked on four boxes in the Tenderloin and Lower Nob Hill, got a lot of thank-yous from passersby as he painted flowers, birds, watermelons, and abstract shapes. It led to another gig, after the owners of a nearby pizzeria saw him working. “They commissioned me to make a ‘pizza wings’ mural in the alley next to their shop,” Gómez said.
However, the overall project was not without some controversy. Grantee artist J Manuel Carmona began painting boxes along Valencia Street in the Mission in 2023, many of which explored Latinx and LGBTQ+ themes, including one that depicted local drag performer Juanita MORE!
A neighbor confronted the artist over the choice of subject. “He wanted me to paint Cesar Chavez,” Carmona said, referring to the labor leader, civil rights activist, and hero to many Mexican Americans, who died in 1993. “I told him I wanted to paint somebody who’s alive. He kept asking me for a permit.”
Within 48 hours, Carmona found his work covered in brown paint. He restored it, only to find it defaced again. So, he restored it again, this time with dozens of cheering supporters present in a show of force.
The Civic Joy Fund is prepared to handle graffiti. “We have two people repainting the boxes,” Yekutiel said.
Overall, Carmona said, “Paint the City” was a positive experience. While Carmona was painting boxes to honor long-shuttered Mission LGBTQ+ venues like Esta Noche and the Lexington Club, a mother passing by with her child stopped to tell him she’d met her partner at the Lex. “Public art can’t be unseen,” Carmona said. “And I was trying to bring good memories.”
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