Eric Vaughn Holowacz Archives

Archives Items Relating to the Life, Times, and Cultural Engineering Work of Eric Vaughn Holowacz of Wellington, New Zealand and Sedona, Arizona

October 05, 2004

Communities Online, October 2004

Weliington City Council have issued the following opportunity for Artists.

Urban Artists Wanted!!!!!!

Promenade Artists, the organisers of the Murals on Traffic Signal Boxes Scheme are seeking artists for the next ten signal boxes in Wellington's CBD. Here is a chance to make an original design and get your work on the streets.

"We have the funding from a WCC Arts and Cultural Grant; we have selected the signal boxes in association with WCC Traffic Management officers; all we need now are the artists" says Kristelle Plimmer, the Creative Director of the scheme.

"Artists receive all the materials and small honorarium in addition to having their work in the public arena. It is a way of enlivening the built environment as well as creating opportunities for both artist and pedestrian."

Traffic Signal boxes are the beige structures found at every intersection controlled by traffic lights. They are so ubiquitous that most people don't notice them most of the time.

Two signal boxes, one on the corner of Victoria and Mercer Streets, and one on Willis Street facing into Mercer Street, were used for the initial designs as a trial of the scheme. These have proved popular with the public, and Promenade Artists are ready to commission more creative designs.

"We have funding for the next ten, but there are hundreds of these in the city and environs - each one of them is waiting for a local artist and a unique design." Besides making the urban experience more interesting, another objective of the project is to commission art that reflects the area around the signal box.

This is the kind of small-scale project that has big creative returns," said Eric Holowacz, the Council's Community Arts Co-ordinator. "It shows how the simple addition of art can make us more aware of our environment, how unique designs can reflect who we are, and how a creative city can develop to celebrate its sense of place." Interested artists should contact Kristelle Plimmer on 385-0909 or by Email to kristelle@paradise.net.nz for information on how to participate.

Alternatively, the Wellington Arts Centre, currently located in the Oriental Bay Rotunda can provide complete details of the scheme. Contact Eric Holowacz on 385-1929 with queries.