Last Saturday, Sept. 13, Shaker Arts Council (SHAC) unveiled nine newly wrapped utility boxes. The boxes are the ninth iteration of SHAC’s Painting the Town Painting Art Competition—a juried art contect that was first launched in 2016 to enliven the utility boxes on the Shaker Heights streets along the Shaker Rapid Transit Green and Blue Lines.

This year’s chosen designs are by seven local professional artists, as well as one box designed by Shaker Heights High School recent graduate Brianna Hill, who created “Candy Land” for her senior project.

Hill’s box, sponsored by the Shaker Heights PTO, is at the corner of Warrington and South Woodland Roads.

This year’s participating professional artists and their box locations are:

• Renee Parker Boyle: Two boxes on South Woodland and Attleboro Roads; and on Shaker Square
• Katie Clark: South Woodland Road and Courtland Boulevard
• Sandra Graubard: Shaker Heights Fire Station on Chagrin Boulevard
• Sheila Reingold: North Moreland and Larchmere Boulevards
• Nancy Schwartz-Katz: North Moreland Boulevard and Fairhill Road
• Pam Spremulli: Lynnfield Road and Chagrin Boulevard
• Michael Wagner: Kemper and Fairhill Roads

To celebrate these works of art, an unveiling reception was held last Saturday at the southwest corner of Shaker Square. Reception attendees were invited to meet the artists. Nancy Schwartz-Katz’s "Sunflowers for Peace" utility box design was chosen as the audience favorite.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the winners of this year’s public utility box art contest,” says SHAC president Andre Taylor. “This project showcases the incredible creativity of our local artists and brings color and inspiration to our community.

“We are deeply grateful to Flagstar Bank for their generous contribution and to Cuyahoga Arts & Culture for their continued support of our mission,” continues Taylor. “I also want to thank the dedicated SHAC team who made [Saturday] possible. We invite everyone who values the arts to join us as members or supporters, so together we can keep bringing more creativity and public art to Shaker Heights.”

The boxes can be viewed at SHAC’s Shaker Heights Public Art Blue Line and Green Line Tour.

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC) has awarded SHAC $70,814 in grants for Painting the Town since 2009. The competition is supported in part by the Flagstar Foundation and box designs were printed and installed by Diamond Signs & Graphics.