Wallingford Beautification is a collaborative neighborhood group that formed in 2023 with the goal of beautifying Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood through small team projects. Historic Wallingford sponsors the group and assists in fundraising.
Utility Box Art Project
The Wallingford Beautification team is focused on beautifying several utility boxes along Wallingford’s busy 45th Street corridor. With input from community surveys and contributions from Historic Wallingford, the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce, the Wallingford Community Council, and the community, the team raised enough matching funds to apply for Small Sparks funding through the City of Seattle. As of July 2024, we are pleased to announce that the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods has awarded the project full funding, allowing us to move forward in our search for artists.
Artist Selection
The Wallingford Beautification team has selected three artists from over 30 applicants to help transform utility boxes along N 45th Street. The artists are Julisha Kim, Jen Vickers, and Alex Nason. They will create original artwork to be digitized into a vinyl wrap for selected signal boxes. We can’t wait to see their creations!
Design
The design shall incorporate or take inspiration from historic photographs capturing the identity of Wallingford. Once the site of Native American activity along the north shore of Lake Union, Wallingford had developed into a thriving streetcar suburb by 1920. Since then, it has been home to various residents who have shaped the neighborhood. The artwork on these utility boxes should connect the past with the present and encourage placemaking among Wallingford’s current residents. Learn more about the neighborhood’s history by visiting our Wallingford-Meridian Streetcar Historic District webpage.
Any medium is allowed. However, the final design must be digitized into a high-resolution scaled vector image. If needed, we can assist with this process.
The final design shall satisfy the City of Seattle Dept of Public Transportation and SDOT guidelines and is subject to approval by the vinyl wrap vendor.
Proposed Timeline
First Draft Design Due: September 6, 2024
Final Design Due: September 20, 2024
Vinyl Wrap Installation and Celebration: Fall 2024
Watch this space for project updates or sign up to receive our e-newsletter!
Neighborhood Clean-Ups
Each spring and fall the team assists in hosting neighborhood cleanups, with support from the City of Seattle. The clean-ups began under the leadership of Colleen Kurke in 2022. Will Vagle and Michael Dewar organized the most recent clean-up on Earth Day 2024. More than 80 friends and neighbors participated in beautifying Wallingford. The next clean-up is planned for October 2024.
Your gift to this fund supports activities related to neighborhood beautification, such as utility box art, cleanup events, and more!
Funding for the Utility Box Art Project has been provided by the Neighborhood Matching Fund from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.