The use of the Adopt a Box Program has grown in the past six years as newly decorated utility boxes add a bit of imagination to the street corners around Bloomington.
The Adopt a Box Program formed in 2007 as part of the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District’s Stop and START initiative.
During early spring of this year, Eric Bolstridge, along with television station WTIU, decided to make use of the Adopt a Box Program.
Through correspondence with Miah Michaelsen, assistant director of economic and sustainable development for the arts for the city of Bloomington, Bolstridge and WTIU adopted three boxes on which to exhibit children’s artwork from a ?contest.
Adopt a Box started with six artists and six boxes.
The following year, they expanded with six new ?artists and boxes.
“Since that point, we’ve pretty much thrown the door open to folks who want to come to us with a design and a location,” Michaelsen said. “It kind of snowballed and has a life of its own now.”
Michaelsen said the requirements for adopting a box are not very ?demanding.
“Really all you have to do is submit a design, what you propose to do and then a location, and then we reimburse up to $100 in materials,” she said.
Michaelsen said the most challenging aspect is the lack of student ?engagement.
She said several students have made proposals but never actually undertook the artistic challenge.
The small, somewhat unconventionally cubic boxes serve as an alternate space for aspiring muralists to try out their art in a manner that is economically friendly.
Through this initiative, the otherwise mundane utility boxes have become platforms for the artistic expressions of muralists.
What started as a PBS Kids Writer’s Contest was later converted by WTIU into cartoons. Not long after, WTIU decided to paint three utility boxes.
“We were thinking about using some of the PBS kids branding,” Bolstridge said. “We were thinking about using some of the branding from ‘The Friday Zone Show,’ and, going back and forth with Miah a couple of times, we decided to use some kid artwork we had from this contest.”
The location was decided by WTIU in order to keep them close together and near elementary schools, so the art better connects to a younger audience.
Painted by Bolstridge himself, the new additions to the Adopt a Box Program are presented as a series, spanning East Hillside Street and South High Street.
The series includes, “Bob the Little Whale Shark,” “The Girl with the Golden Hair and the Good Soul” and the “Magical Penguin.”
“We hope it inspires kids that see it to be creative and take risks,” Bolstridge said. “We also hope that adults that are driving by can value the creativity that young artists have.”
