Downtown Bloomington traffic signal boxes get new murals—all nature themed
Left: Painting work in progress on the traffic signal cabinet on the northwest corner of Walnut and 2nd streets, by Zoe Dognaux. Right: Painting work in progress on the traffic signal cabinet on the northwest corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street, by Keller Makemsom.
On Thursday afternoon, working under a blue pop-up canopy, artist Dailyn Eades was painting a new mural on the traffic signal cabinet on the northeast corner of 4th and Walnut streets.
The new design features a black swallowtail butterfly sipping nectar from flowers. Bloomington residents with good memories, stretching back a week or so, might recall the old design, which featured roller derby skaters.
The work that Eades was doing was not a rogue effort—it was fully sanctioned by the city's economic and sustainability department (ESD) and Downtown Bloomington, Inc., which is a nonprofit that promotes Bloomington's downtown area. The older designs were showing signs of age.
At a meeting in late April, Bloomington's board of public works approved the use of the right-of-way for the box that Eades was painting, as well as six others that are nearby. Each traffic signal cabinet is getting painted by a different artist.
Based on the dates in the approvals from the board, compared to the state of the traffic boxes that The B Square checked on Thursday, the project is a little behind schedule. ESD's assistant director for the arts, Holly Warren responded to an emailed B Square question by writing that six of the seven traffic boxes are expected to be finished "within the next week or so." The last one is expected for the end of June.
Warren indicated that the hope had been to get the pieces finished before Indiana University's graduation—which takes place on Saturday. But the weather "was obviously not a fan of that plan," Warren wrote.
All of the new designs seem to feature natural elements. On the northwest corner of Walnut and 2nd streets, the image of the Mona Lisa under a banner that said "SMILE" will be replaced by dragonflies and another bug that is not yet identifiable based on the work in progress.
The nature theme in the designs is not by accident. Warren wrote: "We asked artists to submit designs including elements of nature and wildlife native to Bloomington as part of the call."
Eades told The B Square that on Thursday morning she left Indianapolis early enough to arrive in Bloomington at 6:30 a.m. Eades lives in Indy's Big Car Collaborative, which describes itself as a "flexible and adaptable nonprofit art and design organization and collective." Living at Big Car means she can devote herself full time to being an artist, Eades said.
Living at Big Car also means she has her own house with a backyard—where she's thinking of "farming" butterflies to help support those that are endangered due to loss of habitat. Eades said the city is paying $750 for the work, and providing the supplies—she picked out the paint colors at Bloomington Paint and Wallpaper.
Eades said she would not be able to finish on Thursday, but would return the following day, on Friday.
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