The story behind the electrical box artworks

You’ve all probably seen these electrical boxes that have become works of art. They’re at Bainbridge Green and on South Street, but there are plans to eventually make all of the electrical boxes in the city look this nice.

electrical boxes
Photo from Paradigm on Instagram.

So what is the story behind the creation of this electrical box art?

The Inquirer shared an article about these functional art pieces. The initiative to beautify these electrical boxes is from HAHA magazine’s founder and the co-owners of Paradigm Gallery in Queen Village. Since Paradigm aims to have art that interacts with the surrounding community, public art outside of galleries is the perfect answer. This project began in 2014 and keeps getting bigger, with even more artists and plans for the beautification of more of these throughout the city.

More from the article:

Participating artists, who are found through word of mouth, work mainly free of charge, often sleeping on McCorriston’s couch. A stipend totaling $2,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the South Street Headhouse District, with the rest coming from HAHA x Paradigm, helps fund flights and cover meals. But the artists have the freedom to create their own design, often on the spot. It generally takes a day to complete a box.