Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Adams Ave. box artists mostly legit

Ward Canyon art-bombed

Bryndan Badel. Artists were requested to send in a minimum of three photos of their work.
Bryndan Badel. Artists were requested to send in a minimum of three photos of their work.

On July 14, about 20 utility boxes were painted along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.

Janine Wareham at 34th and Adams: “I’m trying to paint a bunch of positive messages for the community,”

“Each of the 16 artists, was assigned a box and given anywhere from $125 to $675,” said Selena from the Normal Heights Urban Arts organization, “depending on size of the box; small, medium, large and x-large.”

Cristopher Konrad: “Something that might have fish on it won’t work with our theme here.”

Her organization collaborated with the Normal Heights Community Development Corporation and Adams Avenue Business Association— to bring the utility-box project to fruition.

Mike Majors: “My box is about due for a refresher."

At 2:30 that Saturday, I found Janine Wareham painting the box on the north side corner of 34th and Adams, across the street from Rosie O’Grady’s in the historic Wilkinson Building.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I’m trying to paint a bunch of positive messages for the community,” she said, “this side’s going to say “You are magical.”

One box by the I-15 depicted sunset-meets-ocean.

Wareham is a 40-year-old designer (illustrator and letterer) who’s been painting her whole life. This afternoon, her husband came by and popped up a canopy to shield Wareham and her four-foot utility box from the sun. “The paints globbing up and I have to dilute it a bit,” she said. “I’m painting a cat on top meowing to the people, a dog, and a snake on the side.”

Bryndan Badel: “The characters are based off of the cats in my life."

A couple of blocks to the east of Wareham, a box remained in grey primer and didn’t get painted.

“Something that might have fish on it won’t work with our theme here,” said Cristopher Konrad, the CEO of the Konrad+King design studio on the corner of Hawley and Adams.

“I see their point,” Wareham said, “they wanted something edgy and cool.”

I opened Konrad’s blue door, which sits about ten feet from the utility box, to scope out the theme of his waiting room. To the right there’s a 1970s rock-n-roll montage of photos and concert posters; up top hangs a large vintage chandelier; in the middle of the room sits four mid-century lounge chairs that surround a guitar-amplifier converted into a coffee table; towards the back wall was a fully stocked bar; and to the left sat a low chestnut brown cabinet that housed a record player.

“I just assigned a graphic artist to do a vinyl wrap for them,” said Scott Kessler of the Adams Avenue Business Association, “they have a coffee table that’s a Marshall amp and they are paying for the artist to wrap their box with the same design as the guitar-amp.

“We’ve been painting boxes here for 30 years now.”

(Kessler helped with the beautifying of 15 utility boxes in Logan Heights on the same weekend.)

“I love this program,” said Mike Majors, “my box is about due for a refresher, with STP motor oil stickers.”

Majors is the owner of Smitty’s Servicewhich is kitty-corner to Konrad’s studio. The 70-year-old auto garage already has a custom utility box that Majors painted red ten years ago; he hard-mounted wrenches and a Snap-on plaque on the facade.

“Tweekers used to drive up and stop,” he said, “then they would look both ways and they would try to grab it and pick it up. Then they would look around all embarrassed …. but it hasn’t happened in awhile because the paints getting all faded.”

In June, artists were requested to send in their qualifications which included a minimum of three photos of their work (previously painted murals and utility boxes) and conceptual drawings for their prospective Adams Avenue utility boxes. Selena and other members from her organization selected the 16 artists.

One box by the I-15 southbound freeway entrance, depicted a sunset-meets-ocean design; when I drove by, another box was in its early stages portraying a surfer.

“The characters are based off of the cats in my life,” said Bryndan Bedel, the artist who decorated the box with acrylic paints a few feet away from the Normal Heights sign.

But not every applicant was selected to paint one the 22 primered boxes between the I-15 and I-805 overpasses.

One artist who was declined reached out on the urban-arts Facebook page and offered to paint a utility box for free; another artist bypassed the selection process and “art bombed” a box close to Ward Canyon Neighborhood Park that wasn’t on the masterplan.

“I’ve been working in the creative industry for a long time,” Wareham said, “so I put together a pretty tidy presentation which includes my artwork and my website.”

“Maybe that helps especially in this day and age where there’s a lot of competition and everyone’s ‘insta-famous.’”

Wareham was paid $125 for the painting of her box.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Bryndan Badel. Artists were requested to send in a minimum of three photos of their work.
Bryndan Badel. Artists were requested to send in a minimum of three photos of their work.

On July 14, about 20 utility boxes were painted along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.

Janine Wareham at 34th and Adams: “I’m trying to paint a bunch of positive messages for the community,”

“Each of the 16 artists, was assigned a box and given anywhere from $125 to $675,” said Selena from the Normal Heights Urban Arts organization, “depending on size of the box; small, medium, large and x-large.”

Cristopher Konrad: “Something that might have fish on it won’t work with our theme here.”

Her organization collaborated with the Normal Heights Community Development Corporation and Adams Avenue Business Association— to bring the utility-box project to fruition.

Mike Majors: “My box is about due for a refresher."

At 2:30 that Saturday, I found Janine Wareham painting the box on the north side corner of 34th and Adams, across the street from Rosie O’Grady’s in the historic Wilkinson Building.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I’m trying to paint a bunch of positive messages for the community,” she said, “this side’s going to say “You are magical.”

One box by the I-15 depicted sunset-meets-ocean.

Wareham is a 40-year-old designer (illustrator and letterer) who’s been painting her whole life. This afternoon, her husband came by and popped up a canopy to shield Wareham and her four-foot utility box from the sun. “The paints globbing up and I have to dilute it a bit,” she said. “I’m painting a cat on top meowing to the people, a dog, and a snake on the side.”

Bryndan Badel: “The characters are based off of the cats in my life."

A couple of blocks to the east of Wareham, a box remained in grey primer and didn’t get painted.

“Something that might have fish on it won’t work with our theme here,” said Cristopher Konrad, the CEO of the Konrad+King design studio on the corner of Hawley and Adams.

“I see their point,” Wareham said, “they wanted something edgy and cool.”

I opened Konrad’s blue door, which sits about ten feet from the utility box, to scope out the theme of his waiting room. To the right there’s a 1970s rock-n-roll montage of photos and concert posters; up top hangs a large vintage chandelier; in the middle of the room sits four mid-century lounge chairs that surround a guitar-amplifier converted into a coffee table; towards the back wall was a fully stocked bar; and to the left sat a low chestnut brown cabinet that housed a record player.

“I just assigned a graphic artist to do a vinyl wrap for them,” said Scott Kessler of the Adams Avenue Business Association, “they have a coffee table that’s a Marshall amp and they are paying for the artist to wrap their box with the same design as the guitar-amp.

“We’ve been painting boxes here for 30 years now.”

(Kessler helped with the beautifying of 15 utility boxes in Logan Heights on the same weekend.)

“I love this program,” said Mike Majors, “my box is about due for a refresher, with STP motor oil stickers.”

Majors is the owner of Smitty’s Servicewhich is kitty-corner to Konrad’s studio. The 70-year-old auto garage already has a custom utility box that Majors painted red ten years ago; he hard-mounted wrenches and a Snap-on plaque on the facade.

“Tweekers used to drive up and stop,” he said, “then they would look both ways and they would try to grab it and pick it up. Then they would look around all embarrassed …. but it hasn’t happened in awhile because the paints getting all faded.”

In June, artists were requested to send in their qualifications which included a minimum of three photos of their work (previously painted murals and utility boxes) and conceptual drawings for their prospective Adams Avenue utility boxes. Selena and other members from her organization selected the 16 artists.

One box by the I-15 southbound freeway entrance, depicted a sunset-meets-ocean design; when I drove by, another box was in its early stages portraying a surfer.

“The characters are based off of the cats in my life,” said Bryndan Bedel, the artist who decorated the box with acrylic paints a few feet away from the Normal Heights sign.

But not every applicant was selected to paint one the 22 primered boxes between the I-15 and I-805 overpasses.

One artist who was declined reached out on the urban-arts Facebook page and offered to paint a utility box for free; another artist bypassed the selection process and “art bombed” a box close to Ward Canyon Neighborhood Park that wasn’t on the masterplan.

“I’ve been working in the creative industry for a long time,” Wareham said, “so I put together a pretty tidy presentation which includes my artwork and my website.”

“Maybe that helps especially in this day and age where there’s a lot of competition and everyone’s ‘insta-famous.’”

Wareham was paid $125 for the painting of her box.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.