A stroll along the streets of downtown Olympia will produce a variety of different visual images with some more appealing than others.
There's graffiti, boarded up store fronts and nicely kept store fronts, crumpled sidewalks, abandoned clothing and whatnot, as well as homeless people and members of the general public out and about.
Mixed in among that menagerie are often ignored, yet purposeful metal boxes that sometimes end up being plastered with concert and event posters or, in some cases, covered in artistic vinyl wraps.
The boxes, commonly referred to as traffic boxes, can be found on sidewalks and street corners in downtown and other parts of the city.
In 2015, the City of Olympia embarked on a project aimed at turning the boxes into public art pieces. As part of that effort, the city is asking the public to vote on images of which 10 will emerge as the next set of vinyl wraps for the boxes.
"Help choose the 2025 Traffic Box Wraps by submitting your vote on Engage Olympia. There are ninety wraps to choose from submitted by local artists of all ages," said the city said in announcing voting for the vinyl wraps.
People must be registered on Engage Olympia in order to participate.
"If you already have an Engage Olympia account, please sign in. If not, you will have to create an account," the city said.
"After voting ends on May 31, 2025 the (10) images with the most votes will be printed as vinyl canvases and installed on traffic boxes around town. Selected artists receive a $500 honorarium for the use of their artwork image.
The winning traffic box wraps will be announced in summer and installed in summer and fall.
For more information or to vote on the vinyl art pieces, click here.
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