“Art Outside the Box” Public Art
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“Art Outside the Box” Public Art Project

In 2018 the Pioneer Square Residents’ Council (PSRC) initiated their first public art project in the neighborhood Art Outside the Box! The intent is to spread art throughout the neighborhood on the Seattle Department of Transportation signal boxes (gray utility boxes that control traffic signals).

After crowd sourcing themes from the community, the selected theme was Our First Community. Through a collaboration with the Chief Seattle Club, a Pioneer Square social service and arts organization, we reached out to Coast Salish artists through an open call. A jury panel of Native American art professionals, Indigenous community leaders and a Pioneer Square resident and business owner selected artists for the boxes. 

This first set of artworks were installed in the summer of 2019 and featured artists who are enrolled members of Coast Salish tribes, people who historically inhabited this region. These boxes were funded by the Business Improvement Area (BIA) of Pioneer Square and the Pioneer Square Residents’ Council.

The neighborhood is very enthusiastic about the artworks on the first five signal boxes. In late 2019, the PSRC board decided to extend the same theme for six more boxes, utilizing the above mentioned jury’s other set of selections. 

Take a look at the 2020 artworks for signal boxes on Jackson Street and one box at 1st and Main. The boxes on Jackson are fully funded by the Pioneer Square Residents’ Council and the box at 1st and Main is funded by BIA and PSRC.