IT"S FINALLY HAPPENING! Our first installation is right around the corner!

Call for Artists in the UC Berkeley Community!

Hi Cal Community! Thanks to a generous grant from the UC Berkeley's Chancellors Partnership Fund, we are going to design 7 more boxes near the UC Berkeley Campus!!


for details on this particular call and to download the application:
click here

this call is for UC Berkeley students, staff, faculty, and alumni only.

we are working in partnership with the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Facilities Services. We are really looking forward to engaging UC Berkeley and meeting the great creative artists of the Cal Community!

Sponsors are choosing their artists!~

We are excited to report that we have accepted our first rounds of artists to the 60 Boxes project. A huge thank you goes out to the many artists who applied to this project!

Sponsors are reviewing artists now and will be making selections in the coming weeks so new designs can be commissioned!

thanks for your support and enjoy the long labor day weekend!

Sponsorship Facts

by Elyce Klein

Your financial support goes to the Earth Island Institute (EII) and is fully tax deductible. Additionally, you can team up with another like-minded business, organization or individual to sponsor a box!

This map shows the locations of utility boxes throughout the city. Several of them have already been sponsored, but some have not. By sponsoring a box, you will be able to select the artist you wish to work with - either from a roster given to you by EII or with an artist of your choosing. All artists and designs must be approved by the City of Berkley's Civic Arts Commission, but EII ensures an easy and streamlined process for everyone involved.

"Sustainability" is the overarching theme of the project, but as a platinum level sponsor, the specifics are your choice. Potential designs include encapsulating healthy lifestyles, buying local, transportation, renewable energy, fostering community, music education, and more!

All designs will be printed onto polymer stickers and affixed to the boxes for three years.

Around Berkeley

At left is a map showing the locations of utility boxes throughout the city, planned for design.

(Click image to enlarge.)

One Artist's Design

This is an article from our upcoming newsletter. We hope you enjoy it!

One Artist's Design

by Molly Montgomery

Mariana Garibay is one of the artists chosen to design a utility box for the 60 boxes project.

Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Garibay has lived in the Bay Area for the past 12 years, creating art in her community. For the past six years, she has been an Artist-in-Residency at the Kala Institute of Art in Berkeley. Before that, she worked at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco, developing her printmaking skills.

For the 60 boxes project, Garibay worked with Mayor Tom Bates, who sponsored her box, to create a sustainable-themed design. Her artwork will cover a utility box on the corner of Center Street and Shattuck Ave in the heart of Downtown Berkeley.

“As an avid walker and public transit enthusiast (I have walked over 7,000 miles in the last three years since selling my car), I wanted to highlight Berkeley’s strength as a walkable and livable city,” said Mayor Bates, explaining his idea for the box.

So Garibay decided upon a map-like design that would accurately show walkways and bike paths in Downtown Berkeley, but also would symbolically represent the city as a bustling network radiating positive energy.

Since Garibay knew her design would be placed on top of a utility box, she was inspired to make the lines on the map into green wires. She also drew vibrant flowers on the map in the places where Berkeley has parks. Garibay manipulated her hand-drawn images using a computer program to create the final design.

Garibay became interested in the 60 boxes project because of her passion for public art and her concern for living sustainably.

“I think art should be everywhere, not just in museums,” Garibay said, “It enhances our everyday experience.”

Garibay also said she cares about sustainability, because she think everyone should be aware of the impact they have upon the planet. She hopes her artwork on the utility box will influence people to use more sustainable forms of transportation, such as walking or riding a bike.

Garibay is currently completing a BFA in painting at the California College of the Arts.