New art program aims to transform Citrus Heights traffic signal cabinets

By Sara Beth Williams–
The City Council on Wednesday gave the green light on a new traffic signal control cabinet art program. The program, similar to SMUD’s transformer box wrap program, will allow for the potential to wrap over 60 traffic signal control cabinets in custom artwork. Printed on vinyl wraps, the public artwork would both beautify the city and deter graffiti, the city said.

City Council members supported the initiative and encouraged coordinating with school art teachers and other arts organizations, but raised concerns about Artificial Intelligence-generated art submissions. Councilmember Kelsey Nelson said she would support accepting AI-generated artwork, but Councilmember Porsche Middleton cautioned against allowing it and suggested limiting the amount of AI-generated art accepted.

The city plans to offer schools, businesses, and developers the opportunity to sponsor cabinets within their districts, which would require private investment. The city also hopes to sponsor its own cabinets throughout Citrus Heights and said capital project funds could be utilized since wrapping cabinets in vinyl art will protect the cabinets from graffiti and reduce maintenance needs over the life of the artwork. Vinyl wrapping lasts between five and seven years and would include a protective UV overlaminate, the city said.

Wrapping a cabinet in art ranges from $1,500 to $3,000, depending on the cabinet size.

The city listed several limitations for submitted artwork. Unlike artwork on SMUD transformer boxes which are based on famous pieces of art, for the traffic control signal box program, designs must be original and cannot incorporate numbers or letters, except for approved company logos or sponsorship acknowledgments. Artwork should not be distracting, offensive, copyrighted, or advertising in nature.

By the end of Phase 2 of the Auburn Boulevard Complete Streets Project, the city’s inventory will include 63 signal controller cabinets, 60 signal service enclosure cabinets, and two signal communication cabinets , all of which will be available for artwork wrapping.

Councilmember Tim Schaefer suggested planning for any associated costs resulting from vehicle accidents that might damage an art-wrapped signal cabinet. Vice Mayor MariJane Lopez-Taff suggested issuing a call for sponsors in limited phases, due to the large inventory of cabinets. Nelson also suggested, once the program is underway, that the city create profiles for each artist and their featured artwork.

Next steps for the city include creating a traffic signal control cabinet inventory map for public use, launching a city webpage dedicated to the new arts program, issuing a call for sponsors to reserve a cabinet, and issuing a call to artists interested in submitting artwork for the program. Sponsors may also submit their own artwork.

The city also referenced several previous art projects created throughout Citrus Heights over the last 25 years but noted those efforts were often “lengthy and costly.” The city has provided grants to community organizations for murals, including two grants totaling $25,000 for murals in the Sunrise MarketPlace and a $3,000 grant to local artist Amie Nowell for a wall mural at Oak Avenue and Wachtel Way.

In addition to the new traffic signal control cabinet program, the City Council has also approved the launch of new Arts and Culture page for Citrus Heights. The city plans to create a webpage dedicated to arts and culture in the near future.