By Maya McFadden
With spray paint bottles and brushes in hand, student artists Johana Perez, Bianca Gomez, and Siulmarie Santana brought to life their favorite childhood books — like Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” — as they decorated a graffiti-tagged electrical box across the street from Mitchell Branch Library in Westville.
They did that beautification work on a recent Thursday, in their capacity as the city Youth and Recreation Department’s summer paint crew.
For the past three summers, student artists have joined former art teacher Rebecca LeQuire to transform electrical boxes that are vandalized with tags and outdated flyers into fun, colorful works of art.
Youth and Rec Deputy Director of Operations Felicia Shashinka first came up with the idea, which partners with the city’s Youth@Work program, which employs young New Haveners to clean up public spaces around town.
The summer paint crew began traveling around the city on June 23, spotting tagged electrical boxes and painting them into something new. Their work will continue through Aug. 15.
They typically travel by van. In the case of a recent outing to Westville, not far from Youth and Rec’s headquarters, they used golfcarts in an effort to travel with a lower carbon footprint.
At around 9 a.m., the team hit the road after loading up two golf carts with dozens of cans of spray paint, brushes, a trash bag to collect plastic litter found along the way, and their Bluetooth speaker. which blasted songs like Dua Lipa’s “Levitating.”
The group drove to the corner of Whalley Avenue and Harrison Street, right near Westville’s public library branch. There sat a green electrical box with white spray-painted tags. Immediately, the crew started brainstorming.
They first looked around to see what was nearby, a focus they’ve had this year to integrate their art more into the neighborhoods they work in.
One student suggested painting animals on the box. Then the students noticed the library down the street. “I learned a lot about animals by reading books at the library as a kid,” Siulmarie said.
They decided to each take a side of the electrical box and paint their favorite childhood books.
They did so using a new technique they discovered that allows for them to make their art more precise despite being limited to only spray paint.
While listening to “Expresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, they each sprayed a small amount of paint into the cap of the can. They then dipped a brush into it to paint the spray paint onto their canvas.
Several cars beeped in support while passing and some stopped to directly tell the team, “Thank you, we appreciate your work” and “I’m a huge fan of your work.”
Each brush stroke got them closer to depicting books fondly remembered from their childhoods: “The Giving Tree,” “Pete the Cat,” “Curious George,” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
The team also stopped at the corner of Central and Whalley avenues to add touch ups to a box they worked on the day before.
Siulmarie explained that the group came up with framed art to match Westville’s art themes and neighborhood celebrations. “It’s fun being able to mix our interest with what exemplifies the neighborhood’s energy,” she said.
She added that in the past she was afraid to talk to neighbors who came up to the team, but now she enjoys it. The trio agreed that their skills have improved with spray paint as well.
Bianca added a brown bow to a purple cat pictured within a gold frame to make neighbors laugh as they walk by the electrical box on Central Avenue. “Maybe they can compare it to their cat’s personality or just find entertainment in art that has no limit,” she said.
Johana also noted that the summer art-focused job offers her a well-needed stress relief outlet before heading back to school.
