Thanks to Betsy Boyd of Portland Downtown, Lily Phillips Carter of Ladybird Glassery, and Kincaid Pearson of 82Parris Gallery, Bayside Portland is a little more colorful now that the BNA Public Art Team was able to bring a PDD-funded utlility box painting program to our neighborhood. Check it out on the corner of Cumberland Ave and Preble Street.

The “Painting Outside the Box Portland Project” is a public art initiative by Portland Downtown that enlists local artists to paint utility boxes to beautify the city. The project transforms ordinary utility boxes into colorful, original works of art. Selected artists receive a stipend for their work.

The contract for the utility box on Cumberland Ave in Bayside was awarded to Lily Carter, whose design was chosen by BNA Public Art Team Lead Kincaid Pearson over more than a dozen applicants, noting “I thought it was a fitting one because it’s based on a quilt and the Bayside neighborhood feels like the most diverse and similar to a quilted network of residents.”

for more information about the BNA Public Art Team, contact arts@baysideportland.org