Historic South End Magazine 2018

AMPLIFY THE SIGNAL BRINGS
8 NEW ART PIECES TO SOUTH END

Drab and unremarkable utility boxes along South Boulevard will soon be transformed into colorful works of art, thanks to a new public art project called Amplify the Signal. This project is the brainchild of Charlotte artist Laurie Smithwick, who won a South End Creative Lab grant in 2016 for “Beautiful Utilities” – the first project to transform a grey utility box with art. In this project, Smithwick received a second grant from the South End Creative Lab to apply the transformation to 8 more utility boxes at intersections on South Boulevard.

Amplify the Signal will mingle beauty and function by printing artists’ work on vinyl wraps and adhering them to the gray utility boxes at intersections along South Boulevard. Each artist featured is a Charlotte-based artist who submitted a piece of their work to be considered by a panel of judges. After more than 50 submissions, the panel selected eight works that will be featured on the utility boxes.

Meet the artists and see their work:

Adrian Chu Redmond – “A Cut Above”

South End artist Adrian Chu Redmond is very familiar with the space where her art will soon be displayed.

“I drive on South Boulevard every day going to the Dilworth Artisan Station Building where my art studio is located. I walk the Rail Trail and the greenway frequently and love all the local artwork that has been thoughtfully placed,” says Chu Redmond.

Chu Redmond’s goal with A Cut Above, her first public art piece in Charlotte, is to energize people with the beautiful blooms of sunflowers.