WEEKEND EDITION
April 2 - 3, 2005
Where some people see bland power boxes, artist Ozzy Villate sees a potential urban canvas.
"Whenever I see a blank wall I always think about what image I could put there. I see a blank space, I always want to fill it with paint," Villate said.
Villate is one of many local artists applying for the county's Zap! project to turn utility boxes at 10 sites around the Winchester Cultural Center into works of art.
The challenge of painting the boxes is one that appeals to Villate.
"They're in your face, out there in the middle of the street, and basically eyesores," Villate said.
He said the purpose is to take such a box "and transform it into a thing of beauty that relates to its surroundings."
Clark County Cultural Supervisor Patrick Gaffey is directing the Zap! project. He said the ubiquitous utility boxes -- most of them power boxes -- are great opportunities for public art.
"It's funny the way we train ourselves not to see these utility boxes. Then when you start thinking about them and go back again they're everywhere," Gaffey said.
"They're just sitting there trying to be invisible, so I think it's the perfect urban canvas."
Various local utilities are allowing the program to use the boxes.
"They're in different locations around the neighborhood so each one is going to be its own particular challenge," Gaffey said.
"It's sort of a magical thing where we expect the artists to touch these with the hand of art and turn them into something different."
Artists will meet with the community before painting the boxes, Gaffey said, and the finished pieces will be treated to resist graffiti.
"I know we're going to get some of the best artists in the valley," Gaffey said, adding that the project is part of a larger public art movement.
"There's going to be an awful lot of public art popping up in this valley," he said, adding that the utility box program is one he could see expanding.
Zap! is part of the Las Vegas Centennial Committee's City of 100 Murals program.
Villate is currently working on a mural for the program at the Fremont Street Experience. The mural depicts dice pyramids against the backdrop of Red Rock Canyon.
"It's alluding to Las Vegas growing as an empire through gaming and gambling almost as a jewel in the desert," he said.
Part of the Zap! project's appeal to Villate is the opportunity to work with a neighborhood.
"The artist here also has a challenge and a responsibility to the community to involve the community," Villate said. "It instills in them civic pride."
Zap! is accepting artist applications through Friday. Selected artists will be awarded a $2,000 honorarium and paid $250 for supplies. Painting is expected to begin June 18.
Visit the website for Zap! at www.accessclarkcounty.com/ parks/zap!.htm for information and an application, or call Gaffey at 455-8239.
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