An abstract design by Barbara Miner, professor and chair of the Department of Art, was recently selected by the Arts Commission as a colorful new signal box wrap located at the corner of Jackson Street and North Michigan Street, outside of the Domestic Relations Court in downtown Toledo.
“When I thought about creating a design for the signal box wrap, I wanted to reference the local flora and bring some of that brightness and natural history to downtown Toledo,” Miner said. “The abstracted design is based on the wild lupine flowers that are rare and native to the oak savanna ecosystem in the western Lake Erie basin,” Miner said. “It was a challenge to create a design that combined the concept and the need for strategically placing elements so that the final design would wrap around the box in a continuous visual story. Ten designs later, I got there.
Miner received the Arts Commission invite to create the signal box wrap in mid-July and completed her 10th and final design by the last week in August. The wraps were installed in mid-October.
“The University of Toledo is an incredibly important and integral part of the fabric of the city of Toledo,” she said. “As part of the University, I am pleased to bring my work and creative value to our community. I’m also very grateful to the Arts Commission for this challenge, and it is really wonderful to see my work in a public space with no restrictions for public viewing.”
A signal box wrap designed by Jamie Lefevre, program coordinator in the Honors College, also is on display in downtown at the intersection of North Ontario Street and Madison Avenue.
“When observing previous signal box designs, I noted a lack of environmental interaction, and I wanted to give pedestrians waiting nearby an opportunity for playful engagement with their surroundings,” Lefevre said of her design. “I took inspiration from hidden-object puzzles and the clever camouflage of insects. With the beauty of butterflies being more widely appreciated, I intentionally opted to illustrate moths — they’re equally beautiful, if not more so.”
