Art to beautify more Minot street corners
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Magic City Lions Club will be installing more traffic signal cabinet art at five additional intersections, possibly as early as this fall.
The Minot City Council approved the art wraps at its meeting Monday, Oct. 5. The signalized intersections where cabinets will be wrapped are South Broadway and Burdick Expressway West, South Broadway and 11th Avenue Southwest, 16th Street Southwest and Burdick Expressway West, 16th Street Southwest and 11th Avenue Southwest and Sixth Street Southwest and Burdick Expressway West.
The art wraps continue a project started several years ago by Magic City Lions. According to information from the city, the club raised around $11,000 from grants and donations for the Lions Club City Beautification Project.
Fourteen traffic signal cabinets were covered in anti-graffiti vinyl wraps that were designed by local artists with locally themed artwork. Planning of the project began in 2017 with designs displayed on the signal cabinets by 2019.
The club worked with the Minot Area Council of the Arts to find artists and also recognized children's artwork from school projects displayed at the North Dakota State Fair by selecting them for the project.
Josh Ressler with Magic City Lions said the current project engaged whimsical artist Max Patzner of Minot.
"These new ones, I think, are going to be very eye-catching," Ressler said.
The Lions enlisted Jordan Kizima with Knockout Designs, Minot, to install the art wraps, although the installation might get delayed until spring due to fall weather, Ressler said. The club is funding the project with some of its gaming proceeds.
From the start, Magic City Lions hoped to spark other civic groups to get involved. There are plenty of unadorned signal cabinets remaining, Ressler said. Some of the earlier art also went away when the city replaced signal cabinets, creating opportunity for new artwork.
"It's not an exclusive thing to us. If there are other groups that want to do it, I would encourage them," Ressler said. "It makes the city look a little bit nicer."