Self-Guided Utility Box Tour
Hi, my name is Becca, and I’m a public artist working primarily in murals and utility box transformations. My work focuses on turning everyday infrastructure into small moments of public art that add color to routine and shift how we notice the spaces we move through every day. I created this guide for anyone who wants to turn a regular drive into a small public art route and to learn more about the design and process behind each piece.
This route can be done from Newport Beach to La Mesa, or La Mesa to Newport Beach. Without traffic, and without time to stop or park and look at the art, it hypothetically takes around 3 hours and includes 8 utility box projects I’ve painted across Southern California. Each description includes context about the art, from how it was designed to how it was installed, and the site-specific decisions that shaped it in response to each location.
Utility boxes are a unique surface to work on because they are already part of a community. They are often overlooked, which makes them an ideal canvas for local artists. I believe public art matters because it lives outside of galleries and becomes part of daily life. It can change how a neighborhood feels, create shared visual moments, and bring art into places that are otherwise purely functional.
Before you start on this journey, take a moment to notice whether you’ve seen painted utility boxes in your own neighborhood. If not, I hope you do after this. Enjoy the drive!
Telephone Utility Box, 2024 // 2700 East Coast Hwy, Corona Del Mar, CA 92625
So the story is, when I first saw this telephone booth utility box, it had been on the street for about ten years. The real estate company VALIA had looked into removing it, but that turned out to be too much of a hassle. Not only would it have been outrageously expensive, but it would’ve required a whole lot of moving electrical equipment.
So instead, they decided to look for an artist like me to freshen it up. Not only did I repaint everything (which was tedious), but I also used a transfer paper method to add the company’s logo onto the windows of the box. They also wanted to add a friendly “hello” to the other two sides.
If you stand by the box for a couple of minutes, you may hear the sound of a manhole going “clunk” “clunk” as cars drive over it. Imagine listening to that for 7 hours a day.
Speaking of VALIA, take a few steps down the street to see the signage I painted for them a couple of years later.
Valia signage, 2025
If you look up, you’ll see VALIA painted in gold on both sides of this building. When I accepted the project, I thought I’d be able to use a lift to get close to the wall, but that proved to be difficult because of the way the floor is angled and the presence of a tree on the other side.
Instead, we used ladders to get onto the roof, and an even bigger ladder to get onto the second roof. I won’t show you any pictures of that process because I wouldn’t recommend anyone else doing it!
First, I cleaned the wall and then painted a black rectangle. That night, I used a VR headset to create a stencil of VALIA, outlining each letter in pencil and then using a pounce tool to poke holes along the outlines. The next morning, we lined up our stencil with the black rectangle, then we “pounced” chalk through the holes, which creates a chalk outline on the wall.
Then I used a solid tan color to create a layer on the black, before going in with two coats of gold to make it shine. We did this on both sides before using varnish to make sure the painting lasts in the elements. It’s classy, and the dark grey-black color matches the other buildings on the street.
Vista in Bloom, 2020 // 1423 N Santa Fe Ave, Vista, CA 92084
Vista’s utility box brings you to my hometown, and to my first utility box and large painting project ever. At the time I did this, I was 8+ months into being laid off from my full-time job as an email marketer, and had spent those months creating my artist website and putting myself out there.
I found the “Vista in Bloom” program by searching online, and was immediately inspired to create these daisies and bees on a red background. I was nervous about the project and shocked to see that there was not a lot of information about utility boxes online. I decided to blog my process and have since created 5+ blogs diving into the process.
I did this in one day! I showed up at 8 am and had someone else help clean and prime. Then I painted away until 4 pm. I didn’t originally varnish it because I didn’t know I could. Less than a year later, they put this extra box on the back, so I asked social media what I should do, and they voted for me to paint it in reverse colors. When I did that, I also cleaned up some writing and dirt and varnished the whole thing.
Ibis Birds, 2026 // N Broadway and El Norte Parkway, Escondido, CA 92025
Fun fact: this design was originally intended for Mission Hills. Because it was never used, I submitted it in the “artist’s choice” category and was happy to bring Ibis to Escondido. The inspiration for this design came from Mike Wilcox, who creates lovely art deco prints. I love the way the birds interact with the scenery.
When I shared my design on social media, people loved how the water’s reflection interacted with the vent. Many told me I was so smart and that it was their favorite part. While I would love to take full credit for that, I have to admit that it was a happy accident.
I had drawn my mockup to have that bird on the left, and it just so happened to line up with the vent.
This box was brought to you by the city’s public art program called “Escondido Expressions.” I believe I was part of phase two, and by the end of June 2026, they were hoping to have 39 boxes painted, which is a lot. They are the first city I’ve seen to create a digital map where people can see where all the art is, and learn more about each artist and design inspiration.
Groves and Bees, 2026 // S Escondido Blvd & W 13th Ave, Escondido, CA 92025
Just down the street, you’ll see the second box I painted as part of Escondido Expressions. This is the design I created for the “Groves and Bees” category, so I wanted to highlight how bees help farmers by pollinating plants and helping sustain citrus and avocado groves.
I never really use greens this vibrant, so that was a fun change. As you can see, this design didn’t provide any fun vent design incorporation, so I went for an orange. One of my favorite parts is how two of the bees’ paths connect and form a heart on the left side of the street if the street is at your back. This space doesn’t provide a lot of shade, so an easy-up was my best friend during this project.
Escondido liked this design so much that they asked if they could use it in a potential coloring book, and of course, I said yes. I think creating a coloring book of all the utility box designs is such a great idea and a wonderful example of how these utility box projects can expand into larger community projects.
Colorful Dots and Stripes, 2024
As you drive between Escondido and La Mesa, you’ll pass through Rancho Bernardo, where, from the highway, you can wave to a box I did at someone’s house. I didn’t include their address here because that would be an invasion of privacy for my client, so I hope you can understand.
Instead, take these photos as your consolation while I tell you more about the project. This client reached out to me because they had a cluster of electrical boxes in their front yard, and they wanted to add color. After they sent reference images, we decided on stripes and dots to create my most colorful box yet.
Before I had even finished, my client came out with two aluminum cans and asked if I’d also paint those so they could go on the other side of the house for balance. Overall, my client was so so pleased, and this remains my most colorful project yet.
Leaves in La Jolla, 2025 // 8199 Jenner St, La Jolla, CA 92037
My toughest project with the best view! Here you’ll find two large utility boxes that were once covered in a vinyl wrapping. I was contacted by the condo complex and asked what it would take to remove this peeling, rusted, and faded vinyl before painting it with leaves.
Removing the vinyl was so hard. I used vinyl off to rip off the vinyl, but I had to pull with my full body. Once the vinyl was removed, we had to remove the adhesive with razor blades, then sand down the boxes before priming them. All that prep work just to get to the painting stage!
Since they wanted a more ambiguous, abstract, and blended design, I did a lot of boops and bops with brushes and rags to create texture before painting several layers of leaves. I enlisted the help of a friend to paint with me, and all we did for two days straight was paint leaves. We dreamt of leaves.
Goldfinches, 2025 // 4044 Goldfinch St, San Diego, CA 92103
In Mission Hills, you might as well find a parking spot since you can walk between both of my boxes in the neighborhood. Although I painted this box in May 2025, I had first applied to this Birds of Mission Hills Wayfinding Art Box Project early in 2024. When I first saw the RFQ, it was a large project, hoping to paint all the boxes in Mission Hills to correspond with their street names. Unfortunately, after all the coordination work was put together, the funding fell through.
I was lucky enough to be contacted by the coordinator, and we picked the project back up with this goldfinch box. I wanted the design to include all the flowers and seeds in a goldfinch’s natural habitat, and let the yellow color of the birds shine. As you can probably see, the tree above this box makes it super dirty, so this one was tough to clean. I enlisted the help of two local artists, and we spent all of Saturday and Sunday painting these birds!
Hawks, 2025 // 4022 Hawk St, San Diego, CA 92103
In Southern California, the hawks you’re most likely to see are the red-tailed, red-shouldered, and Cooper’s hawk. I wanted to create the design with elements relevant to a hawk’s diet and habitat, so I included insects, snakes, lizards, cacti, and California poppies.
I wanted the blue color to mimic the sky since they soar high to search for their prey. For this box, I decided to create templates of each hawk shape out of construction paper so I could easily tape that onto each box and trace the shape of the birds.
I didn’t want to worry about proportions while painting, so this was a perfect solution. I had a local artist help me complete this utility box, which we did in one weekend. This box was funded by a local business owner, Sloane. If you’d like to fund a future box as part of the Mission Hills Wayfinding Art Box program, please reach out to the Mission Hills Business Improvement District.
Know Your Worth, 2021 // 8264 University Ave, La Mesa, CA 91942
In 2021, I painted my second set of utility boxes right outside of La Mesa Lumber! My original application was just for one box, but once the city saw my design, they thought it would work well in this spot and asked if I would do three. Of course, I said yes because here we are. When I got this project, it was during the time when we were just emerging from the pandemic, and I felt like people needed positivity. That’s where the “Know Your Worth”, “Keep Going”, and “You Deserve Happiness” phrases came from.
A couple of years after completing this painting, I drove by after work and noticed that parts of the box had been tagged, and others had been painted over (to cover tagging). I asked a friend to help, found a free weekend, and cleaned up the box in just under four hours! The writing came off with soap and water, and afterwards I applied a fresh coat of paint and varnish.
I’m happy to report that I’ll be adding two more boxes in La Mesa by the fall of 2026! They will be vinyl wrapped and inspired by both the plum tree and bougainvillea.
Additional Resources (updated June 2026)
Public Art Programs Mentioned
Blogs about Utility Boxes
YouTube Videos
Additional Resources
Utility Box Addresses
Newport Beach: 2700 East Coast Hwy, Corona Del Mar, CA 92625
Vista: 1423 N Santa Fe Ave, Vista, CA 92084
Escondido (ibis): N Broadway and El Norte Parkway, Escondido, CA 92025
Escondido (bees): S Escondido Blvd & W 13th Ave, Escondido, CA 92025
La Jolla: 8199 Jenner St, La Jolla, CA 92037
Mission Hills (goldfinch): 4044 Goldfinch St, San Diego, CA 92103
Mission Hills (hawk): 4022 Hawk St, San Diego, CA 92103
La Mesa: 8264 University Ave, La Mesa, CA 91942