SPOKES BY: LISA L. SEARS

More about the SPOKES SWITCHBOX:

My intention was to make a work that was colorful, joyful and imparted a sense of movement at this busy intersection. I used the similarities of stylized bicycle spokes, sun or star rays, and the wheel of life to create a lively work that is just this side of abstract and open to interpretation. If my Switchbox painting was music, I think it would be jazzy in a Bebop way. I thought about how the work would look to passengers in cars, folks on bicycles and pedestrians. I had planned to paint the top of the switchbox a single flat color, but after so many cheerful waves and hellos from folks in Malden Public Works trucks and workers in large sanitation trucks, I painted the top of it in hopes that they could enjoy that too! Most importantly, as I was painting, I thought about the great kids I know in that neighborhood and who live on that street. I hope that they feel happy and proud to live in Malden every time they see one of the new switchboxes.