Residents and commuters traveling in Centennial may find colorful new additions to the city this fall, as the Centennial Arts and Cultural Foundation has announced the winners of this year’s traffic box art wrap project.

Several communities across Colorado, such as Thornton and Fort Collins, have brought in artists to decorate city utility boxes, transforming them into public works of art.  

Centennial began installing murals on some of its traffic boxes in 2021, according to a news release from the arts and cultural foundation. 

Wanting to transform 18 more traffic boxes, the city and the Centennial Arts and Cultural Foundation partnered in March to create a call for artists to participate in the traffic box art wrap project, per the release. 

“This marks the first opportunity for CACF (the arts and cultural foundation) to work with the City of Centennial to bring art to public places, include local artists in the process and have Centennial residents play a part in selecting the winners,” the foundation said in the release. 

In a previous interview with Colorado Community Media, Centennial Mayor Stephanie Piko — who is also president of the foundation— said three locations in the city were selected for the project, and each location has six traffic boxes that will be decorated. 

The three locations are Smoky Hill Road, the intersection area near East Dry Creek Road and South Chester Street, and South Colorado Boulevard from East Arapahoe Road to East Dry Creek Road, per the news release. 

The idea was for artists to create a single theme expressed across the six boxes in each location, Piko explained.

This summer, a selection committee, made up of 17 volunteers from the community, reviewed and ranked the 25 artists who submitted entries for the project.

Ultimately, three winners were selected: Steve Riecks, of Highlands Ranch; Liz Cunningham, of Lone Tree; and Jaclyn Garrett, of Strasburg. These winners were announced during the 17th annual Centennial Under the Stars event.

“We’re very excited. We expect this to be an annual event for the City of Centennial — to have boxes wrapped all across the … city to share art in public places,” Piko said at the event. 

The traffic box art wraps are expected to be installed in the fall, according to the release. 

Steve Riecks, of Highlands Ranch, in front of his artwork that was selected to be added to traffic boxes in the City of Centennial in 2023.

Riecks’ art piece, which features a bird flying in front of mountains and a bright yellow sun, will be added to the traffic boxes on South Colorado Boulevard.

Riecks, who studied fine art and graphic design at Colorado State University, said he fell in love with the wildlife and beauty of the Rocky Mountains when he moved to Colorado, per the news release. 

“As a wild life artist, I like to capture a glimpse of the constantly changing world and illustrate a moment in time through my paintings. I hope to show people the beauty I see in God’s creation,” Riecks said in the release.

Liz Cunningham, of Lone Tree, in front of her artwork that was selected to be added to traffic boxes in the City of Centennial in 2023.

Cunningham’s art piece, depicting space ships traveling from the mountains into a starry night sky, will be at the Dry Creek and Chester location. 

Cunningham is a seating technician who engages in direct client care to provide custom wheelchair seating, and being able to help people in need is a constant inspiration for her, according to the release. 

“I am so thrilled to have my work seen by the public! May we all continue to explore during the day and the night. How lucky we are that (we) get to do all of these with the mountains in sight,” Cunningham said in the release. 

Jaclyn Garrett, of Strasburg, in front of her artwork that was selected to be added to traffic boxes in the City of Centennial in 2023.

Garrett, who created an art piece featuring the silhouettes of people across a snowy mountain landscape, will have her work featured at the Smoky Hill Road location. 

She said her inspiration for the artwork was that her favorite memories have had the Colorado scenery in the background.

“This project is a fun way to add art to the community where I grew up,” Garrett said in the release. “I earned my art degree from Metro State but have been an artist since childhood and love sharing it, especially with kids and my own bright and creative daughters.

“This has been an amazing opportunity. I am honored to have my work selected to be a part of a city that has given so much to me,” she added.