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Burlington will soon be adding more color to its public spaces, as the Select Board at its February 25 meeting approved two projects proposed by the Public Arts Committee.

The Public Arts Committee, formerly the Sculpture Park Committee, began its beautification work in 2020 with the installation of the Sculpture Park and has continued with biannual sculpture installations, the Pigs on Parade installation in the Town Common in summer 2024, and the painting of an electrical box by local student Von Larson in summer 2025.

Building on their recent efforts, the committee has collaborated with local artist Raksha Soni to create three proposed designs for another electrical box to be painted this summer. The Select Board reviewed these designs and requested Soni combine two of them into an image representing both togetherness and diversity.

"I like the concept of diversity as not just gender and race but also occupation," said Select Board Member Sarah Cawley.

The electrical box on the Town Common, across the street from the police station (which is currently being rebuilt) was chosen for the project; Town Administrator John Danizio suggested Soni and the committee coordinate with the town to ensure the construction and painting projects won't clash.

A community mural also got the go-ahead from the Select Board. The project will use a design from BHS AP Studio Art student Afsa Khalifa, said BHS Visual Arts Coordinator George Ratkevich, which will be painted on the side of the Human Services building at 61 Center Street. Khalifa will draw the line work on the 14-by-8-foot design and grid off the wall, said Ratkevich, and community members will divvy up and paint the mural one square at a time, mixing and applying colors under the supervision of an artist.

The goal, said L'Heureux, is to "get the commuinty engaged in creating public art," building on the creativity of the Pigs on Parade project.

Marge Yetman, Director of the Council on Aging, which is located in the Human Services building, said she and Recreatin Director Brendan Egan love the idea but recalled a previous mural that didn't stand up to the elements. Ratkevich and L'Heureux assured the board that both the electrical box and the mural will be completed with materials meant for outdoor projects.

And the mural, while it is planned for a single wall of the building, might be just the beginning. "This could grow," said Ratkevich. "It could be that we take some of the elements and motifs from that first mural and have it leak into the other side."

L'Heureux is excited to be featuring student artists in such a public way. "Burlington has a great art program and generates some really great young artists, and it's something we can really be proud of," she said.

Cawley agreed. "I love seeing us foster the arts with the young kids, and maybe when they grow up and get a job they can live here and show their kids," she said. "It's a really great way to bring color to the community and to create community and foster art within our young population."

Both projects received unanimous approval from the Select Board, with latitude given to the Public Arts Committee to choose the best location on the building for the mural.

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