Painted Power Boxes
Painted Power Boxes boxes in Downtown Salisbury is an ongoing project of Salisbury Arts Alliance, originally initiated under the auspices of Salisbury Arts & Entertainment District's Public Arts Committee, alongside Delmarva Veteran Builders and Delmarva Power. With Delmarva Power’s permission, the Salisbury Arts Alliance selects and compensates local artists, through public calls, to transform twenty designated power boxes, located within Salisbury's Arts & Entertainment District, into works of art.
So far, the twenty power boxes have been painted, and re-painted twenty-eight times. The project began in 2016, with the first box completed along the Downtown Salisbury Riverwalk, with six more completed soon after. In Spring 2018, another five boxes were awarded with financial support from Gillis Gilkerson, and the City of Salisbury. Dominique Ramsey's highly visible "Big Yellow Cats" was added in 2019, sponsored by the City of Salisbury Water Department.
In Summer 2020, another round of seven boxes were awarded - thanks to public art grant funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council. In 2023, the most recent round of eight boxes were announced, again thanks to a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council. This latest round marks the first time older boxes are being refreshed with new works.
Check out our current inventory of Painted Power Boxes and learn more about the local artists who created them.
#1: By Ali Jacobs
Ladybug
Ali Jacobs, of T.C. Studios, is passionate about contributing to the growth of arts and culture. She is inspired by the beautification, revitalization and progress in Salisbury. Her design features a balance of Maryland icons, including the flag and black-eyed susans, and a monarch butterfly with bright colorful shapes. "Color is happiness." says Ali, I want to share joy and creativity." Coming Soon 2024. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#2: By Holly Fields-Scott.
Bike
Holly Fields-Scott of Millsboro, DE brought her love of 3-D illusion to Downtown Salisbury with her power box design titled "Bike". Holly Fields-Scott is an accomplished muralist with notable works including Dogfish Head Brewpub's 3D octopus mural in Rehoboth Beach, DE. "My joy is illusion and street art that makes people smile. Today joy is more important than ever", says Holly. Completed 2020. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#3: By Corey Houlihan
Quiet Nights
Corey Houlihan is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Frankford, Delaware. She is a self-proclaimed robot obsessed nerd with a passion for kindness and curiosity. She has a wide range of public art experience from Delaware to D.C. and enjoys using bold bright colors, street art style with graphic lines and a sense motion in her designs. Completed 2024.
Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#4: By Tiffany Collins
Good News
Tiffany Collins is a queer artist from the Eastern Shore, who is hoping to add some whimsy and Good News to Downtown Salisbury. Tiffany's work focuses on digital design, mixed media and acrylic, drawing inspiration from retro themes, and color palettes. Her design creates a fictional newspaper that only prints good news, spreading the message of positivity. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
Artist Website
#5: By Hettie Epison
Cact-Eyes
Hettie Epison is graphic designer, and graduate of Salisbury University Fulton Hall. "Inspiration is a funny thing," says Hettie, "It comes in many shapes and forms. As an artist I always want to stay true to my vision. As an on-looker, I love to see things that make me ponder." Hettie's design features eyes in the desert in an abstract landscape, designed to inspire the viewer to "seek to see more". Completed 2024. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#6: By Olga Deshields
Peaceful Skies Above Us
Olga Deshields in a Snow Hill based artist, who specializes in bright imaginative work with special attention to detail. Her goal as a public artist is to spark job and a sense of wonder in her community. Her design is inspired by Eastern European Folk art, which is a part of her heritage, and the Ukrainian tradition of wishing for peaceful skies, as a part of blessings and prayers upon loved ones. Completed 2024. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#7: By Brian McAllister
Eastern Shore Alliance
Brian McAllister is a graduate of James M. Bennett Sr High, Visual Performing Arts Program, now professional muralist and teacher in Florida. His design highlights the Wicomico River and our connection to wildlife. The Great Blue Heron has been juxtaposed in scale to signify the importance of our natural habitat. It is important to remember that we are all in this together. Completed 2020. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#8: By Zanna La
Box #8
Zanna La is an accomplished painter who loves accepting challenges in her artwork, and testing her limits. Zanna chose the box behind the Wicomico County Public Library to pay homage to her childhood love – reading! Zanna shared that as a kid she would complain to the librarians that the checkout limit of 14 books at a time was too low! She hopes to share joy and the love of reading with her community through her design. Completed 2018. Funding provided by Salisbury Arts Alliance.
#9: By Marley Parsons
Basil
Marley chose a floral piece to brighten up the space of box nine. The basil plant and its cool colors will create a calming mood for the up-and-coming area of Downtown Salisbury. As a creative being, Marley is attracted to beautiful forms. She is interested in the growth, patience, hues, time, and the pursuit of mother nature. Through her work, she pursues a sense of serenity in the soul and to affect the mind and body as a whole. Completed 2018. Funding provided by Gillis Gilkerson.
Box 10: By Helene English
Cupcake
Artist Helene English painted ‘Cupcake’ in a style with bright colors and clean, simple graphic that is eye-catching and easily readable from a distance. She states “using food images a subtle message is conveyed that there is dining available downtown”. Helene hopes the colorful design becomes a local landmark and suggests “Let’s meet by the cupcake!” Completed 2017. Funding provided by Salisbury Arts Alliance.
#11: By Nadine Brittingham
ENGRAINED
Nadine Brittingham is a Salisbury-based artist, with a fine arts degree in Illustration and Graphic Design. She enjoys working in traditional mediums, painting, sculpting and charcoal, with an illustrative design direction leaning towards graphic, bold and crisp lines presenting sharp, clean visuals. Her design focuses on high contrast patterns from naturally occurring wood grains, revealing optical illusions and hidden content. Coming Soon 2024. Funding provided by Salisbury Arts Alliance.
#12: By Lamont Hall
Let Yourself Grow
Lamont Hall is an artist and illustrator originally from Pocomoke City, currently studying at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn New York. He is interested in a variety of mediums from charcoal to printmaking and painting. His design is composed of floral elements and inspiring messages. His desire was to create something light-hearted in a time of a lot of worry about the future. Completed 2020. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#13: By Douglas Draper Jr.
Forged By Water
Douglas Draper Jr. is an award-winning artist and illustrator, with notable collaborations with national and international best-selling authors, and publishers. Originally from Salisbury, Doug has had a hand in several public artworks in the Downtown area, including Salisbury Arts Alliance's very first painted power box. Doug also served as lead artist for the community mural project on the Wicomico County Public Library. His latest design represents the rugged and gritty nature of the traditional waterman profession. Completed 2024. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#14: By Kacey Martin
Box of Curiosities
Kacey is inspired by making pieces that put the audience in a different time or environment, expand their imagination and making pieces that have a personal touch. She loves playing with fun colors and varying line weight with an illustrative style similar to children’s books. She is a big collector, from sea shells to salt and pepper shakers. Beautiful shelves full of natural wonders, specimens and items, things that make you wonder how it was collected, where, and why? Completed 2020. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
Artist Website
#15: By Danielle Campbell
Golden Hour
Danielle Campbell is a multifaceted artist, who draws inspiration from nature, culture, and the boundless wonders of life. Her power box design captures the urgency of bee conservation through a fusion of time and nature. A colossal pocket watch's ticking hands remind us of the precious, fleeting moments we have to save our endangered pollinators. The dripping honey symbolizes nature's abundance, which hangs in the balance as bees face extinction. Coming Soon 2024. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#16: By Dana Simson-Orth
Rockfish a.k.a. Fish Rock
Rockfish are pretty drab, but they are our prize Chesapeake Bay fish. In their fishy imaginations they possess an inner beauty. On side one the rock fish are painted basic- silvery with greenish/brown horizontal strips- as the school of fish continues around the box surface, the patterns get more and more colorful so that on the last side of the box they are downright zippy. Dana Simpson dwells in a place of deep love for our natural world and the beauty it so generously offers us. Completed 2017. Funding provided by Salisbury Arts Alliance.
#17: By Dominique Ramsey
Big Yellow Cats
Dominique Ramsey is an award-winning illustrator and professional artist with roots in Salisbury, MD. She strives for uniqueness using bright colors, cultural patterns, and shapes to catch the viewer’s eye. Her biggest inspirations come from folk art, textiles, and spiritualism of many cultures from around the world. When not working she enjoys watching documentaries, traveling, going to museums, reading, and saying “hello!” to every animal she meets. Completed 2019. Funding provided by the City of Salisbury Water Department.
#18: By Shailinn Messer
Riverwalk Dreamscape
Shailinn Messer received her BFA from Tuft’s School of Museum of Fine Arts in 2017. Rooted in drawing, painting, and an affinity for photography, Shailinn has cultivated a practice that combines all three mediums. Her education and training in art, psychology, and profession in the floral industry inform her delicately captivating and ambiguous yet fantastical surreal portraits from another world. Completed 2020. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#19: By Yvette Siegel
Descent of Woman From Sunset
Yvette Siegel is an artist from Laurel, Delaware with a BFA from the University of Delaware. Using vibrant colors, Yvette executes her paintings in an ethereal nature, with feminine exaltation as a recurring theme. Drawing on her Swedish roots, Yvette's design is inspired by bright cheerful textiles, and Swedish Nesting Dolls. "It is my hope that my design acts as a square of fabric to add to the vibrant quilt of the Salisbury community", says Yvette. Coming Soon 2024. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
#20: By Tiffany Collins
Choose Kindness
Tiffany Collins is a queer artists from the Eastern Shore of MD, who aims to promote and celebrate joy, inclusivity and kindness through her work. She shares “my design is intended to be a celebration of women, diversity and kindness. Through the process of painting this utility box, I received the enthusiastic help of several friends and fellow artists. I hope that when people view the utility box, it now conveys a bright message of joy and kindness.” Completed 2020. Funding provided by the Maryland State Arts Council.
Artist Website
Where Are They?
Check out the Public Art Walking Tour Brochure for a Map to all the Power Box Locations, as well as, other murals and sculptures in the Arts District.