Spotted this week in Tacoma’s Dome District — the first piece of art created and installed as part of the City of Tacoma’s Traffic Box Wrap Project.

Last year, local artists were invited to create designs that could be reproduced as vinyl wraps and applied to traffic signal boxes throughout the city (see “Tacoma seeks artists to design wraps for traffic boxes,” Tacoma Daily Index, May 18, 2015; and “Top Stories 2015 | #7 — Tacoma seeks artists to design wraps for traffic boxes,” Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 18, 2015). The project aims to curb vandalism, enhance neighborhood and community identity, turn ordinary spaces into community landmarks, and promote community dialogue.

On Friday, City of Tacoma staff told the Tacoma Daily Index the Dome District artwork, which is located on a traffic box near the intersection of East D Street and Puyallup Avenue, was created by Tim + April. In the end, 21 designs made by a range of local artists will be installed on 50 different traffic boxes throughout the city.

Todd Matthews is editor of the Tacoma Daily Index, an award-winning journalist, and the author of several books. His journalism is collected online at wahmee.com.

Local artists Tim + April created artwork for this traffic box in the Dome District as part of the City of Tacoma’s Traffic Box Wrap Project. (PHOTO BY TODD MATTHEWS)

Local artists Tim + April created artwork for this traffic box in the Dome District as part of the City of Tacoma’s Traffic Box Wrap Project. (PHOTO BY TODD MATTHEWS)