Four artists have been selected to beautify 3 of the drab black electrical boxes along Washington Street. This spring those boxes will come alive with depictions of monarch butterflies, historical images and splashes of color.

The Electrical Box Art Program, funded through nearly $11,000 via a couple of community programs, was announced in October. A team spearheaded by Wellesley Police Chief Jack Pilecki choose from among 7 entries, and Pilecki said you shouldn’t be surprised if some of the other entrants are chosen if the program is expanded to include additional boxes, of which there are another 2 dozen or so.
Pilecki was inspired to get some of Wellesley’s boxes painted when traveling through other communities and seeing their colorful boxes. “I got tired of seeing all the other towns doing it,” he said at the Feb. 24 Board of Selectmen meeting. “I said why can’t we do that?”
Mai-Han Nguyen’s town history-themed design, which will undergo some reworking following a suggestion for more research at the BoS meeting, will be on the box across from Town Hall. Mia Cross’s burst of color box will be located at the intersection of Washington and State Street. The monarchs, by Wellesley’s Deborah Friedman and Jennifer Schneider, will go on the box near the Clock Tower and surrounding garden in Wellesley Hills.
Artists receive a $1,000 stipend for supplies. Major donor support came from the Community Fund for Wellesley.
What is happening at the tennis courts under that big bubble?
Hi Sonia, work is being done on the softball fields. The bubble is protecting equipment etc. Bob