John Park and Julie Hunter are electrifying Westwood for years to come.

Park, a muralist for nonprofit organization Beautify Earth who is married to Hunter, painted 14 utility boxes stretching from around Charles E. Young Drive North to Veteran Avenue with murals of birds, greenery and symbols of sustainability. Alongside Hunter, who is a project manager for Beautify Earth – a movement supporting independent artists – the couple began the beautifying project in July, he said.

Wendelin Slusser, the associate vice provost for the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center, said UCLA Transportation and the Semel HCI Center oversaw the project in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. UCLA’s campus will serve as the Olympic Village for the quadrennial games.

The boxes each have intentional themes, including flora – comprising illustrations of black sage, Italian thistle and petty spurge – as well as fauna – with paintings of dark eyed juncos, hummingbirds and parakeets. The artists also sought to promote green energy and wellness, with shapes symbolizing mindfulness, meditation and wind power.

The artists turned utility boxes into an object people pay attention to instead of ignoring, Park said.

“Public art, it’s different than gallery art,” he said. “It’s for everybody, literally no barrier to entry.”

The murals are set to last for about 10 years, Park said, adding that he used a process of elimination to ensure each box has its own unique combination of colors. The artists worked 10 to 12 hours almost every day of the week, using both spray paint and exterior latex house paint on the boxes, he added.

Park said public art improves the quality of life in a given area, calling mural painting a “positive feedback loop.”

“I’ve always believed that the first job of any artist that’s doing public work is to bring some form of beauty to that world,” he said.

Hunter said mural painting is unique because there is no immediate return on investment once a project is completed. Instead, a mural’s success is measured by the social connections it sparks, she said, adding that she promotes creating “art for art’s sake.”

Westwood has a particularly curious community, Hunter said. When Hunter and Park worked on certain utility boxes, she added that she saw the same people walking those routes everyday, which made her time in those locations special.

“It’s really measured by social interaction, whether people are stopping to take a look, or because these are covered with birds of flowers, people are constantly asking, ‘What’s up when a bird is that, or what’s the deal with these?’” Hunter said. “It stops to create a conversation. Some people have even said, ‘I’ve never even noticed these boxes before. It’s made my commute so much prettier.’”

Zenia Chamorro, a senior transportation planner for UCLA Transportation, said it chose artists with Beautify Earth because of their classic LA-style murals. Chamorro added that the murals’ designs, which were inspired by themes of planetary and human health, tie back to the university’s mission of equity and inclusion, as it promotes the representation of diverse voices in sustainability through public art.

Slusser said the center’s next goal is to continue transforming underutilized spaces in key campus pedestrian corridors. She added that while these spaces tend to be neglected, areas near BruinBus stops, class transitions and dining restaurants can become rejuvenating environments with the addition of art, she added.

The murals also encourage people to become more conscious of their surroundings, Slusser said.

“The thing about art is it can inspire a sense of awe,” she said. “It has been shown to improve your health and well being when you experience awe. And part of experiencing awe is also just almost being mindful of where you are and your surroundings.”

The response from students has been overwhelmingly positive, Park said. Because Westwood holds so many students and faculty within its streets, Hunter added that the mural project is her way of giving back to the local community.

“A lot of students, a lot of faculty, and then a lot of people that live in the area and just take walks every day, so they take the same route,” Park said. “When we’re on a box for three or four days, we run into them every morning, so the response has just been so positive and encouraging.”

Contributing reports from Leydi Cris Cobo Cordon, Daily Bruin senior staff.