New murals on traffic control boxes brighten Kingston’s downtown

Utilities-based infrastructure doesn’t have to be boring.

On July 25, the City of Kingston announced the Traffic Control Box Pilot Project—commissioning local muralists to transform industrial traffic control boxes into works of public art. Throughout late summer ’25, pieces began popping up on boxes around downtown Kingston, bringing colour and local artistry to the city. Five local artists contributed to the project: Sasha Jimenez French, Eron One, Abby Nowakowski, Ben Nelson and Grace Dixon.

The artists were selected based on experience in murals and outdoor installation work. Their works vary in style and design, ranging from painted murals to vinyl digital illustrations.

At Bagot and Princess St, for example, Jimenez French’s In search of light features brightly painted sunflowers. Eron One’s It’s always sunny in Kingston, located on Brock St, depicts a vibrant graffiti-inspired depiction of nature.

On a softer note, Dixon’s untitled on King St., and Princess St. uses vinyl and digital illustration to create pastel floral patterns. At Montreal and Princess St, Nowakowski’s finding home between the cattails and trilliums highlights local wildlife that also call the area home. Ben Nelson’s Abstract Parameters on Ontario St. and Princess St. used vinyl and digital illustration to create a colourful abstract scene.

“I knew I wanted to make something abstract, and colourful, with a sense of movement and play,” Nelson wrote in a statement to The Journal. Nelson has worked in Kingston’s arts community for over two decades, and was excited to adapt his designs to a new canvas. 

“I really enjoyed playing with saturated colours, negative space, and the edges each corner and surface offered,” he said.

Nelson also sees the project as part of a bigger fight to support the artistic community in Kingston. “There seems to be a war on the arts these days, and we need all the teamwork we can muster to keep creative culture alive and thriving in cities like Kingston,” he said.

Nowakowski also sees their work on the project as part of something bigger—a dialogue with the audience. Their installation was “based on a mural [they] had done of folky deers dancing amongst nasturtiums,” they said in a statement to The Journal.

“I reached out to my online community to see what creatures they’d want to see on this traffic control box. I got loads of responses,” Nowakowski said .