Just sharing an interesting experience I just had.
I’d recently discovered that some of the utility artboxes wayspots near me were painted by the same artist, each commissioned about a year part by a neighborhood association.
A couple of days ago I reached out to the artist to ask if they could verify the info I had (particular if the pieces had official names). And, if there were any others in the area.
There were a couple of more, both already wayspots as well. I was looking at one further away from me on GMaps Street View and compared it to the single image for the wayspot.
Now, while on the sidewalk, this box is closer to the street than many, and a fairly busy one at that.
I’d commented:
It only has a photo the barn side. I guess no one wanted to stand out in traffic to get a good picture of the tractor!
They responded with:
It was tough painting the front because I had to sit in White Road with just cones around me with cars and busses whizzing by. Though rewarding a scary proposition.
Anyway, it was cool to have a brief conversation with someone I would otherwise never had reached out to, and got an interesting story out of it.
Nice story, and a very beautiful piece of art!
You mentioned the painting was commissioned, how man are there? I’d like to see the “gallery” if you could post the links
Apparently most, maybe all, of the artboxes here in San Jose are commissioned by various neighborhood associations. They do the leg work of finding a location and artist, then petition the city for funds to pay the artist, which comes as a BeautifySJ grant. I would presume that would include time and materials.
Some FB posts I found of WIP by one such association I found along this particular journey:
Below are the Ingress and Street View links for the five portals from this artist, in the order I think they were done. Best as I can tell, the artist does not have any of this stuff on their website.
Also, the building that it is next to used to be the local fire house. Literally, a house! I always chuckle when I go by because the flag pole is still there. (I wonder if it was a temp thing while they built the new one nearby, which has its own interesting wayspot history!).
Now, I did not nominate any of those. They were all there after I started playing again a few months ago after taking five years off.
Thanks for an interesting read and seeing those links you posted,I know what it’s like to take time off from Ingress the first time I did when my screen broke on my phone,my brain couldn’t adapt back to reality I kept seeing things through my eyes as if I was on the Ingress map and knowing where all the portals/wayspots were by memory was kinda making me feel like the real world wasn’t real aka the Matrix.
However why I’m replying is just a thought if you or anyone else hasn’t already done it,why not make a mission on Ingress or “Route” on Pokémon Go (if you play) to each one of these active wayspots of Art Utility boxes as it sounds like something Unique that may interest people and once accepted you can always check up on it to see how many people have chosen the mission/route.
I’ve also only just returned to Ingress & Pokémon Go where I live and it was like I hadn’t been away,a few things have changed but I’m adapting quite easily.
Anywho just thought I’d throw a bit of my wisdom onto this post (yet if you ask people who know me they will tell you I don’t know what I’m talking about half the time)
Oh My Oh My Oh My and here’s me thinking I was special having a gracious “2” to my profile and since my return I’m actually catching up on the badges I’ve missed and having a common enemy in “Machina” has been a big walking challenge for my poor feet .
I know that feeling! When I started back up, it was an excuse for me and the dog to both try to lose some weight. I’ve lost 20lbs. He stayed the same weight, but definitely toned up, got his waist back. (Then he suddenly got sick and passed, hopefully unrelated to playing. I continue to visit the same haunts and play in his honor.)
The way I see it is our favourite companion is the reason we go out and walk and it’s there fault that our poor feet take the toll the most.
When I started up it was because I was bored in the first place then I got moaned at to start taking the dog out when we looked after him and I was so surprised at how excited he would get when he saw me pick up my phone from then on…he’s now getting on a bit and still wants to go out with me and when he does he’s like a puppy all over again…if he ever leaves me I’ll always remember the fun we had and his little face even when we got lost.
Weight Loss and a Change In Personality came with my exploration journeys and people around me quickly noticed how different I was until my ingress app decided to bug out and I was forced to temporarily retire (then along came Pikmin Bloom)
Hopefully it wasn’t the playing for your companion but if he didn’t want to go with you I’m sure he would have dug his heels in and refused to move so he must have enjoyed the walks as much as you did from the sounds of it.
I’m touched by the amazing explanation you gave @nexushoratio So many beautiful artworks! They sure deserve missions/routes and to honor the artist and the community that made it happen. (you don’t need to complete, you can just create )
Keep on you motivation, I know the challenge that is “weight-related stuff”
I don’t believe in writing a few lines of text if there’s a story behind something it’s worth digging into hearing about it,For Me Ingress is more complex an app to use and you need to use your brain a bit more so if there’s an awesome contribution whether added to the lightship/wayfarer database or not creating a mission to allow others to find the awesome artwork that @nexushoratio did and to speak to the artist is worth more than anyone can ever imagine (a story behind a story)…okay maybe I’m getting a bit soppy now but that’s the way I see things.
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