Viva MPLS Utility Boxes (2020)
A public art intervention transforming everyday infrastructure into expressions of cultural identity and presence.
Minneapolis, MN
Commissioned by the City of Minneapolis

“Viva MPLS Utility Boxes” is a series of three large-scale vinyl wraps installed on utility boxes along a freeway corridor in Minneapolis. This public art project reimagines functional urban infrastructure as a platform for cultural expression, visibility, and community connection.

Using a visual language rooted in Mexican cultural traditions and symbolic patterns, the work creates a system of vibrant compositions featuring calaveras, floral elements, and stylized human figures. Rendered in high-contrast black against vivid pink backgrounds, the designs are intended to stand out within the urban landscape—interrupting the visual routine of the city and inviting closer engagement.

Each side of the utility boxes reveals a different composition, encouraging movement around the structures and offering multiple perspectives. The repetition of patterns and symbols creates continuity across the three pieces while reinforcing themes of life, memory, and cultural resilience.

Embedded within the designs, the phrase “Viva MPLS” functions as a declaration of pride and belonging—bridging cultural heritage with the evolving identity of Minneapolis and its diverse communities.

As part of the City of Minneapolis Art Wraps program, this project contributes to a broader effort to integrate artist-designed work into public infrastructure. By bringing art into everyday spaces where people walk, wait, and pass by, the work transforms ordinary objects into visible markers of cultural presence within the fabric of the city.