VisitHATTIESBURG establishes Utility Box Trail

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - VisitHATTIESBURG has established a new trail to highlight the dozens of painted utility boxes in the Hub City.

By Charles Herrington

It’s all part of the Utility Box Edition of the Hattiesburg Public Art Trail.

It started with a few painted boxes several years ago.

“We started out with 5 during the pandemic and they were very popular, but we also found during that time that our artists were heavily impacted by the pandemic and needed some support, so we decided to expand on those five,” said Kristen Brock, VisitHATTIESBURG director of Programs & Development and program director for the Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art.

The city now has 44 painted boxes.

“That was enough to have its own designated art trail, so within the Hattiesburg Public Art Trail, there’s now the Utility Box Edition where you can find all the utility boxes painted by our artists,” Brock said.

Hattiesburg artist Andrea Kostyal has painted three of the boxes. One is at the District at Midtown, one is on the Southern Miss campus and another is located across Hardy Street from the USM Administration Building.

“It’s really very wonderful for Visit Hattiesburg and the Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art to have this opportunity for artists and also cheer the Hattiesburg community up with art,” said Kostyal. “I feel like it’s connecting us together.”

There may be more painted boxes to come in 2023.

“This year, we will probably launch the final phase, which will be Phase Four and maybe add another 15 or 20 utility boxes around town,” Brock said.

VisitHATTIESBURG is coordinating the project with the city of Hattiesburg and the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

For more details about the utility box trail, click HERE.

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