Friday, June 10, 2011

What's Your Soul Pole?

A neighbourhood in Victoria, B.C. has transformed their unsightly telephone poles with street art. A concerned resident initiated the project after poles on her street were spray painted by taggers.

She had seen a presentation by an urban designer for City Repair Project. The volunteer society in Portland, Oregon builds benches, reclaims parkland, and decorates intersections to make unpleasant urban areas seem "inhabited, known, and loved by its residents."

Ms. Threlfall calls her initiative Adopt A Pole, and the teamwork with others has resulted in exciting creations:

"By the end of the day, the streets were decorated by poles sporting cattails in marshy browns and dandelions in glorious yellows; doves and cranes in brilliant whites; jumping frogs in whimsical greens; dragonflies with red bodies and green wings.

A perambulation along the streets offers displays of shocking pinks and funky purples; dashing reds and mundane greys; primitive caricatures and a spectacular Betty Boop, on a pole one block south of Vic High."

The article encourages us to think about our own initiatives which bring a dream, an action, and a purpose to life.