Ученики школы P. E. McGibbon украсили светофорные коробки в Сарнии своими рисунками

Pupils' artwork brightening intersections around Sarnia elementary school Traffic signal boxes at intersections in Sarnia are hosting an art exhibition by pupils at P. E. McGibbon public school. Article content Traffic signal boxes at intersections in Sarnia’s downtown and Mitton Street neighbourhood are hosting an art exhibition by pupils at P. E. McGibbon elementary school. “Wraps” installed recently on the boxes at several city intersections were printed with artwork created by pupils at the Russell Street school as part of a project initiated by its builders’ club in partnership with the city’s transportation and development department. Recommended Videos The student club, a Kiwanis Club initiative for grades seven and eight, meets a few times a week and organizes dances, fundraisers and other school activities, said teacher Ryan Lounsbury. “Our overall goal is to make our community a better place,” he said. Lounsbury said they were interested in doing something with the nearby Mitton Village neighbourhood and he was put in contact with Alister Brown, the city’s manager of development and transportation. “We kind of came up with this idea,” Lounsbury said. “If we could get some students to create some beautiful artwork about how they see their city, we could put it up and hopefully give them a voice and some responsibility for what their community looks like.” Putting artwork on metal boxes holding equipment for traffic lights has happened in communities around North America, including London, Toronto and Hamilton. Pupils in grades one through eight came up with about 350 pieces of art based on the theme My Sarnia: What Home Means to Me, and the club selected 36 used to created wraps installed on boxes near the school and downtown. “They’re absolutely beautiful,” Lounsbury said. “It’s cool how they can turn student artwork . . . into digital wraps.” He reached out to a few parents of pupils with art used on the wraps, and they were “super excited,” Lounsbury said. “The success of an initiative such as this is owed to the creativity of these students who stepped up to provide vibrant, and personalized artwork that will stand out in the community, alongside the school staff who are going above and beyond to lead the builders’ club program,” Brown said in a news release. “As we continue to look at meaningful and impactful ways to add artwork into public spaces, we hope that these enhancements to otherwise ordinary infrastructure can create more opportunities to collaborate,” he said. Artwork submitted included a lot of sports scenes, the Blue Water Bridge, French fry spots and other common local references. “There were some other unique ones,” Lounsbury said. “One girl drew a circle of everybody holding hands.” Another drew a little library she visits for books, he said. “I think it’s pretty exciting the kids can see their own work in the neighbourhood,” said Karlie Best, another teacher at the school who is involved in the club. “Hopefully, it motivates some other schools to do it as well,” she said. Wraps are installed on traffic boxes at the following intersections: - Devine and East streets - Wellington and East streets - Wellington and Russell streets - Russell and Ontario streets - Mitton, Wellington and Ontario streets - Christina and Davis streets - Christina and Cromwell streets - Christina and Lochiel streets - Front and Lochiel streets Source: City of Sarnia