An artist will grace Downtown St. Joseph Wednesday morning to bring life to the Allied Arts Council’s third traffic box art installment.

Artist Grace McCammond will be at the corner of 10th and Felix Wednesday, October 8 painting the traffic box. It’s the first themed project selected by the Allied Arts Council with a literacy theme due to the box’s proximity to the Downtown library.

McCammond is from St. Louis, Mo and was selected at the artist by a committee after multiple submissions were reviewed.

She said she created her artwork based around the continuity of literacy through the ages and its connection between past and present.

“The imagery of the open book, parchment, quill and ink, and hurricane lamp interwoven with books on shelves- the bright colors and bold lines linked in a style reminiscent of stained glass- is meant to convey a sense of the past and the present literacy as both a continuum and interconnected. Using St. and Joseph as book titles is a way of grounding that concept to a sense of place and indicating St. Joseph exists as part of and within that continuum of past and present,” said McCammond.

McCammond began in the mid 80’s as a photo retoucher and B/W lab technician, and returned to school in 1993 completing her BA from the University of Montana. In 1997, hoping to pursue art full time she moved in St. Louis, and purchased and rehabbed a building with friends opening Signature Arts. McCammond has a long list of professional artwork ranging from beer labels, several traffic signal boxes, murals and much more.

“Some artists create great art that make people think, make a statement or comments on important issues of the day and I think that is a wonderful use of art. But, for me, I view my work as acting on a much more modest scale… public art becomes part of our daily lives and engages us as we move through our day… public art can be like a friend seen on the street, we may not have time to stop and visit long but we can wave, say hi and move on with a smile. And that’s what I try to do with public artwork that I create,” said McCammond.

The box may still be in progress Thursday and Friday depending on weather, and progress on the piece.