Mundane utility boxes on the Walk of Fame received a major facelift this week. Ten boxes along Hollywood Boulevard now feature the famous visages of Hollywood’s leading actresses, including Elizabeth Taylor, Nichelle Nichols, Laura Dern and Lucille Ball.

From left to right, Pantages General Manager Jeff Loeb, artist John Casey Harris, Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, and Hollywood Entertainment District Director of Operations and Hollywood Arts Council Vice Chair Rich Sarian stand with the utility box honoring actress Elizabeth Taylor. (photo by Micaela Cummings)

The Hollywood Entertainment District, the area’s business improvement district, and the Hollywood Arts Council unveiled the 10 utility boxes and their designs on May 21 with a pop-up gallery event at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre showcasing the original art by local artist John Casey Harris.

The project was several years in the making. Matthew Severson, the former director of operations for the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance, the nonprofit that oversees the Hollywood Entertainment District, partnered with Rich Sarian, vice chair of the Hollywood Arts Council and the current director of operations for HPOA, to launch the utility box art project, calling for submissions in July 2016.

“Matthew Severson, my amazing predecessor, launched the Sunset and Vine utility box art program because he wanted to see more public art in the area,” Sarian said. “Utility boxes are the perfect blank canvas for art and he wanted to do the same in the Hollywood Entertainment District.”

Submissions for the project quickly overwhelmed the council, but with help from the Hollywood Entertainment District’s board, the organizations narrowed the selection to three artists. Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, whose 13th District includes the Walk of Fame, had the final pick, choosing Harris’ art.

The artist’s original pitch revolved around, as Harris described, a “living sketchbook of Hollywood Boulevard.” The initial proposal of just five designs included a box done in the style of vintage travel postcards featuring sunbathers lounging at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s pool, as well as a box honoring Harris’ favorite actress, Angela Lansbury.

Once Harris was picked, however, and left to design the rest of boxes, he decided to narrow “the focus more on the Walk of Fame itself” and broaden the scope of women featured on the installations, with Harris selecting his “all-time favorite” actresses who already had stars.

“We choose to highlight just actresses mostly because, as an artist, it’s just more my forte,” Harris said, “but also because a lot of the public art in and around Hollywood already focused on so many leading men, I thought it was a nice cohesive change of pace.”

The 10 designs, drawn primarily using pen and ink, include a tribute to mother and daughter actresses Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds; a dedication to Lansbury, showcasing some of her memorable roles in “The Manchurian Candidate” and “Murder She Wrote”; a cartoon capturing the tourists and street performers in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater; and three boxes showcasing actresses Maureen O’Hara, Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Whoopi Goldberg, Cate Blanchett and more.

Beyond the actresses’ portraits, the boxes also feature step-by-step directions to their stars.

“This project aims to activate the neighborhood and help tourists and residents searching for their favorite actress’ star,” Sarian said.

The artwork will stay up for the rest of the calendar year, however, Sarian hopes to keep the installations on display for “as long as possible.”

O’Farrell, who helped unveil the boxes on May 21, similarly appreciates the new vibrant pieces decorating Hollywood Boulevard.

“The utility boxes are not only beautiful and informational, but they also enhance the pedestrian experience in one of the most walkable neighborhoods in Los Angeles,” O’Farrell said. “I want to thank artist John Casey Harris for his vision, as well as the Hollywood Business Improvement District and the Hollywood Arts Council for bringing this project to life.”