Victorville local Vanessa Gomez is helping brighten up Adelanto.
The city-commissioned artist recently finished painting a series of utility box murals for the city of Adelanto. The art project was spearheaded by Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Ramos, Gomez told the Daily Press, who recently helped the city recognize October as the official Arts and Humanities Month at the Sept. 24 council meeting.
“When I first came to Adelanto, all I saw was brown, brown and dirt,” Ramos joked during the proclamation.
Local artists Gomez and T. Fay Griffin, who runs art programs for Adelanto youth, received special recognition and appreciation in front of the council for bringing “energy, life, and color” to town with their artistic talents.
“Adelanto’s support of public arts is particularly exciting for the High Desert,” Gomez told the Daily Press. She says she is glad the city is starting to recognize the importance of arts and culture in its community.
Gomez’s artistic utility box series
The subject matter for Gomez’s utility box series was based on community feedback. A majority of the boxes are focused on prominent figures and symbols in Adelanto’s history, including a painting of the city’s founder, E.H. Richardson, and a painting of pears and apples in reference to Adelanto’s old orchards.
Other designs include paintings of a first responder, military service members, youth sports and the desert landscape with Joshua trees and coyotes.
The city approached Gomez after first viewing her artist portfolio online, she told the Daily Press. The Victorville painter had prior experience painting utility boxes in other cities such as Riverside, Ontario, and Claremont, and was selected as the sole creative to complete the project.
She painted Adelanto’s first three boxes last fall and finished the rest this year.
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In total, Gomez completed seven paintings on her own and one community-painted box where community members placed a painted handprint on the utility box at the grand opening of the new park on Chamberlaine Way and Jonathan Street.
Here are the seven locations of the locally-painted utility boxes:
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Palmdale Road and Highway 395
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Air Expressway and Adelanto Road
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Park on Chamberlaine Way and Jonathan St.
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Seneca Road and Highway 395
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Bellflower St. and Seneca Road
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Air Expressway and Highway 395
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Bartlett Ave. and Highway 395
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Chamberlaine Way and Highway 395
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Adelanto strives to incorporate the arts
Ramos says Adelanto is not stopping with the utility box project. He wants to see public art everywhere, he said at last week’s council meeting.
He promised painted walls and colorful crosswalks. No bland surface is safe from artistic reconstruction.
According to Ramos, embracing local artistry helps Adelanto celebrate the city’s unique character. Art in public spaces energizes streets, parks, and neighborhoods, inviting residents and visitors to engage.
Additionally, public art enriches Adelanto’s cultural landscape, he says, which reflects the diverse stories of the city’s residents.
Mental health is also a major component of Ramos’s push for public art, he told the Daily Press.
He says access to art has tangible mental health benefits. It inspires, calms, and uplifts, contributing to lower stress and greater community resilience.
Not Gomez’s first rodeo
Previously, Gomez was commissioned to paint murals in Victorville, Apple Valley, Hesperia and Silverwood Lake last year, through a grant from Creative Corps Inland SoCal, an organization that funds Inland Empire artists.
The artist’s first mural under the program was at Hesperia Lake Park in August 2023. The hyper vibrant piece called “Terra Aquashere” is a bold display of native catfish swimming under the watchful eye of park ducks with a fishing rod commanding the foreground.
Gomez is currently designing utility boxes in the city of Tustin. She also has one more mural planned this year at an undisclosed High Desert location. Stay tuned for updated reporting on the artists’ progress.
McKenna is a reporter for the Daily Press. She can be reached at mmobley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert artist brings color to Adelanto with utility box paintings
