Buzz about Burlington's newest crosswalk

Stephen Scuderi was riding his bike north on Pine Street Monday morning when he pedaled past Burlington’s newest crosswalk.

In place of the standard black-and-white stripes, Scuderi saw a bright painting of bees and flowers adorning a honeycomb pattern. The painting's main colors are yellow and orange; the design has a white border.

“It’s great,” said Scuderi, who commutes by bicycle to a bike shop. “It’s nice to see something colorful. We live in an artsy town and it’s nice to see that expressed in a public space.”

Scuderi applauded the “message” of the image as well.

“It reminds us that bees are important,” he said. “As we eat our GMO foods.”

The crosswalk that spans Pine Street east to west at Howard Street was painted under a hot sun Sunday by the artists who designed it, Tara Goreau and Marie Davis. Their work was selected from nine design submissions received by the South End Arts and Business Association, after the organization put out a call for proposals, SEABA executive director Adam Brooks said.

SEABA received a $1,500 grant from the Vermont Community Foundation to “animate infrastructure,” he said. The group worked with the city's Department of Public Work on the crosswalk project.

“We really wanted to put something in place in the South End to brighten our infrastructure,” Brooks said.

Chapin Spencer, director of Public Works for the city of Burlington, said the crosswalk painting is a “fun way” to highlight the city’s pedestrian infrastructure and its arts district.

“I think it’s great,” Spencer said. “It meets our pedestrian vision for Burlington and adds an artistic flair in the arts district.”

The painting took eight hours to make, Brooks said. The artists originally planned to paint Pine Street June 12, but it was 50 degrees and rainy, he said. They waited a week; it was 90 and sunny.

The painting on Pine Street is the only artwork that doubles as a crosswalk in Burlington, according to Nicole Losch, senior transportation planner for the Department of Public Works.

It might be the only street-art for a crosswalk in Vermont, Brooks said.

“I was looking around the entire state to see if it is the first one,” he said. “I haven’t found anything.”

Contact Sally Pollak at spollak@burlingtonfreepress.com or 660-1859.