SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City officials are encouraging communities to decorate their neighborhoods with art.Surrounded by some of her youngest constituents, Mayor Jackie Biskupski kicked off the Color SLC program by unveiling the first example of artwork Monday morning. It’s a utility box in the Rose Park neighborhood, covered with the work of young artists from Rose Park Elementary.

Now any community can do something like this. You can paint the pavement, wrap utility boxes with original artwork, or paint a storm drain to help raise awareness about urban runoff, and you can even apply to get it funded by the city’s arts, culture, and events fund.

The artwork will not only add color to local communities, but assist the city’s graffiti removal director, Zane Badger.

“Most taggers or graffiti artists or even just vandals they kind of have, for the most part, a mutual respect for another artist,” Badger said.

Badger thinks this will stop graffiti in its tracks, but even if it doesn’t, these wraps are made of a material that’s easy to clean.

“This stands up really good to multiple, multiple cleanings. It makes it very easy for us to maintain if it gets tagged,” Badger said.

“They were very excited to be a part of it and we had tremendous fun,” Biskupski said.

The program hopes to bring communities together to create something beautiful.

If your community wants to get involved and potentially get it funded, send an email to [email protected].