Leadership Morgan Hill
Beautification
and Inspiration
Go Hand in Hand
Submitted By
Leadership Class of 2018
O
ur class took some time deciding on a
project that would make a positive impact on
our community. After several brainstorming
sessions, we combined two themes that had emerged: city
beautification and positive social impact.
Our initial aim was to beautify downtown Morgan Hill
by transforming its stationary garbage receptacles into
canvases for public art and inspirational messages. When we
spoke to the City, we were told of a utility box art project
under the Library, Culture and Arts Commission (LCAC)
that was in need of resources. We decided to combine that
community need with our idea, and the LMH Class of 2018
“Art and Inspiration” project was launched.
We selected class members Melissa Scatena as our project
manager, Suman Ganapathy as our LCAC and LMH board
liaison, and Michael Ramoneda as our finance manager. Once
the project was approved by the LMH board, LCAC, and the
City Council, we segmented it into five “workstreams.”
Each class member signed up for the workstream that
best matched their interest and skill set. Then we selected
workstream leaders. Poonam Chabra took on Sponsorships;
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Daniel Sanidad tackled Publicity; Suman Ganapathy led
efforts related to Artists/Artwork; the Submission Process
was handled by Denise Chorley; and Michael Ozuna took
on Prep/Materials.
To fund the project, the sponsor workstream solicited local
restaurants, businesses, schools, individuals, and nonprofits
for location-based sponsorships of each box. We received
overwhelming support and the project was quickly funded.
Fliers and social media were our primary methods of
publicity, directing local artists to the LMH website to
apply. At first, the recruitment of artists was a challenge,
but once we tapped into the right community network,
we received applications from enough high-quality
candidates to have 11 utility boxes painted.
The artist selection for each box was made by choosing
artwork that best expressed the social message. According to
artist Danielle DeRome, who was given the message ‘Inspire
Change,’ her art depicted nature’s changing seasons and was
“designed to inspire viewers’ hopes and dreams in positive,
playful ways.” Both the artist and sponsor(s) are named on
the placard affixed to each box).
december 2018-january 2019
gmhtoday.com