COEUR d'ALENE - More than a dozen local artists have been selected to adorn 18 more utility boxes in Coeur d'Alene by the end of August.

Joe Sharnetsky, chairman of the city's Arts Commission, met with the group of artists at city hall on Friday to give them final instructions on how to submit their artwork.

Sharnetsky said that all of the artwork should be submitted by July 10, so it can be scanned and printed to vinyl and installed by the end of August.

This is the third year the city has been wrapping utility boxes with vinyl artwork, and so far 35 of the city's 85 utility boxes have been wrapped. That number will grow to 53 boxes this year.

"This is by far one of the most popular programs we have," said Recreation Director Steve Anthony, who is also the city's liaison to the Arts Commission. "I get more calls on this program than anything else we do."

Anthony said he gets calls from cities all over the country, because of the success Coeur d'Alene has had with the program.

"So far, we have not had one problem with graffiti on those boxes," he said. "I think people respect the art, and police departments love it because they don't have to go out and write up a report every time a box is vandalized."

Sharnetsky said when the program first started, the commission was talking about hiring artists to paint the boxes, but Anthony stumbled onto a better idea during a trip to Boise.

"I would like to say that this concept originated locally, but I can't," he said. "I stole it from Boise."

Sharnetsky said when he heard about using vinyl instead of paint, he got really excited about it.

"That opens it up to all mediums of art," he said. "If you like quilting you could have that quilt digitized and print it out on vinyl."

Earlier this year the city's Arts Commission put out a call to all local artists within a 100-mile radius of Coeur d'Alene. It attracted 90 submissions. Fourteen of those artists were selected to cover 18 boxes.

Each artist will receive $600 to $800 depending on the number of boxes their artwork will cover. The artists can also sign their artwork but they cannot advertise anything on the boxes.

But the commission has hired someone to generate QR codes on each piece of work. When QR code is scanned from a smart phone, up pops an information page on the artist complete with interviews of each artist.

The city is also working on an art walk map that will be available on the city's website. Each piece of the city's public arts collection will be featured on that map.

"This is really great exposure for the artists," Sharnetsky said, adding the utility box program benefits the whole community.

"Not only do the artists benefit, but the city benefits and the business in town benefit," he said. "Steve (Anthony) told me a story the other day about this family downtown taking pictures of themselves gathered around the utility boxes."

People are coming over from Spokane just to tour the city's art pieces. He said when they do that, they are going to visit local businesses in town as well.

Sharnetsky said that the lifespan of the vinyl artwork is more than seven years, barring any damage to the work.

"The lifespan is seven years before you start seeing any noticeable fading," he said. "So we could be getting much more than seven years out of these."

Sharnetsky said another benefit to vinyl is if the artwork is damaged, the damaged portion could be cut out and replaced with a matching vinyl patch.

Anthony said once the Arts Commission is finished wrapping the city's boxes, it plans to work with Idaho Transportation Department to wrap the state's utility boxes.

The next call for box art will take place early next year.