How one artist is helping beautify San Francisco by turning utility boxes into robot paintings

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A local artist is working to beautify San Francisco, one utility box at a time.

You may have seen some of Darnel Tasker's work lining the Embarcadero already.

It's being powered by the same program that brought murals to empty storefronts during the pandemic.

"I picked a theme for them all," Tasker said. "They're all part of a robot family."

MORE: Meet the man behind SF City Hall's golden letters, other memorable Bay Area signs

Over the years, Steve Vigeant has been responsible for many of the large, unique, or recognizable signs around the Bay Area.

Taking a stroll, bike ride, or drive down the Embarcadero, you'll notice robots. Robots on the water and even robots on a skateboard.

"These robots are like here 'saving the humans' because we've got caught up in kind of a rat race," Tasker said. "We're also like the mecca for tech and the hub for that and they're utility boxes so I thought it would be like perfect to put robots on the utility boxes."

Tasker painted a dozen of these San Francisco utility boxes last month in the span of just six days.

"I would get on my bike, and I would paint them all white, and then I would go back and I would do the actual art on top of them," she said.

The boxes run from Townsend to Green Street, all on the south side of the Embarcadero.

This is a fitting place for Tasker on a personal level, after she spent the better part of the past three decades working in restaurants in the same area.

"I spent a lot of time working here on the Embarcadero so I have a big connection with the space so I was really excited when I got this location," she said.

MORE: Here's why San Francisco's art market continues to struggle against other big US cities

San Francisco's art market continues to struggle against other big cities in the U.S. We looked into the potential reasons why.

Tasker's being paid to help beautify the city through a program called Paint the Void.

It was first developed during the pandemic.

Local artists, including Tasker, were hired to paint murals on empty storefronts.

"I feel like with my work, it really is about spreading joy and love and remembering they do have this message about saving the humans and I just feel like to have a sense of humanity that I feel like could get really lost," she said.

She says each utility box tells a different story and she hopes her art will inspire visitors and residents alike, to not take life so seriously.

"Be happy right, like this is our life, and just to remember that like each person you see has a story to tell," she said.