Drive around Cape Coral and you're pretty much guaranteed to see a fair share of burrowing owls within the city limits.

Then head along Southeast 47th Terrace in downtown and you'll see new artwork of those feathered friends and more - think pelicans, flamingos, sea turtles -  brightening up the landscape.

A special ceremony was held April 15 to unveil the artwork of 15 local artists that now adorns utility boxes between Coronado Parkway and Southeast 15th Avenue. City Council Member Gloria Tate and Linda Biondi, Chair, Board of Commissioners, South Cape Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), were on hand to address the audience.

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Twelve of the eye-catching boxes run side-by-side in six spots along 47th Terrace, and there are three more in front of the Cape Cabaret Theater and by Vineyard Community Church and the bus station.

Each selected artist provided a digital file of their winning work that the Fort Myers Digital company converted into vinyl wraps and installed onto utility boxes. Most of the pieces are five or 6.5 feet high.

The City Council sanctioned the project in 2020 and a call to artists last fall resulted in 138 entries. Julie Gerhard, director of the Cape Coral Art Center, was instrumental in the major beautification project in conjunction with the CRA. She said they asked that concepts enhance the Cape’s nightlife, culture, nature, wildlife and other features and be landscape-styled to flow around the boxes for panoramic viewing so that “there’s no front to them.” Most of the winning submissions that the CRA selected in January followed suit, while a few have the same central image repeated around the wrap.

Nine of the represented artists live in Cape Coral: Daniela Clawson, Nancy Cunningham, Rita Koch, Scott Lewis, Maryoris Martinez-Terraza, Delphine Sintamour, Christopher Tuscan, James Wiedl and Monica Wildonger.

Four of the other artists reside in Fort Myers — Meagan Bonesteel, Patricia Collins, Kelly Morrison and Amanda Zirzow — while Nahomi Torres and Laura Staley live in North Fort Myers and Pine Island, respectively. Both Zirzow and Morrison have exhibited at the Cape Coral Art Center.

Zirzow, who had her first solo show at Arts for ACT gallery in Fort Myers last year, used to live in the Cape with burrowing owls nearby, so she relished depicting them against a van Gogh-inspired backdrop in “Burrowing Owls in the Starry Night.”

“My works often turn into flowers,” said Morrison of her “Garden Party” which is across from Dixie Roadhouse and next to Collins’ “Art and Music” piece, which has separate guitar and paint brush images on all four sides of a box.

“The arts are so vital to the community,” Collins said.

Wiedl’s “Chacha,” one of 10 paintings of his that are inside the Cape Cabaret Theater, brings the dance style outside the venue. The member of the Cape Coral Art League, who migrated from acrylic to watercolor 10-plus years ago, sees painting as “a great escape during retirement.” 

The works were positioned so that they complement each other by color and theme, according to Gerhard.

“There’s a span where most of our wildlife is, so a pelican and a turtle are next to each other and are ‘looking’ at the viewer,” she said.

Greg Gebhard, co-owner with his wife Jovana of nearby Nice Guys Pizza and a CRA board member, said the project will “add a lot of vibrancy. There were so many great works to choose from, it took us a good deal longer to decide what we felt were the best fits for the area.”

The project has been “a catalyst for more,” said Gerhard, adding that an artwork is expected to be installed at the road’s roundabout at Vincennes Boulevard in July and that some sculptures may go into Founders Park after that.

More info is available on social media at #capecoralart.

Participating artists and their works include the following: 

Meagan Bonesteel, “Birds of Paradise”

Daniela Clawson, “Blue Skies in Cape Coral”

Patricia Collins, “Art and Music”

Scott Lewis, “Sea Turtle Triptych”

Laura Staley, “Flamingo and Son”

Nahomi Torres, “Waves and Rays”

Christopher Tuscan, “Palms on the Water”

Amanda Zirzow, “Burrowing Owls in the Starry Night”

Where: Downtown Cape Coral along 47th Terrace, between Coronado Parkway and Southeast 15th Avenue

Info: Find more on social media at #capecoralart