Help us Beautify Rat Traps!

If you've lived in Allston-Brighton, you've seen those black rat trap boxes sprinkled across the neighborhood. They are an ever present part of the Rat City landscape and a reminder to neighbors that the rats are among us. We hope local artists can help us beautify the landscape of Allston-Brighton and elevate this piece of Rat culture!

Wait, Beautify Rat Traps?

Yes, let's turn these Rat traps into beautiful pieces of art. Both for neighbors of Allston-Brighton and Rats, we all deserve to see amazing artwork when walking through our neighborhood. These traps, which rarely stop any rats, can become something better, something beautiful.

If you've ever seen a utility/electrical box painted over by an artist to help beautify an area, that is exactly what we are looking to do with these Rat Traps! 

Rat Trap Design Theme

To help inspire artists, we have a theme this year of 'Celebrating Rat City'. When thinking of a design for the Rat trap, keep this theme in mind. It's time to celebrate the Rats and art that has made our neighborhood amazing.

Paid Opportunity & Materials

This design is a paid opportunity for local artists. We will be paying artists $100 each to beautify a Rat trap. We ask that Artists rely on their own materials to develop their beautified Rat Trap.

Display of Rat Traps and Artists

Our biggest goal with our Rat traps is to highlight our artists. Each Rat Trap will include a QR code that links to our Linktree. Included in the series of links will be a page dedicated to our Rat Trap Artists. Each Rat Trap and Artist will get a highlight on our social media pages and also a recognition during the Rat City Arts Festival.

The Rat Traps will be displayed on our social media and also across the neighborhood. We plan to take all of our Rat Traps and set up temporary installations across the neighborhood for all our neighbors to see. Finally, the Rat Traps will be displayed at the Rat City Arts Festival. 

The Actual Rat Traps

To be clear, there are no harmful elements within the box to humans or to rats. These are empty rat trap boxes. No person or rat will be injured in the making or display of our rat traps. Here are some more technical details if you are interested: 

Rat Trap Dimensions: 9.57 x 8.11 x 4.02 inches

Material: Plastic

Rat Trap Design Timeline

April 19th - Applications Due

May 13th - Rat Traps Revealed to Neighborhood

August 3rd: Rat City Arts Festival

August 10th: Rat City Arts Festival Rain Date

Rat Trap Artists will be highlighted and honored at the Rat City Arts Festival in they are available to attend in-person.

Questions?

If you have any questions or want to talk about the Rat Trap project, please email Ricky at ratcityartsfestival@gmail.com!