Thornton Academy seniors Lillian Page and Ella Wiggs, who graduated from the school last week, recently won a Saco Arts Commission competition to design art for traffic signal cabinets throughout the city.

The students’ art is now displayed on two traffic signal cabinets in an effort to bring creativity and a sense of beauty to mundane objects.

“It’s a great opportunity to make an everyday, functional object visually appealing and vibrant,” Saco Mayor Jodi MacPhail said.

The Traffic Signal Cabinet Renovation Project began in 2022, with three beautified cabinets on Main Street in downtown Saco. Since then, Thornton Academy Advanced Placement art teacher Jodi Thomas has offered the competition to her students each year.

From the start, the project has been a collaboration between the city and Thornton Academy art students, Thomas said.

“The project not only beautifies the city, but provides young artists with a platform to showcase their creativity in a meaningful way,” Thomas said.

Not every one of Thomas’ art students decide to participate in the project, often seeing it as time consuming.

But Page, who loves to paint, thought she might as well try.

The design process was difficult at first, Page said, because she decided to physically paint her design rather than use a digital software, which most of her classmates were using.

“I’ve never made any digital artwork,” Page said. “I just know I’m better at painting.”

Page designed a scene of Maine flowers, showcasing bright colors and wispy blue design. Her art is on display on the traffic signal cabinet located at the intersection of Buxton Road and Hillview Avenue.

Wiggs created a scene of meticulously detailed insects. Her art is on display at the intersection of Portland Road and Cascade Road.

Seeing her art on display in public is “exciting,” Page said.

“I think it’s a really cool thing that they chose teenagers and students to pick from,” Page said. “It gives us a chance to get our name out there as artists.”

That, MacPhail said, is what makes the project special.

“Seeing the talent of our rising local artists makes this beautification project all the more special,” MacPhail said.

In the fall, Page will attend the University of New England to study occupational therapy. She is considering minoring in art.