NEW ORLEANS — The mini’s are back!

We’re talking about the mini boxes that are created each year and replicated after the colorful utility boxes around the city.

The project was founded by a group called Community Visions Unlimited.

Over the past few years, they’ve taken 190 utility boxes and turned them into art.

“It’s wherever you see a red light. Those are the boxes that we have permission to do,” says Jeannie Tidy, the founder and vice president of Community Visions.

Each year CVU has a mini box auction, and that’s how they raise funds for the art projects and the local artists.

“All of the mini’s are actually little replica’s of the big boxes that have done throughout there year,” says Tidy.

That means, the mini boxes are one-of-a-kind and are only sold the same year that a new utility box is painted.

“One of the reasons we started this project after Katrina is so many artists that I knew were struggling. They were getting their rent jacked up. So, this is was a way of paying them and also promoting their work,” says Tidy.

Each box has a lid, and if you open the top, then you will find the location of the big box and the name of its creator.

So, next time you stop at a red light, keep your eyes peeled.

You just might stumble upon a true work of art.

The people who live in the area surrounding each of the boxes, or the people who pay the artist for the work, decide what will be painted.

More than 80-artists are employed through this project.

For more information, click here.