Artist Tosca Carranza was commissioned by Near East Area Renewal to paint five traffic signal control boxes along Rural Street, in a series called “I Love My Neighborhood.”  Stylized lotus flowers were chosen for this box because they represent universal peace. The lotus is also a symbol of resilience: even when its roots are in the dirtiest waters the plant still produces beautiful flowers every morning, and dried lotus seeds up to two hundred years old have regenerated to produce a living plant.

Tosca Carranza is a painter and art educator who lives on Indianapolis’ Near Eastside.