By Eliza Laubach
Charlottesville, Va., residents will soon have a sidewalk view of their energy use — on an electric pole. At eight different junctures of the city’s 13 neighborhoods, stripes on the poles will, like a bar graph, compare the average and previous month’s electricity and natural gas use in homes within the two intersecting boroughs.
Artist Matthew Slaats designed the installations to build awareness around energy use and infrastructure. “Our relationship with energy is not something we can turn off,” he says, “and the light poles, they’re everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”
The project is part of the two-year Energize! Charlottesville campaign, and is funded by the city and the Piedmont Council for the Arts. Among six local artists, Slaats won a $5,000 award to implement a captivating project that encourages residents to use less energy. The installations will be up for six months to a year; at its conclusion, the artist will organize block parties at each site to deepen community engagement.
Slaats, who also serves as executive director of The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, says that building connections and bringing people together is a driving force in his work.
Hopes are high that the “pole graphs” project will help the city win the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a nationwide competition that will award $5 million to a town with the largest reduction in residential and municipal energy use over a two-year period. Charlottesville is one of 50 competing cities from across the country working to reduce its community energy consumption. For more information, visit energizecharlottesville.org
Related Articles
Latest News
More Stories
Signs of Life
In the Nantahala National Forest, a team of biologists spotted Indiana bats, an endangered species that hasn’t been seen in North Carolina for the last 11 years.
‘First Line of Defense’
During Hurricane Helene and its aftermath, rural fire departments and other first responder hubs played critical roles in keeping their communities safe, even without power and cut off from outside support for days or weeks after the storm. Two years later, plenty of work remains to ensure these hubs have the resources they need to operate day to day and be ready when emergencies or natural disasters strike.
The Rocky Road — and Bridge — to Recovery
Hurricane Helene is estimated to have damaged nearly 7,000 private roads and bridges in Western North Carolina. Two years later, many restoration projects are complete, but the journey hasn’t been easy — and isn’t over for others.
After 20 Years, Letcher County Prison Proposal Is Still Alive, Though Obstacles Remain
A $605 million proposal for a federal prison on a former strip mine site in Letcher County, Kentucky, championed by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, refuses to die, despite local opposition, a lack of support from the executive branch and numerous other obstacles.
The Washout and Rebuild
For nearly two years, residents of Unicoi County, Tennessee, have had to make do without a hospital after Hurricane Helene destroyed the rural hospital. Ballad Health, which owns the hospital, broke ground on a new location — in another floodplain — in August 2026.
The Shenandoah Salamander
The Shenandoah salamander is a woodland salamander, which has adapted to life at higher elevations away from water. This sparkling rarity lives among the dry leaves, cracked logs, and stony hillocks on the highest peaks of Shenandoah National Park.
Leave a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Leave a Comment