LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Aug. 25, 2015) – The winning designs for the Main Street Creative Corridor banner competition are being installed at the parking deck at 2^nd and Main streets this week and will be officially “unveiled” 10 a.m. Thursday.

More than 30 artists submitted two to three designs each for consideration. Mayor Mark Stodola, aided by Todd Herman, executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center, selected designs by two artists: Virmarie DePoyster of North Little Rock and Stephano (Steven Sutherlin) of Little Rock. 

DePoyster’s two designs will bookend the north and south ends of the deck with color-manipulated photographs of a ballerina and a saxophone player. The model for Her Song is a dancer from Ballet Arkansas, while the saxophone player gracing Lost in the Moment is a student at eStem Public Charter High School in downtown Little Rock. The use of photography and Photoshop is new to the artist, who typically paints landscapes and abstract works. DePoyster, whose works will soon be featured in a show at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, says “color has always been a strong part of my work.”  Her designs for Main Street banners feature the colors of the Creative Corridor logo.

Stephano’s painting City of Bridges, chosen for the middle banner, utilizes the same color palette to illustrate prominent features of the downtown skyline. The piece was “inspired by the natural beauty of Arkansas, the structures, and the color personalities,” says Stephano.

When both artists met recently to finalize details about the installation of the banners, they were surprised at how well their pieces played off of one another.

“We never even talked and yet we came up with these [complementary] images,” Stephano said as DePoyster nodded.

“I am pleased that the colorful designs by these two local artists will brighten up Main Street by highlighting artistic expression in its many forms," says Stodola, one of the driving forces behind the Creative Corridor. "As we head toward the grand opening event on Sept. 14, more and more projects will be finished, helping to complete the transformation of this grand American Street.” 

Funding for the two outside banners and lighting for all three comes from the private foundation ArtPlace. Funding for the middle banner comes from the Little Rock Visitors and Convention Bureau.

About the Creative Corridor

Initial Planning and design for the Creative Corridor was funded by a 2011 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The plan, created by the University of Arkansas Community Design Center and Marlon Blackwell Architects, has received awards from the American Institute of Architects and The American Society of Landscape Architects, among many others.

Certain blocks on Main Street are in the process of being reconstructed to include low-impact development streetscapes with funding provided by a grant from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. Once completed, the Corridor will include rain gardens, porous pavers, bio-swales, and other techniques to improve water quality.

An increasing number of public, private and nonprofit groups have already invested in Main Street in recent years led by the Downtown Little Rock Partnership. Funding for a wide variety of art and lighting installations for the Corridor is provided by ArtPlace America and the Educational Foundation of America.