studiomain projects
Pop Up In The Rock
is an annual community revitalization effort that focuses on temporarily enhancing an area within the city to show what it can become with imagination and investment. Pop Up In The Rock’s intent is to showcase the potential of our cities, block by block. In 2012, studioMAIN partnered with the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce’s young professional group and Create Little Rock to host our first annual Pop Up event on South Main Street. In 2013, Pop Up In The Rock focused on 7th Street in Little Rock and in 2014, we hosted our most successful event yet in North Little Rock’s Park Hill neighborhood with over 5,000 attendees.
Envision Little Rock
In late 2012, a Little Rock landscape architect approached studioMAIN about collaborating to present a design project as an open competition. The competition was intended to engage the public in future development alternatives for a neglected portion of the downtown Little Rock landscape. Many stakeholders including the City of Little Rock, the Little Rock Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Hanger Hill community, Little Rock Parks and Recreation, Metroplan and the UALR Emerging Analytics Center worked together with studioMAIN to present the competition. The competition challenged public and professional design community to generate innovative concepts for a neglected portion of the east downtown little rock landscape. Twelve entries were received and through public voting, over 1800 people cast their vote to determine the competition’s winners.
Creating University Village With UALR
studioMAIN currently has a team of designers providing creative solutions for The University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The University has long struggled with the crossing of University Avenue that borders the current western edge and separates the institution from the retail and parking on the western side of the busy avenue. studioMAIN has developed detailed plans to address concerns of pedestrian safety, traffic flow, aesthetics and urban infill to revitalize the corridor.
Little Rock’s Financial Quarter
Various business owners and real-estate managers in Downtown Little Rock have engaged studioMAIN for help in rebranding the area of the city that has for many years been home to some of the State’s major banks. Street art, furniture, landscaping, street alignment and crossings, hard surfaces and soft surfaces, are all tools for the design team looking to create a new identity for this area of downtown.
South Main Public Arts Master Plan
In early 2013, studioMAIN was approached with the idea of creating a master streetscape and art installation plan for South Main Street to define the SoMA district, while also expressing the community’s unique character and energy. The final document formed an organizational strategy for street amenities, such as benches, signage and bus shelters, as well as a plan for locating art installations. Currently the master plan in being implemented with five new art installations scheduled to be complete in 2015, including a new gateway at the south end of Main Street.
In the summer of 2014, studioMAIN received $25,000 from the Horn Foundation, from AAD, LLC and the Business Improvement District ñ Quapaw to conduct a statewide competition for Arkansas artists to submit proposals for three sculpture pieces to be located along South Main Street. The sculptures are to be incorporated into the South Main Public Arts Master Plan created by studioMAIN.
South Main Public Art
In the summer of 2014, studioMAIN received $25,000 from the Horn Foundation, from AAD, LLC and the Business Improvement District ñ Quapaw to conduct a statewide competition for Arkansas artists to submit proposals for three sculpture pieces to be located along South Main Street. The sculptures are to be incorporated into the South Main Public Arts Master Plan created by studioMAIN.
South Main Lighting Plan
studioMAIN was instrumental in assessing and laying out tree lighting and building accent lighting along a three block stretch of South Main. These efforts were to provide a safer and more inviting space during nighttime hours.
advocacy
studioMAIN was conceived to be an advocate for better community design, better collaboration among the design and construction fields, and to educate the public about the effects of design in the public realm.
All of the past, current and future projects studioMAIN has been involved with have their roots in advocacy, public engagement and education. Whether it is our Pop Up In The Rock events that help a community reimagine itself or our advocacy with regionally influential organizations such as the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock, studioMAIN is dedicated to engaging all of the necessary stakeholders to improve design outcomes.