Creative entities in Little Rock are one step closer to becoming a stronger collective force, thanks to an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The $150,000 grant, awarded to the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, Marlon Blackwell Architect and the city of Little Rock, will provide for the initial design phase of a new Creative Corridor on Main Street in downtown Little Rock.

The Our Town grant was one of only 51 grants awarded nationwide, NEA officials announced today in a press conference at the NEA offices in Washington, D.C. Our Town is the NEA’s new leadership initiative focused on creative placemaking projects. In creative placemaking, partners from both public and private sectors come together to strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city or region around arts and cultural activities. With 447 statements of interest submitted, the NEA awarded $6.5 million in grants to communities in 34 states.

The Creative Corridor is intended to spur comprehensive revitalization of historic buildings and transform a segment of Main Street into a visual and performing arts district in Little Rock, which has a metropolitan area population of about 700,000. The city of Little Rock is the lead partner, and additional partners include nonprofit arts organizations, such as the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Ballet Arkansas and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Little Rock Downtown Partnership and Reed Realty Advisors.

The Community Design Center, an outreach program of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, is directed by Steve Luoni, Distinguished Professor of architecture. Marlon Blackwell, whose firm is based in Fayetteville, is also a Distinguished Professor and head of the school’s architecture department. This is the sixth NEA grant awarded to the Community Design Center during the last four years.

 “We are thrilled at this opportunity to triangulate a design partnership among the state’s flagship university, talent in our capital city, and one of the country’s premiere architectural firms. The NEA’s signature grant program gives us the chance to consolidate various cultural resources around urban development unparalleled in the state,” Luoni said.

Blackwell shared Luoni’s excitement, adding that the public-private partnership facilitated by the NEA grant “will allow our design team to speculate on a vision for possibilities – architectural, cultural, civic and more – for the city of Little Rock.”

The Community Design Center will create an urban design plan, managing the project with input from project partners. Blackwell’s firm will provide preliminary conceptual design and visualization services for the renovation and restoration of four existing buildings on Main Street in Little Rock, as well as a parking garage.

A design charrette with the participating nonprofit arts organizations and artist groups will be held this fall. With that input, Marlon Blackwell Architect and the Community Design Center will generate drawings, diagrams and models to illustrate the conceptual design. That will be followed by a presentation to the city of Little Rock and representatives of the symphony, ballet and other artists groups to show the design direction and to elicit feedback. The final presentation of the conceptual design to all partners is slated for February.

Laura Terry, Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture helped to organize a new collaborative student exhibition titled Lines Across at the University of Arkansas Student Gallery, also known as the sUgAR Gallery, located in Bentonville, AR. This exhibit showcases works completed by students from the Fay Jones School of Architecture and the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Lines Across contains a collection of drawings from students in four disciplines: architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and fine art. The selection encompasses drawings completed at various scales and in various media.

This exhibition was on display from June 10 through July 23, 2011.