Friday, June 15, 2012

Commercial Art on a Budget/Very Literal Art

When I began the design process for the new Pulaski County Criminal Justice Center in early 2006, I realized almost immediately that the budget would be tight, particularly when it came time for wall art.  With over 14,000 square feet and about a jillion feet of wall space, to say that some creative thinking and planning was necessary is a huge understatement.  The facility that previously housed the 100+ deputy prosecutors, cops, social workers, and support staff was uncomfortably overcrowded, in poor repair and was furnished primarily with a dilapidated hodgepodge of what could be salvaged from other county offices.  It was important to the elected prosecutor who had for years fought for the new building, that the facility reflect the importance of the job of its inhabitants as well as the victims and citizenry served.  Tall order/short budget.

The following pictures (yes, I took them so they are awful) are a sampling of how we made the most of our commerical wall art budget.  SPECIAL NOTE TO MY CURRENT CLIENTS AND POTENTIAL CLIENTS:  We used wall graffiti in this office, 4 applications in almost 15,000 square feet.  We are not going to use any wall graffiti in the common areas of your home, and if we use any in the private areas of your home, we will use it only sparingly, and in tasteful applications.  We just can't paper the house with either of the books of the letters to the Corinthians.  We just can't do it.  No matter how much we love Jesus (and for the record, I am crazy about him).

We hired a professional photographer to shoot some of our favorite parts of the historic Pulaski County Courthouse.
Dixie Knight took this gorgeous shot of the rotunda ceiling--we had it transferred to canvas and it hangs in the atrium area located just outside the office of the elected official.  It was not cheap, but it is a beautiful piece of photographic art that will hopefully hang in the halls of the Proecuting Attorney for many, many years. 

series of black and white photos by Dixie Knight
featuring architectural elements of the exterior of the Pulaski County Courthouse

We also utilized stock photography from the Arkansas State Parks Department, AND folks on staff who are much more talented than I took a few pics too.
The Sixth Judicial District is comprised of Pulaski and Perry Counties.  The photographic art used in the Citizen Complaints Department of the office reflects the rural beauty of Perry County.
We used 4 applications of wall graffiti--this one is my favorite

Another view, you can see one of the few paintings we used in the entire building in this pic.  It is lovely, but for whatever reason reminds me of corn casserole.
These are actually acrylic letters, beautiful product, beautiful words.

I'm really excited that next week real live, famous photographer Jacob Slaten will shoot the children's interview room.  Please check back for a great post with extraordinary pics!!!