The Old Town North Alliance is one step closer to developing branding for the neighborhood’s new arts and cultural district.
The alliance’s board of directors named three artists as finalists in the Old Town North Arts and Cultural District Banner Design Project. They will be subject to a public vote to determine the winning artist.
The winning artist will work with the alliance to create new designs for the arts and cultural district, with 18 to 20 banners on light poles planned for the first phase. The banner project will be funded by community sponsorships, a city grant through the Business and the Arts Collaborative Invitational Grant program, and the Old Town North Alliance.
Finalists are muralist, teaching artist and custom sign maker Tammy Barnes; illustrator, graphic designer and art director Roxanne Bradley-Tate; and artist, illustrator, muralist, graphic designer, and marketing specialist Lisa Hall.
Before selecting the three finalists, the alliance received expressions of interest from more than 50 artists and designers through outreach support from The Art League, Alexandria Arts Alliance and Mayor Alyia Gaskins’s Art in Every Space Initiative.
D.C.-based Barnes had been commissioned by the Southwest Business Improvement District to design six streetlight banners in D.C. and has done work for other public, nonprofit and private clients in the region.
Bradley-Tate from Waldorf, Md. is a former Alexandria resident with experience in architectural illustration, environmental
graphics, banner design, signage and visual identity systems to create sense of place.
Hall has two decades of experience in marketing and graphic design, working on utility box vinyl wraps, children’s book illustrations and murals. The artist has a part-time marketing role with EYA, working with properties such as Robinson Landing, The Oronoco, and Old Town Commons.
Voting will be open until noon on Saturday, Sept. 19. The winner will be announced between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. at Chalk-A-Block on Saturday, Sept. 19 at Current TideLock (1055 N. Fairfax Street).
The nonprofit Old Town North Alliance is a coalition of residents, business owners and property owners collaborating to advance the city’s vision for Old Town North, including the Old Town North Arts and Cultural District. Old Town North is Alexandria’s designated Arts and Cultural District. Artwork has been procured by the city, developers, businesses and condo associations throughout the neighborhood, and the alliance is leading design of an Arts and Cultural District Walk between the Torpedo Factory Art Center and future Potomac River Generating Station redevelopment.
