2016 ANNUAL REPORT
introducing: studioMAIN who we are
what we do
studioMAIN is a non-profit organization that mobilizes the design community and engages the local community to encourage innovative design for everyday life. As designers we create solutions and interventions for the urban fabric: solutions that challenge us to participate in areas of the city ranging from the basic to the most engaging of spaces.
studioMAIN first opened its doors to the public in February of 2012. During that first year, studioMAIN focused on educating the public about design and the built environment. This effort focused largely on holding public exhibitions, which ranged from showing student work to exhibiting professional design awards. studioMAIN also created several in-house design exhibits and hosted the opening of a locally-made architectural film as part of the Little Rock Film Festival. Perhaps most importantly, studioMAIN and Create Little Rock teamed together for the inaugural Pop Up in the Rock event in 2012. Now approaching our sixth year, studioMAIN’s impact in the local community and region has continued to expand. In partnership with Keep Little Rock Beautiful and the City of Little Rock, studioMAIN rolled out a new local design competition, Envision Little Rock, which focused on East Capitol Avenue in 2013 and the Otter Creek neighborhood in southwest Little Rock in 2015. We have now held five Pop Up in the Rock events which attracted thousands of visitors. Our work with local governments and other non-profits to provide visioning and advocacy for a better future for the region has allowed us to achieve many of our goals. Our role as a design advocate has been pushed to the forefront through the continued success of our projects throughout Central Arkansas. We are very excited for the opportunity to engage the community of Argenta after leaving our original space in the growing community of SoMa to make room for another thriving local business. We hope to access a new and different community and engage in local design and planning issues. We are happy to be a part of Argenta and look forward to participating in third Friday art nights, exhibitions at the gallery, and working with other local organizations like the Thea Foundation and the Innovation Hub.
CONTENTS impact 2016 ACTIVITIES 2016 FINANCIALS a look ahead
EDUCATE community ADVOCATE better design COLLABORATE allied fields CHALLENGE convention
impact On a scale of 1-5, please rate the impact you feel studioMAIN has had on the Little Rock community:
3 SOME IMPACT
LEVEL OF IMPACT
5 HIGH IMPACT
studioMAIN impact survey In late 2015, studioMAIN conducted an impact survey to gauge the effects of our projects and advocacy on the local community. Overall, respondents believed that studioMAIN has had some impact to a high level of impact on the Little Rock community. Respondents explained that our ability to reimagine and utilize alternative solutions to typical problems was valuable but interventions should to become more long-term to affect greater change. Respondents also noted that studioMAIN should improve and expand its use of social media outlets to advertise events, advocacy, and improve volunteering.
4 MODERATE IMPACT
No Responses for: 1 No Impact 2 Little Impact
How did you hear about our events? EMAIL LIST
WORD OF MOUTH FACEBOOK
EVENT POSTER
2016 ACTIVITIES YEAR IN REVIEW
EXHIBITIONS PROJECTS EDUCATION
EAT & EDUCATE Exterior Grade Design presented by 3form AIA Arkansas Central Section
ADVOCACY Vote to Connect Alternative forms of transportation are important to a successful city – especially our mass transit systems. studioMAIN volunteered to support the Campaign to Connect in an effort to increase tax funding for Rock Region Metro. studioMAIN recognizes the economic benefits of investment in public transportation systems: helping citizens get to destinations such as their jobs, schools, work training and health care. Alternative transportation helps to reduce congestion and the number of parking lots; bus systems help to conserve natural resources while reducing pollution; providing the alternate transportation choices that in-demand workers want; and allowing our senior citizens to remain active in their communities.
EXHIBITION studioMAIN 2015 Year-In-Review studioMAIN exhibited our work from 2015 alongside the 2015 AIA professional awards. We were humbled by the great turnout and continued support of all those that make studioMAIN possible.
EAT & EDUCATE Managing Daylight with Automated Solar Control presented by Draper Shades AIA Arkansas Central Section
EAT & EDUCATE Suspended Ceiling and Acoustical Solutions using Stone Wool presented by RockFon AIA Arkansas Central Section
EVENT SoMa Earth Day studioMAIN participated in The Bernice Garden Earch Day Celebration April 23rd
9th Street Overpass - Existing
T he Green Corner Store presents
2016
9th Street Overpass - Potential
EAT & EDUCATE Earth Day Celebration
Saturday, April 23 Noon - 4 p.m.
at The Bernice Garden 1401 Main Street, Little Rock, AR
Kids Activities Food Trucks Live Music
Innovations in Acoustical Ceilings for Today’s Flexible Interiors presented by Armstrong AIA Arkansas Central Section
ADVOCACY I-30 Corridor Studiomain continues to be involved with the I-30 corridor planning and has worked to influence the decisions of many highway expansion projects throughout central Arkansas. We maintain that projects like this should prioritize multi-modal transportation, and minimize the disruptive effects that highway planning and widening can have. In April 2016, studioMAIN made a joint presentation with the AHTD about improvements to the current I-30 planning which would be more responsive to this area of Little Rock. The improvements could create a large park in downtown Little Rock by removing the current off ramp while knitting the city grid back together. The improved design provides greater opportunities for multimodal transportation and connectivity of the city’s neighborhoods. The suggested improvements are not yet final, and studioMAIN will continue to be involved. Since studioMAIN’s involvement with the I-30 corridor expansion project, many other communities and non-profit organizations have gotten involved with transportation planning and the importance that it has on our built environment. The AHTD has responded by changing their public comment outreach procedures and taking a more proactive approach to working with communities.
COMPETITION dRAIN smART Drain Smart is an engaging public education/environmental program patterned after successful storm drain art programs in northwest Arkansas and Springfield, Missouri, that uses art to communicate the function and importance of local storm drains. studioMAIN board members assisted in the organization and selection of proposed art pieces for the drain murals. The central Drain Smart partnership, in its second year running, showcased local artists’ original murals on storm drains to educate the public about runoff water and the effects on local water resources, like Fourche Creek and the Arkansas River. The art installations can be viewed at the website for Drain Smart, or by visiting the mural locations around the Central Arkansas area. Artwork was completed June 4th, 2016. The end of the public voting period occurred on June 14th during an event recognizing all the artists work. Contact: Dan Scheiman -
Bird Conservation Director Audubon Arkansas 4500 Springer Blvd. Little Rock, AR 72206 501-244-2229 dscheiman@audubon.org
FRIENDS OF FOURCHE CREEK
http://drain-smart.org/
EXHIBITION ECEP Easels Exhibit July 21st opening Exhibition of work from young artists ranging from infants to 4-year-olds
EAT & EDUCATE Engineered Stone and LEED AIA Arkansas Central Section (August)
CHARRETTE Pop Up in the Rock - Metro Hub @ Junior League Over 50 community members and PopUp volunteers gathered at Junior League of Little Rock to brainstorm ideas for Pop Up Metro Hub. Participants divided into small groups to discuss ideas in more detail, sketching on a site map. Each small group then presented their ideas to the full audience to see how they could be implemented.
PROJECT SoMa Holiday Lighting Plan In 2015 studioMAIN assisted the SoMa Business Improvement District (BID) in creating a public arts master plan for 5 blocks of south Main Street in Little Rock. Phase I of this master plan culminated in recommendations for street improvements and the placement of three public art sculptures through an open design competition. In 2016, studioMAIN assisted the SoMA BID in developing a Phase 2 of the SoMA Public Art Master Plan to focus on layout and installation of lighting for the district. This plan delineated phases for both short-term and long-term development and installation of lighting to be designed, priced and installed by the 2016 Thanksgiving through Christmas holiday season. studioMAIN developed a conceptual analysis and plan in coordination with local stakeholders and the city for initial approvals. In October of 2016, the holiday lights were installed by a local company to much appreciation by the SoMa community. The resultant installations should demonstrate how creative and sensitively designed exterior lighting could be combined with energy efficiencies to deliver a positive return-on-investment performance. In addition, the short and long-term goals of this Lighting Master Plan will also establish an exterior lighting environment that identifies and ‘highlights’ the unique qualities and characteristics of the SoMA ‘Public Way’ Corridor.
EXHIBITION UofA 4th Year Comprehensive Studio studioMAIN exhibited the sixth annual Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design 4th Year Comprehensive Design Studio Competition. This year’s studio involved student designs for a metal art museum in Memphis. The fourth year comprehensive studio provides students the opportunity to synthesize knowledge gained during the three core years of their architectural education, and to share evidence of the comprehensive nature of this knowlÂedge in the architectural design and development of a given project.
EVENT AIA Gulf States Emerging Professionals Symposium - Fayetteville, AR James Meyer and Heather Davis were the “Architect as Leader” keynote speakers of the AIA Gulf States Architect as (______) Symposium. They presented studioMAIN’s work to emerging professionals from the 5 member states, and then led a group workshop developing 40x40x40 solutions for the Main Street area of Cave Springs, Arkansas. We hope to see future tactical urbanism projects popping up around the Gulf States region!
ADVOCACY Complete Streets Ordinance 7th Street Restriping studioMAIN supported the restriping of 7th street to include bike lanes as intended by the city’s bike master plan, citing our experience installing temporary bike lanes in this area as a part of the 2013 PopUp in the Rock 7th street demonstration.
June 10, 2016
City of Little Rock Board of Directors Little Rock City Hall 500 West Markham Street Little Rock, AR 72201 Dear Little Rock Mayor and Board of Directors, Please accept this letter of support for restriping 7th street to include bike lanes as intended by the city’s bike master plan. We are particularly interested in seeing bikes lanes added to 7th street because it was the focus of one of our largest efforts to date, the 2013 PopUp in the Rock 7th street demonstration. During PopUP in the Rock, studioMAIN and the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce’s Create Little Rock group demonstrated adding bike lanes to 7th street between S. State Street on the east and Cross Street on the west. We held the demonstration during a weekend, it was very well attended (appox. 2,500 people), and it did not show any indication of creating a traffic problem. During that time, we spoke with all businesses and property owners along the corridor, and they were all very supportive and excited about the demonstration. It was an overwhelming success, and now is our opportunity to follow through with permanent change. We believe in the importance of 7th street as an east-west connector for bicyclists, as it is one of the lower traffic streets creating an opportunity for a safe route that connects downtown Little Rock to neighborhoods to the west, both north and south of I-630. It is critical for 7th street to add bike lanes, as this is the first project by which the city is challenged to follow the newly adopted complete streets ordinance. We implore that the decisions made at city hall are followed through in practice. We need to keep the city’s trust and enforce what is passed, which will only help support and build faith in the community to prove that our leaders want Little Rock to be a great city! The complete streets policy states, “It is the policy of the city of develop safe, reliable, efficient, integrated and connected multimodal transportation system that will promote access and mobility for all users and will ensure that the safety and convenience of all users of the transportation system are accommodated, including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, users of public transportation, emergency responders, freight haulers, people of all ages and abilities, and adjacent land users.” This statement epitomizes the way we believe our city needs to approach transportation planning and execution. This equitability is what we want in our city, where we are afforded choices in safe modes of transportation. When people know it is safe to ride their bikes, they will be more inclined to do so. By making our city safer and more inclusive, complete streets play a critical role in making Little Rock an attractive place to live, work and play. Thank you for your consideration,
2013 PopUp 7th Street - Temporary Bike Lanes w/ Sharrows
EVENT Financial Quarter During the Main Street Food Truck Festival on September 24th, members of the DLRP Financial Quarter Group and studioMAIN created a “pop-up” display from Center to Spring streets on Capitol Avenue to showcase the ideas in-the-works to rebrand and reenergize a 30-block area downtown. The goal of the Financial Quarter initiative is “…to mobilize the design community to engage the stakeholders of “The Quarter” by creating solutions for the most basic of space to the most engaging of spaces; we believe that innovative design will draw people back into the financial heart of our City.”
Chris East, AIA
PROJECT Little Rock Zoo Hay Maze Each year, Little Rock Zoo hosts a week-long, family-fun festival called “Boo at the Zoo”, where the zoo is open after dark and transformed with halloween decorations and attractions. 2016 marked Boo at the Zoo’s 25th Anniversary, so the Little Rock Zoo recruited AIA Arkansas Emerging Professionals and studioMAIN to design and build their Hay Maze to be bigger and better than ever before! We hosted a charrette at Dugan’s Pub, where starburst and caramels served as scale figures for hay bales stacked 3-high. We then joined forces with ABC Young Professionals to construct the maze, moving 400 bales into place in just over an hour! The Zoo and was extremely happy with the completed maze, and our team had a blast making it happen!
28'-6"
40'-6"
24'-0"
19'-6" 59'-5" 27'-7" 19'-6"
21'-0"
6'-0"
1
HAY BALE LAYOUT PLAN 1/8" = 1'-0"
POP UP IN THE ROCK Beginning in 2012, studioMAIN and Create Little Rock have come together each year and adopted a few blocks to transform for a weekend with Pop Up in the Rock. Pop Up in the Rock is part of a national movement called the “Better Block Project.� Our goal is to enhance a forgotten, desolate or car dominated street into a more community-oriented area for a weekend with the goal of inspiring permanent change. This year, Pop Up took on the entire block of Rock Region Metro Hub in downtown Little Rock surrounded by Cumberland Street and Rock Street on the west and east, and E. 4th Street and E. 5th street on the north and south. The group of young professionals engaged both the surrounding neighborhoods and also the daily bus users to bring the block to life with live music, a beer garden, food trucks, a lending library, hourly events put on by the Museum of Discovery, historic markers, and temporary streetscaping served to invigorate and soften the immense hardscape of pavement and sidewalk at the metro hub. The event was a huge success, especially in the collaborative efforts and community/rider connections fostered through the planning process. We are optimistic that continued effort and attention will be devoted to revitalizing this ever changing area in downtown Little Rock.
for more info, visit:
facebook.com/PopUpintheRock
PROJECT Broadway Park studioMAIN volunteered to help the City of Little Rock envision a new future for the west end of Riverfront park beneath the newly constructed Broadway Bridge. Prior to bridge construction the area served as a parking lot for over 150 cars. The area was difficult to access by the public and was perceived as unsafe by many. studioMAIN assisted the city in re-imagining a future for the area beyond serving as a parking lot - by returning it to a landscaped park and reconnecting it to the city to serve as the western gateway to riverfront park.
RECOGNITION Quapaw Quarter Association PopUp in the Rock received a Historic Preservation Award of Merit from the Quapaw Quarter Association for “bringing new ideas and people to downtown and historic neighborhoods�
PROJECT Re-Imagining Main Street Jacksonville December 7th - Ideas Charrette @ AR Innovation Hub Jacksonville’s new high school is to be located on Main Street, and is sure to be a great catalyst for development! The Jacksonville Master Plan Steering Committee realized the importance of thinking proactively, and reached out to studioMAIN to help brainstorm a vision for what their Main Street could become. We held our kick-off “Ideas Charrette” in early December, where we engaged with business owners and community stakeholders to learn their concerns and big ideas for the area.
NEW HOME
2222 Cottondale Lane
Little Rock | AR | 72202 e: info@studio-main.org www.studio-main.org
Date:
November 30, 2016
To:
Friends of studioMAIN
After nearly five years, studioMAIN has left its space at 1423 South Main St in Little Rock. There has been amazing growth in SoMa during that time, and we are excited to make room for another local thriving business. While we are sad leave the community of SoMa, we are very happy to engage a new community, Argenta, in North Little Rock. studioMAIN has signed a lease to be a tenant at the Argenta Gallery, soon to be re-branded as Rock City Werks. It is the hope of our board that the shared space will allow us to access a new and different community and engage in local design and planning issues. We are happy to be a part of Argenta and look forward to participating in third Friday art nights, exhibitions at the gallery, and working with other local organizations like the Thea Foundation and the Innovation Hub. We remain committed to our work advocating for better design and planning practices across the state, and look forward to continuing to challenge the Central Arkansas Metro Area to improve its built environment practices. Our mailing address will remain at: 2222 Cottondale Lane, Little Rock, AR 72202. Respectfully,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
James Meyer On Behalf of the Board of Directors of studioMAIN
Our PURPOSE is to engage communities in the opportunities and issues pertaining to the collaborative process of design and construction of the built environment. The NATURE of our work is as a not-for-profit organization. We engage through education, training, participation and exposure, communities in the design professions and construction industries including but not limited to architecture, urban design, landscape design, interior design, industrial design, general contracting and subcontracting.
EXHIBITION 2016 AIA Arkansas Design Awards December 16th, 2016
IN THE NEWS A selection of 2016 publications featuring studioMAIN
January 2016 January 2016
May 2016
February 2016
May 2016
October 2016
October 2016
August 2016
City&Town THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ARKANSAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
January 2017
2016 FINANCIALS INCOME
$15,122 DONATIONS CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
SPACE RENTAL
EXPENSE / ALLOCATION
$18,607 MOVING EXPENSES
UTILITIES
EVENT EXPENSES INSURANCE
CLEANING
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
RENT
501(c)(3) FEDERAL INCOME TAX EXEMPT
ANI-RRG MEMBER-INSURED
In our fifth year, studioMAIN received
VOLUNTEER + 3,000 HOURS
from design professionals & community members
curated and housed
4
EXHIBITIONS + completed COMMUNITY PROJECTS
5
sharing the importance of thoughtful design with the general public
partnered with community members and organizations to successfully develop and execute the
5 IN THE ROCK th POP UP
organized and held
5 NEWS PUBLICATIONS + 20 & BROADCASTS EAT & EDUCATES
providing LU’s to design professionals
featured in
a look ahead
2017 EXHIBITIONS: • studioMAIN 2016 Year In Review • UALR Applied Design Program • Fay Jones School of Architecture student work • Annual Design Awards of AIA / ASLA / ASID
2017 PROJECTS: • Broadway Park • Re-Imagining Main Street Jacksonville • Invision 2017 • dRAIN smART 2017 • Pop Up in the Rock 2017 • AdventureSCAPES
2016 BOARD MEMBERS
2016 SUPPORTERS
James Meyer - Chairman | Taggart Architects Jordan Thomas - Treasurer | Arkansas State Parks Morgan Balmer | Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Heather Davis | Polk Stanley WIlcox Architects Kate Dimitrova | WER Architects / Planners Chris East | Cromwell Architects & Engineers Mason Ellis | WER Architects / Planners Bill Forbess | Contractor Chris Hancock | Historic Arkansas Museum Jennifer Herron | Herron Horton Architects Chris Little - Development Chair | Related Product Sales Patty Opitz | Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, AIA Arkansas Central Section Chair Joe Stanley | Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Page Wilson - Ex Officio | Paul Page Dwellings, General Contractors Glen Woodruff - Ex Officio | WD&D Architects
City of Little Rock AIA Arkansas Central Section of AIA Arkansas Cromwell Architects & Engineers Ace Glass Allison Architects Baldwin & Shell Clark Contractors Dr. Dean Kumpuris East Harding Evo Business Environments Fennel Purifoy Herron Horton Architects Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects WER Architects / Planners WD&D Architects
Liz Floyd | Executive Director
2016 VOLUNTEERS
2016 ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS
Sarah Bennings | Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Brandon Bibby | WER Architects / Planners Will Denman | Clements & Associates Kate Edwards | Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects Jeff Hough | Williams Dean Architects Adam Osweiler | McClelland Consulting Engineers Jonathan Opitz | AMR Architects Kate Spitz | UALR Intern Caleb Tyson | WD&D Architects David Ray | East Harding Rosa Sanchez | Clements & Associates Chad Young | WD&D Architects Aaron Wildschuetz | WD&D Architects
Architecture & Design Network Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design, University of Arkansas UALR Applied Design Program ASID, South Central Chapter Metroplan of Central Arkansas Create Little Rock UALR University District Partnership Emerging Professionals of AIA Arkansas Rock Region Metro Quapaw Central Business Improvement District
how to get involved
studio.main.ar
join us for a Project Meeting from 11:30-1:00pm on the first Tuesday of each month @ studioMAIN:
email us @: info@studio-main.org
@studiomainar
413 North Main Street North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114
visit our website @: www.studio-main.org
@Studio_Main
413 North Main Street North Little Rock 72114 www.studio-main.org info@studio-main.org