2 minute read
Larger Than Life
LARGER
Tha n Life by James Ryals, University Communications
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A 20,000-square-feet building façade is a big space to fill. But it’s not too big for the latest project by a trio of rising seniors in the Art + Design department. Their 15-panel installation adorns two sides of a block-wide parking deck at the corner of McDowell and Davie streets in downtown Raleigh.
Jordan Deva, Joe Lawson and Justin Phillips – The Balloon Boys, as they’ve dubbed themselves – designed the banners this past spring. They were selected from among several teams that participated in a contest to make the parking deck, owned by Empire Properties, more attractive.
Art + Design Professor Charles Joyner, Associate Professor Pat Fitzgerald and Assistant Professor McArthur Freeman led the process. Over several whirlwind weeks, Deva, Lawson and Phillips married two concepts to create The Fantastic Sky Race. “I don’t think I’ve stayed up so many nights in a row before,” Lawson said. “But it was worth it. It’s the biggest canvas of my life.”
The Fantastic Sky Race runs from a cool, blue-hued coastal environment through temperate, grassy landscapes and a pair of arctic vistas. The final stages move to warmer climates: arid desert, grassland and a cloud city, rendered in orange, pink and purple shades. The colors of a sunset inspired the design of the finishing panels, Phillips said. The cast of race participants includes a polar bear, a dragon, a whale and, far from first place, a man in an easy chair carried by a flock of birds. “We wanted to create something that any age can appreciate,” Lawson said.
Included in the installation are roughly a dozen references to Raleigh, Wake County and the state of North Carolina. Wake County Libraries will invite residents to submit stories inspired by The Fantastic Sky Race and distribute coloring books and bookmarks based on the theme. An official unveiling for the banners was a part of First Friday events downtown on August 5. It is not clear just how long the 60-foot-by-21-foot banners will be installed. “This has definitely been a unique experience and opportunity that I would not have had outside of the University,” Phillips said.
Art + Design seniors Justin Philips, Joe Lawson and Jordan Deva at the unveiling of their banner on August 5.
