Zoa Martinez, President/Creative Director of ZONA Design, Inc., has created a banner for "Design Ignites Change," a joint venture of AIGA/New York, Times Square Alliance and Worldstudio Foundation, which have created The Urban Forest Project.
Two hundred banners by designers, artists, photographers and illustrators from around the world will be "planted" in New York's Times Square in mid-August. Each will use the form of the tree, or a metaphor for the tree, to make a powerful visual statement, creating a forest of thoughtful visual art in one of the world's busiest, most energetic and emphatically urban intersections.
The intent is to bring nature and art to the "Crossroads of the World" which is visited by 30 million people annually and is known mainly for its dazzling commercial signage, with the hope of encouraging passersby to pause, if only for a moment, to be entertained, stimulated or provoked by the work.
Zoa Martinez, in describing her banner, stated, "Coconut palms sway through salty air stirring an energy that ignites my passion, moves my spirit, inspires me to create, and inspire others."
The 7' by 3' banners will eventually be recycled into tote bags to be sold at auction. All proceeds will go to scholarship and mentoring programs that benefit students of the visual arts.