What's Happening in Hollywood, FL…

Public art has proven popular in Hollywood, with the Downtown Hollywood Mural Project winning raves. Now another type of art may decorate Hollywood streets - literally.

A new project would add murals to the city's crosswalks and intersections—the pavement would be painted so that pedestrians and drivers would walk or drive across a colorful design. Other major cities, including Tampa, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Portland, and the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, have all put art underfoot.

In Hollywood, 200 artists applied and four were chosen: Alejandro Villaneuva and Antonella Anziani Ballarin, both from Hollywood; Karla Campos, from Pembroke Pines; and Laureen Biruk, from Hallandale Beach.

Villaneuva used eight colors to create a work that looks like a magic carpet. His pattern would fill the intersection itself with geometric cubes, and border it with the crosswalks, which would be painted with an intricate design.

Ballarin used darker tones like purple and and black to create what looks like a kaleidoscope in the intersection itself, bordered by crosswalks painted with yellow rings.

Campos came up with a playful concept with a huge sun and a smiley face on a black background in the intersection itself, bordered with tan crosswalks, each with a central figure: a dancing pedestrian, a musical note, a peace sign, a heart.

Biruk would cover the crosswalks with schools of fish, while an abstract wave pattern covers the intersection.

Hollywood commissioners still have to approve the project. Projects like this are a great example of the versatility of graphic design.