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Sculptures of animals, including this red elephant, will be featured in Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb project in the 500 block of Craghead Street. VANTAGE Art Lofts is expected to be open by the end of the year. 

Rick Barker's Airbnb project on Craghead Street, VANTAGE Art Lofts, is expected to be complete and operating at the end of this year. 

On Thursday afternoon, the River District Design Commission unanimously approved new paint colors, signs and sculptures for the project in the 500 block of Craghead Street, which will include animal sculptures featuring a 7-foot-tall, 10-foot long plastic red elephant protruding roughly a feet onto the sidewalk to attract attention. 

"It will serve as a mascot for the property," Barker told the Danville Register & Bee after the commission's meeting. 

The art-themed real estate project also will include sculptures of light-blue and dark-blue snails in the courtyard, fuchsia- and lime-green penguins inside the Airbnb building as well as two orange wolves, Barker said. 

"It's a long-term installation, years, not months," architect Kevin Jones told commissioners.  

Rick Barker Properties collaborated with Cracking Art, based in Milan, Italy, for the sculptures that will bring a 1960s pop art theme to match the mid-century interior design, he said. 

Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb lodging project in the 500 block of Craghead Street, VANTAGE Art Lofts, will be open by the end of the year, he said.  

"Our goal is to attract creatives to the block," Barker told the commission. 

Commission Chairman George Davis III asked Barker if he was concerned about visitors damaging the sculptures. 

"Are you worrying about people spraying graffiti on them and parents seating children on them and taking pictures?" Davis said. 

Barker said the structures will be hollow and robust, able to withstand a little abuse. Graffiti can also be pressure-washed away, he added. 

Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb lodging project in the 500 block of Craghead Street, VANTAGE Art Lofts, will be open by the end of the year, he said. 

Rick Barker Properties announced the new concept as part of the 500 Block real estate project on Craghead Street, in Danville’s River District. VANTAGE Art Lofts will be at 546-550 Craghead St., with nine apartment-style units including six one-bedroom and and three two-bedroom suites. 

The part of the building at 548 Craighead, originally Eldridge Drug Store in 1913, will serve as a central courtyard through which patrons will enter 550 Craghead to the left and 546 to the right, both also constructed in 1913.

The building's facades will be different shades of olive green-gray, Barker said. 

This is the design concept for the Rick Barker project, VANTAGE Art Lofts, on Craghead Street. Barker said the Airbnb project will be open by the end of the year.  

The 550 Craghead location was originally Swift and Company, a local butchery and 546 was originally built for Nabisco. The 1913 developer was John G. Witcher, a partner in Witcher and Brown Wood and Coal Yard, previously on the same site.

To foster creative endeavors in the River District, the former Swift loading dock will become an art studio, Barker announced Thursday.

Rick Barker Properties will also support an artist-in-residence program in the first half of 2023 and sponsor a global online competition to select three artists to spend eight weeks each in Danville. Each will be provided with an art loft, studio and stipend, he said.

Sculptures of animals, including elephants, will be featured in Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb project in the 500 block of Craghead Street. VANTAGE Art Lofts is expected to be open by the end of the year. 

Jones is the architect and Mike Allen is the project manager. Jones advised Barker on all of the visual aspects of the project, from architecture to interior design and branding.

The historic buildings went decades without maintenance and suffered partial destruction during Tropical Storm Michael in October 2018. They have been structurally stabilized with defensive planning to minimize the impact of future floods, Barker said. 

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Sculptures of animals, including this red elephant, will be featured in Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb project in the 500 block of Craghead Street. VANTAGE Art Lofts is expected to be open by the end of the year. 

Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb lodging project in the 500 block of Craghead Street, VANTAGE Art Lofts, will be open by the end of the year, he said.  

Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb lodging project in the 500 block of Craghead Street, VANTAGE Art Lofts, will be open by the end of the year, he said. 

This is the design concept for the Rick Barker project, VANTAGE Art Lofts, on Craghead Street. Barker said the Airbnb project will be open by the end of the year.  

Sculptures of animals, including elephants, will be featured in Rick Barker's art-themed Airbnb project in the 500 block of Craghead Street. VANTAGE Art Lofts is expected to be open by the end of the year. 

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