New year, new banners go up on Main Street

With the holidays long gone, it is out with the old and in with the new. A new set of artistic banners depicting scenes from our coastal area went up along the medians on Main Street in Destin last week. 

The banners are part of the Destin Banner Art Project headed by Ron Sandstead of Flutterby Antiques.  

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This is the sixth year for the banner project. The artwork displayed on each of the eight banners is done by local artists. Some have participated in the project from the start and some just a few times. 

New to the project are Toni Dineen and Helga Letourneau. 

Dineen, of Shalimar, submitted a painting of a marlin and a colorful jellyfish, but Sandstead went with the marlin for the banner. Dineen typically paints in watercolor does a lot of sea life and pets.  

“This was exciting,” Dineen said, noting she has a lot of family who live in Destin and already have called after seeing it up in the median. 

Dineen was part of a similar type of banner project in the Cinco Bayou area, but this is her first in Destin. 

“I was thrilled to be able to do that ... anything having to do with promoting sea life or our area ... I try to get involved,” Dineen said. 

She was the artist behind the 2011 and 2012 Destin Seafood Festival poster. 

Would Dineen be up for painting another piece to be considered another banner? “Absolutely,” she said. 

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The other artist new to the project was Helga Letourneau, who painted seagulls in flight. 

For Kelly Pierre of Santa Rosa Beach, it is his second time participating in the project. His banner depicts a pelican, the state bird of Louisiana, where he is originally from.  

Pierre said he drew his inspiration for artwork from how the pelican survived after the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill. 

“It was a difficult time,” said Pierre, who grew up on the Gulf as a shrimper. 

“When the oil spill happened, it was scary ... I prayed every day that they would cap that thing,” he said. 

Pierre said when they were pulling the pelicans out of the water, all you could see were their eyes because they were covered in oil. 

But they cleaned them up and they survived the storm. 

“I thought how amazing ... these birds want to live because it looked like it was over for them. It was inspiring for me,” he said. 

Pierre works with many mediums: stainless steel, copper, wood, wood palettes and recycled materials. His studio is located in HarborWalk Village. 

He loves being part of the banner project. 

“I think what Ron is doing is great for the city and the artist to get exposure,” he said. 

“It’s great to inspire younger or older artists, or whoever might consider doing something like that. To be an artist is a challenge, but it’s worth it,” Pierre said. 

“It takes a lot of effort to organize a plan like this, and I sure do appreciate it,” Pierre said of Sandstead’s efforts with the banner project. 

Other artists participating in this round of banners are Kathy Schumacher, who painted a surfer; Lynn Leuken, yellow boat; Helen Harris, flowers; Pat Roberts, sailboat; and Debbie Prestwood, sandpipers.