Sherman, Texas

Bel Air Village

Crafting A Striking Gateway For Residents

Project type

Public Art & Murals Placemaking Design

Project sector

Residential Community Signage

Project info

Client American Communities

Fabricator CREO Industrial Arts

Painter Cyril Kongo

A Bold Welcome Home

Welcome to Bel Air Village, a vibrant 280-acre residential community in Sherman, Texas. RSM Design created a striking entrance landmark featuring monumental, colorful, playful letter sculptures and illuminated pylon sculptures mimicking sunrise and sunset. Internationally renowned artist Cyril Kongo collaborated with RSM Design, bringing his vibrant street art style to the community’s wayfinding signage and environmental graphics. Kongo’s bold colors and intricate patterns transform the 12-foot-tall letter forms into captivating art pieces, offering a stunning entrance for residents and visitors.

Seen from mid-distance, a person walks on a sidewalk. Behind them stands a line of large sculptures, which tower over them in height. The letters are variously rotated, and don't spell any recognizable words in this photo. The front of each letter is painted in a street art style.

A pencil sketch of abstract (non-Latin) letterforms in a block lettering style, with 3D perspective and pencil shading. Scribbles on the letter faces indicate where the sculptures will be spray painted with graffiti art.

A large sculpture of the letter ‘B’ slants to the left and is partially sunk into the grass. The front of the sculpture is painted in a street art style with vibrant colors.

Working with a renowned artist, 12-foot-tall letters were transformed with bold colors and intricate patterns, crafting a striking gateway for residents and visitors.

A sketch rendered in pencil and copic markers showing twelve illuminated pylons in relative scale with two human figures. The rightmost pylon is wider than the others, and has pencil scribbles indicating where text can be placed. The pylons are colored with vertical yellow-to-red linear gradients, which have varrying midpoint heights so that some have more yellow and others have more red. A second diagram calls attention to the gradient midpoints.

A row of five pylons stand in front of a large, brick, 2.5-story, multifamily home at nighttime. The leftmost pylon has text reading “Bel Air Village”, rotated 270-degrees and running vertically from bottom to top. All five pylons are illuminated with an yellow-to-orange gradient.

Various-sized illuminated pylon elements are arranged to create a sense of movement, subtly shifting with the time of day, reflecting the tones of sunrise and sunset.

A row of nearly a dozen pylons trail off into the distance at dusk. The nearest, rightmost pylon has text reading “Bel Air Village”, rotated 270-degrees and running vertically from bottom to top. All pylons are illuminated with an yellow-to-orange gradient.

Taken from the street facing a suburban neighborhood of large, brick, 2.5-story, multi-family homes. The letter sculptures stand on a grassy strip between the street and the neighborhood. The illuminated pylons wrap around the corner of the block.