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At the groundbreaking party for One Eleven, Commercial Properties’ reinvention of the corner of North Boulevard and Third Street, officials infamously put artist Clark Derbes on the spot for an impromptu painting session on a glass panel. That panel was part of a mobile wall that looked like a stand-alone piece, its metal and glass framework melding perfectly with the Shaw Center for the Arts’ pallet.

As distinctive and cool as it looks, the mobile wall’s greatest asset is its ability to display the work of other artists.

Called on short notice for the groundbreaking, architect David Baird and his Plus1 Design team constructed a maquette of the sculpture wall for the One Eleven event. He hopes the full 80-foot-long version will be commissioned as a public art piece along Rue Albritton between the Shaw Center and the Roux House.

“The danger in public art is being stuck with the same thing for hundreds of years,” Baird says. “But this sculpture wall can be dynamic and change over time. I hope it creates a synergy and energy for the downtown arts community.”

Remson-Haley-Herpin Architects are the designers for One Eleven, and ultimately it is the owners’ decision whether to use Baird’s wall to display rotating public art pieces. The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge is set to relocate to the One Eleven building when it is completed, and Executive Director Derek Gordon has been calling for more public art in the community. The council recently established a public art committee. Locating Baird’s wall, or something like it, near the new Arts Council and the Shaw Center for the Arts would make a lot of sense.

“David’s project is the only one that has been submitted so far,” Gordon says. “But it presents a kind of evergreen opportunity for rotating a number of artists throughout the year.”