Artist paints downtown sidewalk

If you’re walking along Main Street in downtown Sarasota this week, you may notice a little extra color in the middle of the road.

That’s because, on Sunday, local artist Careth Christine painted a crosswalk in the 1500 block of Main Street as part of a public art project. The artwork, located near C’est La Vie and Cask & Ale, is intended to be a test for what could become a larger series, according to a city release.

City staff has been investigating the possibility of undertaking such a project for the past year, selecting Christine’s design and picking the Main Street crosswalk as the best initial location. The city used about $1,000 in Planning Department funding for the project, a spokesman said.

Christine will be submitting another design for a similar project in the 1400 block of Main Street, which would be installed at a future date, the city said in the release.