Palladio Interiors and Garden is lighting up the corner of Central Avenue and Cox Street with a new north-facing neon sign designed by Memphis artist Kong Wee Pang. 

Signs and Designs Inc. fabricated the sign and installed it on Thursday, June 27, outside the marketplace at 2169 Central Ave. in Midtown. 

The sign features Palladio’s logo outlined in pink neon, with a dot over the letter “i” that changes colors. 

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“I wanted the new Palladio logo to be colorful, surprising and energetic, just like the furniture, art, gifts and garden items you’ll now find inside our three showrooms,” said Cynthia Ham, who took over ownership of Palladio last December. 

The new sign is the final stage of her rebranding of the iconic marketplace that’s been a retail staple of the Cooper-Young neighborhood for nearly three decades. 

Ham is a former nonprofit leader and advertising executive, who retired as CEO of nonprofit BRIDGES in 2020 and previously held leadership positions with Memphis in May International Festival and Archer Malmo. 

She bought Palladio from its founders, Frank and Mindy Roberts, who opened it in 1996 as a marketplace for fine antiques, home furnishings, garden statuary, water features, plants and locally made art. The venue also features a cafe that sells coffees, teas, soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts. 

Ham, who’s also an interior designer, has maintained Palladio’s home and garden model while making regular trips to acquire a wider variety of pieces and adding furniture and fabrics from luxury designers like Kravet. 

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She’s also added more works for sale from local artists — many of them Memphis College of Art alumni, including Jay Crum, Carl E. Moore, Amy Hutcheson and Pang, the designer of Palladio’s new sign. 

“Cynthia and I have been friends for a long time, and I believe in her vision,” said Pang, co-founder of Taropop Studio, which specializes in public art, illustrations and creative branding. 

Her work can be seen throughout Memphis, as well as in Auburn, Alabama; Austin, Texas; Denver; Las Vegas and Nashville. 

Pang designed last year’s Memphis in May International Festival’s fine art poster for honored country Malaysia, her birthplace. 

She also designed the 2022 River Arts Festival fine arts poster and created the sequined “Love Doves” mural in Overton Square, the “Urban Flow” mural at Downtown’s Renasant Convention Center and the “I Love Memphis” mural in Crosstown. 

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Pang said the newly installed sign welcoming art and antiques collectors, garden lovers and other guests to Palladio marks her first foray into designing a neon signage. 

“Although Palladio is not a traditional gallery, it’s an exciting space where artists can showcase unique works they are experimenting with,” she said. 

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