Downtown planter box project completed

The project to paint the planter boxes on the square has been completed.
In 2022, efforts were started by the Red Oak Arts Destination Group with two projects being completed in 2022. Designs were created by Gannon Sallach and Samantha Williams.
Another recent project was completed in front of the FiveOne8 with a design by Terri Hoskinson. After that, James Hoskinson, a member of the ROAD group, moved forward with work on the planter box in front of U.S. Bank.
“I started work on that box. The ROAD group wanted a river scene representing the Southwest Iowa river scene, and so I started painting. It was mostly inspired by the Nishnabotna River, so I would call it a Nishnabotna River scene with the rolling hills,” Hoskinson said.
From there, work proceeded on the planter box located in front of Chen’s Kitchen.
“For that box, we based the idea on summer fun and flowers, and that design was created by Terri Hoskinson. Terri did the basic design, and one of our volunteers, Layla Hansen, picked all the colors we used,” commented Hoskinson.
Once work was completed on that planter box, the painting project moved to the box located adjacent to the vacant lot on the downtown square.
“I created the design for that, which was ‘Sunrise/Sunset. If you see it from the west, you see the sunset, and if you look at it from the east, you’ll see the sunrise. Sunset is typically in oranges, and sunrise is typically in the pinks,” Hoskinson stated.
As for the planter box adjacent to the Buck Snort, Hoskinson said the design was co-created by Terri Hoskinson and Maggie McQuown.
“Maggie came up with the initial concept of the five elements of design, and then she worked with Terri to come up with an official design to paint.. The five elements are color, line, texture, shape, and contrast. All of those elements were incorporated into the planter box.”
While it was the most technical of the designs, Hoskinson said it ended up being one of the easiest boxes to paint.
“By the time we got to this box, I was more familiar with the paint, and working with rough textures and imperfections. It was the most difficult to design, but in execution, it ended up not being so,” he said.
For the planter box located adjacent to Raymond James Financial, Terri Hoskinson designed, following up on a summer fun theme. In all the cases, Hoskinson said they went with the flow of the planter boxes.
“Some places on the planter boxes had a rough texture, so we couldn’t do the initial designs and had to shift things around,” Hoskinson said.
Hoskinson said he’s pleased that after getting the project off the ground last year, the project is now finished.
“It’s always rewarding when a project is finally finished. This project was more than a year in the making, and while we got started last year, we had to pause because we couldn’t paint in the winter,” Hoskinson explained. “I think the most rewarding aspect took place while I was painting. So many people would stop and comment and tell me how much they loved them and honk and wave. And they would slow down to look at them, which I think is a good thing on a public square.”
In addition to Hoskinson and designers Terri Hoskinson, Gannon Sallach, Samantha Williams, Layla Hansen, and Maggie McQuown, volunteer help was also provided by Brian Bills, Phillip Lamb, Brinkly Sallach, Shaowei Ding, Randall Wilson, Teresa Euken, and Delilah Jennings. Hoskinson said Layla and Delilah joined the project towards the end of the summer, after being sought out.
“We reached out to Layla and met with her. She had an interest in art, and she did. So I asked her if she’d be willing to help on the painting and she definitely was. She was here on four separate days painting,” advised Hoskinson. “Delilah was on the square and was watching us paint and said she liked painting, so when I asked her if she wanted to help us paint, she was thrilled to do so, and I was thrilled to have her help.”
In addition to Layla and Delilah, Hoskinson praised all of the volunteer help they received on the project.
“It was a great help in getting all the projects completed at the end of this summer season. The ROAD group’s intention from the beginning was community involvement in the design and application. To get this many volunteers involved in the project was very rewarding for us. We also had tremendous support from the community in doing the project. A portion of the supplies was paid by the hotel/motel tax, and the rest were paid for by donations.”
Hoskinson added the ROAD group is looking forward to its next projects, including the big murals planned around town.
“Hopefully this is a good representation of what we can accomplish, so we can add some interest and color and design to the town. I think the planters are outstanding.”