Caddo Common park has a dazzling new look this week and there’s more to come! The installation of the three radiant, large-scale Artistrees launches the long-awaited Phase II completion of the new community greenspace located at the center of Shreveport Common in downtown Shreveport.

The public art trees, named “Diamonds for Jim,” were designed by artist team Bruce Allen and the late Jim Hayes after a year-long community process which gave neighbors “first voice” in the design of the park. In October 2020, Bruce Allen completed the final design of the trees and began offsite fabrication of the electric blue metal trunks and the yellow and amber, LED lit panel “leaves.” He installed the three Artistrees, two 20’ and one 25’ tall, this week in the park’s future Art Bosque Food Truck Court.

“This is Jim’s design,” says Allen. “We started years ago designing something that would be dynamic and fit with what the community wanted in the new greenspace.” Allen describes the tree’s bases as having the feel of cypress trunks. He says the branches and panels were designed to create a canopy over the area where the table sets will go. The electric blue trunks have a shiny, almost reflective quality that was created by a combination of repeated grinding of the metal bases and working with Martin Specialty Coatings for a “candy coat“ finish, according to Allen. The sun creates a glow through the acrylic panels by day. At night the panels are LED lit.