The cold weather didn’t keep people away from the opening of the Caddo Common Pavilion Saturday, Nov. 12. Folks bundled up and then warmed up with the music of Bond and the Seratones as the pavilion showed its stuff as a prime location for performance.
The few, the proud, the chilly!
The Shreveport Regional Arts Council(SRAC) believes that no good event is a truly great event without confetti, so the opening was definitely a great event.
It was raining confetti!
The stylish Mike McSwain-designed pavilion space will not sit vacant for long. SRAC’s goal is to begin programming activities in the pavilion/park in February and will work to have something going 30 of the 52 weeks of the year. The pavilion will also be available for bands, theater troupes, drum circles, dance groups and others throughout the year.
The Seratones took their place in the record books as the first to perform on the Pavilion stage.
The Caddo Common Park has already taken its place as a creative ‘hub’ downtown with yoga, art in the park events, and music, and more will be coming. The permanent ArtisTrees and food area tables and chairs are now in place, and the water mister stations to combat the summer heat will be finished soon. With the pavilion/bathrooms and green room completed, the park will be ready to show its versatility in 2023, just in time for the new residents who will be moving in to the Uneeda Biscuit Lofts a short distance away.
Artist Paige Powell captures it all with her cool rendering of ‘Art in the Park’.
Stay tuned for updated information about events coming to Caddo Common Park!
Story from Sept. 8, 2022
Save the date for the weekend of November 11 and 12 and the opening of the new Caddo Common Pavilion!
The performance space in the park is really coming together. Once finished, it will be a gathering place in the Shreveport Common art and culture district for live music, dance, theater and other fun performances. No times or details have been released about the grand opening weekend, but one thing is certain… if Shreveport Regional Arts Council is at the helm, it will be colorful, exciting, and well worth seeing! Mark the date now so you won’t forget.
Construction photos of the pavilion.
The architect for the pavilion is Mike McSwain. The structure overlooks a portion of the park that is amphitheater in feel. There is a level lawn in front with a small ‘hill’ in the rear, perfect for an audience sightline of the pavilion activity.
Adjacent to the Pavilion space is the Artistree/Food Truck area and more green space. Soon, this will also be the location of a ‘mister’ system, perfect for cooling off on hot Louisiana days.
Shreveport Regional Arts Council will handle the reservations system for the Pavilion, once open, and promise a lot of activity there in months to come!
Story Dated Feb 16, 2022
The Pavilion at Caddo Common is coming right along. We went to the park in the 800 block of Texas Ave. on a sunny day earlier this week to check on the status and saw that the Mike McSwain-designed performance space now has a portion of its futuristic roof (think cool ‘Jetsons’ style). The plan is, weather permitting of course, that the space will be ready for plays, music, poetry and other performances by mid(ish) summer. Already, we are hearing enticing rumors of planned theater in the park and more!
The pavilion joins the already-‘planted’ Artistrees, the colorful blue steel lighted art installations on the north side of the park. Soon to come are the permanent seating units that will go near the planned food truck court.
‘Artistrees’ in Caddo Common Park.
Story Posted Jan. 20, 2022
Construction on Jan. 17, 2022.
There’s construction action happening at Caddo Common Park. The Mike McSwain-design Artist Performance Pavilion is beginning to take shape.
Initial artist rendering
The pavilion will be used for a variety of events from live music to plays in the park to poetry readings. It should be finished and ready for use by mid-summer.
Artistrees Dedicated at Caddo Common- Nov. 11, 2022
A good crowd turned out Wednesday, Nov. 10 to dedicate the ‘artistrees’ at Caddo Common Park. The trees, sculpted by Bruce Allen and conceived by Allen and the late artist Jim Hayes, are beautiful, artful additions to a needed downtown greenspace. The Artistrees are named “Diamonds for Jim” in honor of Hayes.
You can see the LED-lit trees aglow every evening after sunset at 869 Texas Ave.
Original Story- October 14, 2021.
Caddo Common’s new Bruce Allen/Jim Hayes ‘artistrees’ have been planted in the food court area in Caddo Common Park. The park is the cornerstone of the 9-block Shreveport Common Art and Culture District, envisioned as a place filled with creativity and unexpected art.
Three vibrantly-blue metal trees grew quickly to provide additional artistic ‘umph!’ to the park. The 20′ and 25′ -tall structures are lit and will go by the name “Diamonds for Jim” in honor of the late Jim Hayes, a local artist responsible for a variety of Shreveport Common projects.
“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.
Photo courtesy David Nelson.
Pam Atchison, executive director of Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC) hopes everyone will come to experience the new addition to the park. “It’s UNexpected and Unimaginable,” she says. “Through Bruce’s fantastic artistry, the trees are as dramatic by day as they are at night, when the spectacular leaves glow brilliantly.”
The Mike McSwain-designed outdoor performance pavilion on the south side of the park is under construction now and should be completed in 2022. A misting station, table sets and a game kiosk are planned for later this year. In the meantime, SRAC will continue UNCOMMON Sundays in Caddo Common park this Sunday, Oct. 13 from 12:00 to 4:00 pm and on Nov. 21 when the artistrees will be commemorated with a confetti cannon celebration.
Article from 10-7-21
If you’ve driven past Caddo Common lately, you’ve likely noticed new construction activity. The green space at the intersection of Cotton, Texas Avenue and Crockett Streets has launched the latest phase of improvements which include a performance pavilion and artistic flourishes. On the Cotton Street side of the park, DBI construction has begun the work on the pavilion, which will eventually provide the stage area for musicians, plays in the park and other fun events. Closer to the Crockett Street side, work is beginning to install a creative variety of art ‘trees’.
The pavilion work is scheduled to be completed by mid summer 2022, but a portion of the park will remain open during the construction. November’s Downtown Artwalk on Thursday, Nov. 4 will wind its way around Shreveport Common. Join us then to see all the improvements that are underway!
