As Osceola gears up for its 175th birthday and America’s 250th birthday celebrations this summer, Osceola Chamber Main Street is working on their latest initiative to add vibrancy to downtown that allows citizens to get involved.
“In honor of Osceola and USA’s milestone birthdays, we’re making a community mosaic mural,” OCMS Executive Director Ashleigh Eckels said.
The mosaic mural will consist of 864 4x4-inch tiles for a finished product that will measure 12-feet wide by 8-feet tall and will be hung on the north side of Family Eye Care, 110 S. Fillmore St. The completed mosaic will show two hands forming a heart in front of a colorful American flag.
Of the 864 tiles, approximately 600 are being sold by OCMS to be hand-painted by anyone who wants to leave their creative mark on Osceola; the rest have come pre-painted.
There are six different color kits - red, light golden, light blue, brown, magenta and violet - that include a tile, two paint brushes and eight small paints. Artists may paint whatever they want on their tile following the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule encourages painters to use 80% of the main palette color (as noted on the instruction sheet) with 20% of the other colors for highlighting and pops of color. There is a QR code on each instruction sheet for picture ideas, or ideas can be found online at muralmosaic.com/communitylove.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind community art project to honor Osceola’s history, creativity and community spirit,” OCMS Events Coordinator Leslie Torres said.
Once all of the tiles are completed and returned to the OCMS office, they will be assembled into the final product to be unveiled during the July 4 celebrations.
“Leave your mark on Osceola and be a part of our celebration of our history,” Eckels said.
Tiles are available for purchase now for $25/kit and are requested to be returned by June 1; color palette choices are first come, first serve. They can be purchased at the OCMS office, 115 E. Washington St. Contact OCMS with questions at 641-342-4200.