The four artists who helped paint the electrical boxes are Dennis Hall, Breanna Yoder, Alicia Carranza, and Keith Hale. Hall, a construction educator at CCTC, became the informal coordinator of the project, blending his construction know‑how with his newly discovered artistic talents. Keith Hale is also a teacher at CCTC who runs the Advanced Manufacturing program. Hale and Hall collaborated closely on both the artistic and structural elements of the boxes, and got their students involved, too. Breanna Yoder is a former North Caroline High School student. She is now a Head Start teacher and a featured artist for the project. Alicia Carranza, who happens to be Hale’s daughter, is another local artist and teacher.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
Carranza is a self-proclaimed lover of owls. She even joked that her classroom is decked out in owl decor. So when the project was originally going to be all bird-based, she knew immediately what her subject would be. Then the artists shifted to the people and places that represent Denton, including Martinak State Park. Despite the change, Carranza said, “I wasn’t gonna let the owl go.”
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
When discussing subjects for the boxes that represent Denton’s history, “Harriet Tubman was a no-brainer,” Hale said. So he painted the Harriet Tubman box, which faces the direction of Denton’s Crouse Park and the Choptank River to honor Tubman’s journeys along the riverbanks. Hale explained that each of the paintings are covered in glossy resin so that no weather event or ill-intentioned individual can damage the miniature murals themselves.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
Some of the boxes boast a realistic wood cut-out of Caroline County, with the rivers and town centers marked accordingly. This is where Hale and Hall’s expertise and resources through CCTC come into play. “Nine of my kids out of 20 showed up on a Saturday and spent all morning out here,” Hall said, “they sanded everything down, and we primed everything white.” Then the students helped throughout the school year with cutting out the large depictions of Caroline with the construction and manufacturing machinery, and they even helped paint in the black details. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t an easy process. “Everything had to be measured. All the doors were custom made to each box because not each box was the same size, and then we had to undercut the panels, and it's all pressure treated material,” Hall said.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
The Denton in Bloom box was painted as a nod to the organization by the same name who provide downtown Denton with real flowers and arrangements to beautify the town. “Caroline County's flower is a field daisy, so we had the field daisies on the bottom. We had the wisteria coming down from the top. Then he put in the black‑eyed Susans, Maryland’s flower,” explained Hall. Hale is the primary artist for this particular box, but he and Hall collaborated on the design, especially the 3D-looking text.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
Beneath the artwork, the boxes still perform an essential function: they are working electrical hookups for downtown events – namely, Summerfest. Each painted structure houses the power supply that fuels the vendors’ setups. Because of this, the design had to accommodate easy access to the electrical outlets. Hall and Hale planned around exposed wiring and existing hardware, making sure the doors and panels could still open and close safely while looking beautiful.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
Like Carranza, Yoder has a personal connection to the subject of her box. “I was going back and forth about what I was gonna make,” she said, “I love horseback riding, and actually, Denton is very big with horses and the equine industry and stuff like that. I literally worked at a horse farm, so I was like let me do that.” Yoder kept her painting a surprise for the other artists, and floored them with it once it was unveiled. Because Breanna is the inaugural featured artist for the project, her painting will be replaced by another featured artist’s work in the future.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
Hall’s painting celebrates Caroline County’s official bird, the Eastern Blue Bird. While he spent the majority of his life shying away from the art scene, Hall explained that two hard-hitting deaths in his family led him to pursue the craft. “I've always wished I could paint. But a year and a half ago, I lost my stepfather, and then four months after that, I lost my son-in-law,” he said, “two weeks later, I had a paintbrush in my hand, and I said, "Why do I not do what I want to do if it's time well spent?” His co-worker and friend, Mr. Hale, supported him in his art journey, which eventually led to this collaboration.
Photo by Kennedy Thomason Schultz
