A young artist looks back in time to recreate a bygone era while learning some new art lessons.
By LOGAN NEILL
Published October 15, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Chad Leininger admits the mural he's currently painting on the side of a downtown building is a little out of his realm of experience.
Born in the late 1970s, Leininger cannot recall the days of the small-town drugstore where teenagers would gather near the soda fountain and dance to the lastest rock 'n' roll records on the jukebox.
Nonetheless, the 27-year-old Leininger knew the vision he wanted to create for his mural titled A Fifties Drug Store, commissioned by the Brooksville Mural Society.
"I wanted to show a place where people gathered to have fun," Leininger said. "Back then, the drugstore was a meeting spot for everybody. That's what I wanted to capture."
Leininger's 37-foot-tall work of art is faithful to the time period, right down to girls in poodle skirts and boys sporting D.A. haircuts.
Leininger is about 60 percent finished with the project he started in July. But he feels that folks coming out Saturday to the parking lot behind the Hogan Law Firm on Broad Street for the mural society's artist celebration ceremony will have plenty to see. The ceremony is part of the wrapup of Founders Week activities in Brooksville.
"I think everyone will be able to relate to some aspect of it," Leininger said. "It's very colorful, and there are a lot of different things going on in it at the same time."
The work is the fifth mural commissioned by the Brooksville Mural Society since 2001. The others, all painted on edifices in the downtown area, include a turn-of-the-century street scene, images of an early Brooksville fire engine and police car, portraits of early town physicians and a rendering of the Brooksville Raid Civil War skirmish.
For Leininger, a 1995 Hernando High School graduate, the mural project offered an interesting challenge to his skills as an artist. After his original concept was approved, he went to work scaling the painting on a grid against the wall. Painting the scene with acrylic latex house paint also took some getting used to.
"House paint tends to dry a few shades darker than artist paints," Leininger said. "I constantly had to adjust the tones so that elements in the mural didn't overshadow each other."
Leininger admits he used a little artistic license, too. The Dixie Theater pictured in the painting across the street from the drugstore was actually about two blocks away. And though few are apt to notice, Leininger even included some personal attributes, a sort of homage to Leininger's art hero, Norman Rockwell, whose famous works often included images of himself.
Leininger's drugstore mural includes a photo of his grandmother. Likenesses of his two sisters are also in the painting.
A graphic artist with Looper Sports Connection by day, Leininger tries to devote a few hours each night to the mural. Though slowed by recent bad weather, he hopes to complete the project by the end of October.
"I love it when people have stopped by to talk about the mural," Leininger said. "A lot of them tell me they appreciate seeing them around town. It makes me feel honored to be part of it."
AT A GLANCE
WHAT: Brooksville Mural Society will host "Celebrating with the Artist," with mural artist Chad Leininger.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Saturday. A box lunch social with entertainment by the John Leggio dance troupe follows from noon to 2 p.m.
WHERE: Mural site near Jefferson and Main streets in downtown Brooksville, adjacent to SunTrust Bank drive-through lanes. The box lunch social will be at the band shell in Hernando Park on Fort Dade Avenue.
COST: Box lunches are $8.
INFORMATION: Call 688-1723 or 796-6857.
FOUNDERS WEEK ACTIVITIES
Saturday's "Celebrating with the Artist" event is part of Brooksville Founders Week activities, which conclude today and Saturday. Here is a schedule of the other remaining events:
