Thomaston Mayor Hays Arnold congratulated Griffin artist Shannon Lake for an exceptional job in bringing to life a 1920’s era photograph of the Thomaston Square. Lake was on hand to sign the mural painted on the wall of English’s Café but before doing so he added another feature.
The Cherokee Rose Quilt Guild was instrumental in raising some of the funds needed to finance the project and Lake added a quilt to the wagon in the painting.
Anne Kelley served as Chairperson of the Thomaston Mural Committee, other members included Debbie Bowles, Lila Bryan and Charlotte Hancock. The Historical Preservation Commission was also involved in the project. Sylvia Chapman served as Downtown Manager for the City of Thomaston and was responsible for starting the project. The English family has operated a restaurant at the location for many years and were happy to deed the wall to the city to make the painting possible.
Lake has painted murals in Barnesville, Hapeville, Griffin and other surrounding areas during his career. The project took six months to complete and is the first of several planned for the community. Lake stated that the painting should last a minimum of 10 years and that the paints used today usually last much longer. The most difficult part of the painting was the courthouse due to the angles needed to give the proper perspective.
This was a great project for Thomaston. Congratulations to Shannon Lake for his mural and to Anne Kelley and her committee. I live in Norcross and haven't been to Thomaston in a number of years. Ann Kelley and I used to work together in Atlanta. She was always on top of things then and appears to continue providing leadership today.
ReplyDeleteJim Hughes