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Reflecting addition
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| Wayne Jernigan, the Richardson Community Center supervisor, stands in front of a portrait of himself featured in Keith Goodson’s mural project Wednesday morning. ‘I just enjoy coming by everyday and looking at it,’ Jernigan said. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Artist adds local face to mural
By TONY BRITT
tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
Wayne “Chick” Jernigan will be the first person to tell you that he lives his life trying to avoid the “spotlight.”
Of course, most of Jernigan’s spotlight-eluding activities took place before his face was added to the mural being painted on the Kuykendall Building.
Jernigan’s face is expected to be on the building for close to 20 years as part of artist Keith Goodson’s mural of activities which take place along the Ichetucknee River.
In the mural, Jernigan’s face has been painted as a canoer holding a paddle as he floats along the Ichetucknee River.
“I’m am very pleased with it,” said Jernigan, who is the Richardson Community Center supervisor. “I would have never thought that my picture would have ever been put on a mural. I was very surprised. It really made me feel good because sometimes you think you are not really being noticed, but you are.”
Jernigan said when he was asked to be on the mural he hesitated because he doesn’t like being “in front” for anything.
“It was just something that went through me that said ‘OK’ for the first time,” he said. “I didn’t know I was on the mural until I got a few phone calls and everyone was talking about getting autographs and asking did I need them to escort me anywhere. It was kind of like a spotlight for me with people calling me to let me know it was there.”
Jernigan posed for photos last week and was awestruck to see his likeness on the wall this week.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jernigan’s younger sister Elena Jernigan-Highland showed up at the mural and was ecstatic to see her brother’s face.
“It feels good,” she said with a huge smile. “He’s on the wall and he can’t come down — yes sir.”
Highland said Jernigan never told her his image would be on the mural, and she didn’t notice it until one day when she happened to be driving by.
“I was riding by one day and I looked and said, ‘Look, that’s my brother up there,’” she said.
Highland said the image is also special to the Jernigan family because her father, the late Henry Lee Jernigan, was known locally to be an impassioned fisherman. She said Wayne’s image looks like her father in the boat.
“By him being in the boat, he looks just like my daddy, and that’s a remembrance of my oldest brother and my father,” she said. “It makes me happy that I can see my oldest brother, even if he’s here or if he’s gone, he’s still here (on the wall).”
Goodson said Highland’s comments exemplify what he was attempting to do as an
artist by adding Jernigan.
“As an artist, that’s what we try to interpret, a likeness,” he said. “When you get family members saying that’s a likeness ... that to me is the ultimate accomplishment — to have a family member say that it is a likeness.”
Goodson is from Pensacola and never met Jernigan before he was commissioned to do the mural. He said it took him about three or four hours to paint Jernigan’s image.
“Trying to get the likeness on a stucco wall on a large scale was kind of a difficult task, but everybody seems to recognize him,” Goodson said. “Everybody says, ‘That’s Chick.’”
Jernigan often visited Goodson in the afternoons, noting he was fascinated to see the images Goodson created with his paint brushes and to see the mural’s progression. The two struck up an instant friendship and Goodson said the Spirit moved him to include Jernigan’s image on the mural.
“A lot of times God will give me certain people that he wants me to draw an interest, a highlight to, because of things they’ve done,” he said. “I just felt like God said, ‘I want you to put this guy up here’ — to take someone that doesn’t get a lot of recognition and maybe put him on the wall for permanent recognition.”
Jernigan said he’s never canoed the Ichetucknee River and he’s uncertain whether he would do so now with all of the recent acclaim.
“It’s going to be a challenge to take a canoe down the river, but I have taken a boat down the river,” he said.
Jernigan said working with children has been his life-long dream, and his image on the mural may inspire some local children.
“Hopefully this will help some children understand that some days you go through battles and good things can come out of it,” he said.
Of course, most of Jernigan’s spotlight-eluding activities took place before his face was added to the mural being painted on the Kuykendall Building.
Jernigan’s face is expected to be on the building for close to 20 years as part of artist Keith Goodson’s mural of activities which take place along the Ichetucknee River.
In the mural, Jernigan’s face has been painted as a canoer holding a paddle as he floats along the Ichetucknee River.
“I’m am very pleased with it,” said Jernigan, who is the Richardson Community Center supervisor. “I would have never thought that my picture would have ever been put on a mural. I was very surprised. It really made me feel good because sometimes you think you are not really being noticed, but you are.”
Jernigan said when he was asked to be on the mural he hesitated because he doesn’t like being “in front” for anything.
“It was just something that went through me that said ‘OK’ for the first time,” he said. “I didn’t know I was on the mural until I got a few phone calls and everyone was talking about getting autographs and asking did I need them to escort me anywhere. It was kind of like a spotlight for me with people calling me to let me know it was there.”
Jernigan posed for photos last week and was awestruck to see his likeness on the wall this week.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jernigan’s younger sister Elena Jernigan-Highland showed up at the mural and was ecstatic to see her brother’s face.
“It feels good,” she said with a huge smile. “He’s on the wall and he can’t come down — yes sir.”
Highland said Jernigan never told her his image would be on the mural, and she didn’t notice it until one day when she happened to be driving by.
“I was riding by one day and I looked and said, ‘Look, that’s my brother up there,’” she said.
Highland said the image is also special to the Jernigan family because her father, the late Henry Lee Jernigan, was known locally to be an impassioned fisherman. She said Wayne’s image looks like her father in the boat.
“By him being in the boat, he looks just like my daddy, and that’s a remembrance of my oldest brother and my father,” she said. “It makes me happy that I can see my oldest brother, even if he’s here or if he’s gone, he’s still here (on the wall).”
Goodson said Highland’s comments exemplify what he was attempting to do as an
artist by adding Jernigan.
“As an artist, that’s what we try to interpret, a likeness,” he said. “When you get family members saying that’s a likeness ... that to me is the ultimate accomplishment — to have a family member say that it is a likeness.”
Goodson is from Pensacola and never met Jernigan before he was commissioned to do the mural. He said it took him about three or four hours to paint Jernigan’s image.
“Trying to get the likeness on a stucco wall on a large scale was kind of a difficult task, but everybody seems to recognize him,” Goodson said. “Everybody says, ‘That’s Chick.’”
Jernigan often visited Goodson in the afternoons, noting he was fascinated to see the images Goodson created with his paint brushes and to see the mural’s progression. The two struck up an instant friendship and Goodson said the Spirit moved him to include Jernigan’s image on the mural.
“A lot of times God will give me certain people that he wants me to draw an interest, a highlight to, because of things they’ve done,” he said. “I just felt like God said, ‘I want you to put this guy up here’ — to take someone that doesn’t get a lot of recognition and maybe put him on the wall for permanent recognition.”
Jernigan said he’s never canoed the Ichetucknee River and he’s uncertain whether he would do so now with all of the recent acclaim.
“It’s going to be a challenge to take a canoe down the river, but I have taken a boat down the river,” he said.
Jernigan said working with children has been his life-long dream, and his image on the mural may inspire some local children.
“Hopefully this will help some children understand that some days you go through battles and good things can come out of it,” he said.
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| Wienermobile cruises into town | Mural to be dedicated March 27 |
