Unveiling the “Earlier Times”

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

Looking at the Five Hills Art Guild’s latest mural is like taking a step back in time.
The art guild officially unveiled their latest artistic creation, titled “Earlier Times of Copperas Cove”, on Saturday. The panoramic mural, located on the side of the Ledger Furniture Store, is painted to resemble an old photograph and features several historical figures and modern-day faces important to Cove’s history. It was painted in sepia to give you the feeling of going back in time and many elements are made to appear as though they were stepping through the painting to give the viewer a feeling of being a part of the scene.
“This is a rendition of what was yesterday through the eyes of those today. This is living history. You cannot beat living history,” said Mayor Frank Seffrood about the mural. “These artists who we have are second to none...That is art. Art is a rendition of what was, what we appreciate, and what we would like the future to remember.”
The painting features buildings from the early 1900s, such as the old cotton gin and Cove’s first bank (which is now the Ledger Furniture Store and one of the oldest buildings in Cove). Some historic Covites featured are Miss Jewell Yarborough, C. R. Clements, Mae Stevens, and Laura Barker (a female lawyer from the late 1800s). They also included modern Covites that have made an impact including Charlene and Nelson “Smitty” Schmidt, Johnathan Haywood, and Edna Teinert (the oldest living Covite). 
“It’s wonderful,” said Charlene Schmidt about the mural. Her husband, “Smitty Schmidt, cut the ribbon for the mural unveiling. Both were depicted in the painting. “I’m proud of him. My sweetheart was such a good part of Copperas Cove.”
Next to the mural, the artists included a key identifying everyone included in the painting and a map showing a layout of what Copperas Cove looked like in the early 1900s.
“It started out as a mural, and it sort of evolved into an enormous fine art painting,” said Linda Lapierre, treasurer for the art guild. Lapierre painted many of the smaller figures in the mural. “I feel that we’ve kind of created a tourist attraction.”
The project began in mid-October 2017. The idea for the work came from an old photo taken of the Ledger Furniture Store building as a crowd of people watched a cow in the street. Catherine Blashack, Project Manager and member of the art guild, began collecting old photos of people and buildings from the area in the 1900s.
“It’s important to me to get it right,” said Blashack who did a lot of research to make sure everything was as close to reality as possible. “This town was really advanced in a lot of ways.”
The stated mission of the art guild is to foster and establish an art culture in our community and its surrounding areas.
“The Five Hills Art Guild was founded for the city of Copperas Cove to bring artists together and have a place to express themselves, show their skills, and exchange ideas so that we can actually come together as artists and do good for our community and for themselves…and to basically become better artists,” said Robert Weidinger II, co-founder of the Five Hills Art Guild.
The art guild’s next big event will be the Five Hills Art Festival nest weekend. The free event will take place in City Park and will feature 50 artists from all genres. It will also feature a wide range of live entertainment.