gets a touchup
Jonesboro resident Dale Case is in the process of touching up the paint o the mural.
"The areas that had the most pigment in it, like the reds and the blues and some of the darker things here..over 10 years the sun has just bleached them out," he said.
The work, located on the George Chaney building on Main Street (Arkansas135), depicts Hendrix's rural Arkansas background, his heroism in the Battle of the Bulge during World War 11 and the awarding of the medal by President Harry S. Truman.
Gail Jernigan and her mother, Nita Jernigan, came up with the idea after viewing the Ernie Pyle mural in Dana, Ind. It was Jernigan who asked the artist to re-touch the artwork.
The 34-year-old began the restoration Tuesday, working from sunrise to around noon. "About 11:30 the sun gets over the edge of the building. It's time to quit then."
He's about half-way through the restoration.
"I don't anticipate the remaining areas to take very long. I should have it finished in two more days. weather permitting," Case said.
The principal at Fox Meadow Elementary School in Jonesboro is pleased with the way the mural has withstood the weather over the last l1 years. "There"s no chipping. it was just faded. The afternooon sun hits it and has every day since 1991." He attributes its durability to steps taken before the mural was painted.
"The fire department came down and hosed the wall down and cleaned it for me and primed it. That gave me a good base to start with. I've just been fortunate. I've seen some of the other murals..they're chipping quite a bit," he said.
He also enjoys visiting with the citizens. "Seeing all the people that I graduated from high school with and people that have known me since I was little boy..talking to me and visiting, that's been the greatest thing about it," he said.
The Hendrix Mural was the first outside mural Case painted. The town's people were so impressed with his work that he was asked in 1995 to paint another for the Terrapin Derby, which is held in October.
A graduate of Lepanto High School and Arkansas State University, Case is the son of Melva and Robert Case of Lepanto