Steamboat Enterprise returns to Brownsville
David Lesanko, Jim Winegar and Linda Winegar prepare a mural of the Enterprise, a steamboat built in Brownsville in 1814, to be placed on a building located on Water Street at the Brownsville Riverside Wharf Park entrance.
Under the direction of artist Jim Winegar of Graysville, students of the Douglas Education Center in Monessen created a large mural depicting the steamboat Enterprise, which was built in Brownsville. The mural was hung Friday at the wharf area in Brownsville.
Jim Winegar and David Lesako hang the first panel of the mural "The Enterprise," a steamboat built in Brownsville in 1814, on a building located on Water Street at the Brownsville Riverside Wharf Park entrance.
Linda Winegar carries water from the Mon River to her cohorts that are hanging the mural "The Enterprise," a steamboat built in Brownsville iin 1814, that is being placed on a building located on Water Street at the Brownsville Riverside Wharf Park entrance.
Nearly 200 years after its first voyage, a group of art students has brought the steamboat Enterprise back to Brownsville.
Since July, students of the Douglas Education Center in Monessen have been creating a mural that depicts the steamboat. The Enterprise made its mark in history when it was built in Brownsville in 1814 and sailed to New Orleans showing it was possible for steamboat commerce on America蘑菇视频 western rivers.
The students from Fayette and Westmoreland counties worked under the direction of artist Jim Winegar of Graysville, Greene County, who said the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corporation (BARC) requested that the group create the 5-foot high mural as a commemoration to Brownsville.
Winegar, his wife Linda, and volunteer David Lesako installed the finished mural on Friday by applying paste to the back of the fabric and adhering it to pieces of plywood affixed on the brick wall of a building along Water Street at the Brownsville Riverside Wharf Park entrance.
Winegar said the only depiction the group had to go on was a wooden engraved replica of the steamboat. He and the students first studied the era of the steamboat, to ensure a realistic look, he said. The artists used cloth that was first primed and then used for the projection of the image to paint.
鈥�(The students) painted virtually everything there on the mural,鈥� he said.
Winegar also noted that paint was mixed to create colors that were inspired by Brownsville artist Frank Melega. He said students worked in sections allowing them to learn while using incremental steps, painting first the background and working toward the main boat and water of the project to give a three-dimensional look.
鈥淎s with any big projects, learning that way is a whole sort of teaching philosophy,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey learn core skills that way in working in parts and those parts being part of a larger project. Those are the real things they will need to know for any project.鈥�
Winegar, who also created another mural last fall that welcomes visitors to the city, said the latest creation was 鈥渁nother page in Brownsville history.鈥�
He said in addition to the art skills the group of 15- to 17-year-old youths received while working on the project, they also received a good lesson in the feeling of accomplishment.
鈥淎nytime anybody does something that they put effort into, the feeling of achievement is such a powerful and positive thing,鈥� he said.