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Creative Brothers Reflecting On The Mural's Void

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By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

Updated: 02/14/2008 08:11 pm

PLANT CITY - Growing up in Plant City, James and Blake Emory were surrounded by walls that doubled as art.

There were many Western-themed murals painted by James "Lone Star" Camp, the would-be cowboy who has left his mark on numerous buildings around town.

Then there are the hunting and fishing scenes that leap off the side of Bailey's Outdoor Products store, formerly Harold's, on the fringes of the downtown historical district. Those were created by local sign painter John Dispennette.

Even the Publix grocery on James L. Redman Parkway paid public tribute to a local industry - until last month, when the painted tiles that formed a vast strawberry field were lost in the store's demolition and reconstruction.

It is fitting that the brothers who grew up among the urban art of Plant City would come to fill the void left by the destruction last week of another prominent mural - John Briggs' celebrated "Reflection of a Town."

"It obviously left a large visual gap in the heart of downtown," said James Emory, who, with younger brother Blake, is crafting another tribute to the people of Plant City on the back wall of Espress Yourself Coffee 101 and Focus magazine, not far from where the Briggs mural once stood at Collins Street and Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard.

The Emory brothers are part of an artists' colony based in Ybor City. Their work has graced walls throughout the county, from Estella's restaurant on Davis Islands to the Jamaican Jerk Hut on Fletcher Avenue.

Two years ago, they established The Cigar Theater in the old Oliva cigar factory in Ybor City. They have since secured a 10,000-square-foot building in Ybor to showcase the talents of the local arts community.

"We're looking for people who want to participate in entertainment and arts in all of Hillsborough County combined, starting with Plant City because that's where we were raised," Blake Emory said. "We also need to find investors to make something happen."

The brothers originally wanted to base their operation in Plant City's old State Theatre, a dream that never reached fruition.

The new Ybor facility, which opens in April, includes a recording studio and encompasses theater, dance, art and music.

The brothers are making an independent martial arts film called "The Beast of Gods." They expect to complete it by the end of this year.

"It's an ever-growing thing. It's community-based, but our family is our backbone," Blake Emory said.

The brothers credit their mother, Marilyn, with exposing them to art at an early age.

"She works on some of our murals," Blake Emory said.

Their father, a member of the L&M Band, instilled music in his sons. James plays bass; Blake guitar.

Robert "Lennie" Emory also taught his boys how to balance the practical with the creative.

The brothers have worked as electricians and jacks of many trades to pay the bills.

"We can frame houses, put on roofs, do Sheetrock, fix cars, body work," Blake Emory said. "We build our own props and movie sets."

Nonetheless, they remain deeply rooted in creative endeavors. They landed their first art job almost a decade ago, painting an Aztec calendar on the ceiling of La Esperanza Mexican Restaurant on Prosser Street in Plant City.

"I was 16," Blake Emory said. "We put together a portfolio of work and tried to get some jobs by going from business to business."

Blake is now 25; James turns 28 next month.

"Last year alone we did 55 oil portraits and murals," James Emory said.

Their local work can be seen in the children's wing of Plant City's First Baptist Church, at the Athletic Club on Evers Street in Plant City, the Athletic Club in Brandon - and now as a work-in-progress behind the coffee shop and magazine office at 101 E. J. Arden Mays Blvd.

"I've always wanted to paint a mural rivaling the old train mural," James Emory said. "It was sad to see it go."

The demolition of the Briggs mural took many people in Plant City by surprise when it was razed Feb. 8 in the predawn hours to make way for a parking lot.

The wall containing the mural was all that survived after a 2005 fire destroyed nearly a block of the downtown historical district.

"We met with several groups to see if we could find a home for the wall. It wasn't for lack of effort," Plant City Mayor Rick Lott said.

Meanwhile, the mural lives on in the Plant City Photo Archives, which photographed and produced a framed enlargement.

"It is the second-largest photograph in Plant City, to my knowledge," archives founder and businessman Ed Verner said. "We still have that file in our discs and if anyone wished to reproduce the mural on another building anywhere in downtown - assuming Briggs would be willing to allow it - it could easily be done."

Lott says it is his "hope and dream" to replicate the mural someday in the new wing of Bruton Memorial Library.

When Dennis Spurlock, the owner of the property, applied for a permit to raze the wall, the city was obliged to grant it, City Manager David Sollenberger said.

"I noticed right away it was gone," said Heather Davis about arriving early Feb. 8 and discovering the wall had vanished. She called the Emory brothers.

"We can't replace what was there, but we can fill a void," said Davis' husband, Jonathan, co-owner of Coffee 101 and vice president of the city's downtown merchants association.

The idea was to commission a modest mural for the back wall of the coffee shop and magazine, which faces Collins and Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard.

The Emory brothers, along with artist David Rothman, started the mural Sunday. The project has captured the attention of the community.

"The more we go, the more people get involved," Davis said.

Sherwin-Williams has donated paint for the project and Sunbelt Rentals is contributing a hydraulic lift to take the place of the ladders the artists have been using.

"It's kind of become a community effort," James Emory said.

There is one member of the community Blake Emory would especially like to see participate.

"Lone Star," he said. "If he comes by we'll have to get him doing this. He's the king."

The Davises hope to raise money to expand the mural across the back of the Whistle Stop Cafe next door.

"It's a big project. We're going to have to raise money somehow," Jonathan Davis said.

Most of the money will go for materials, James Emory said. "This is a community pride thing we're doing here."

The ultimate goal of the Emory Brothers Artist Collective, however, hits closer to the bottom line - to make a consistent living doing what they love to do.

It is a dream they both share: "To sit on a beach in Tahiti and run the business from my laptop while I create amazing original art," said Blake Emory, who has recently taken up sculpting. "That's where it's at, I think - 3-D marble art."

Reporter George Newman and photographer Greg Fight contributed to this story. Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813) 865-4436 or jhollingsworth @tampatrib.com.

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