As you may have seen in our previous issue, during Brooksville’s Founders Week to celebrate the 160th Anniversary of the town, a number of wonderful events took place, including the Historic Mural Tour, which was led by Susan Rupe.
After we viewed the murals which depict the fire and police departments, the next mural on the tour Saturday Stroll painted in 2001, located on the A.L. Covell building at East Liberty Street and South Brooksville Ave. The mural was sponsored by James and Anna Covell, and designed and painted by Maurea Sleesman.
Mrs. Rupe explained that not only was the mural sponsored by the Covells, but that the building that the mural is painted on was their office building at one point. She went on to say that they’ve been in the area a long time.
Titled, “Saturday Stroll,” or “Saturday Stroll Down Old Brooksville Avenue,” the artwork features many subtle details that capture Brooksville’s history. From what I understand, a lot of research was put into this piece, and every effort was made to ensure the mural was as historically accurate as possible.
One of the many creative details is the inclusion of a box of oranges with a label of the Bell Fruit Co. While this may seem like just a nice artist touch at first glance, it turns out that the Brooksville area was once a large producer of oranges and tangerines and the Bell Fruit Co. was located in Brooksville.
“That was actually one of the labels that we used to have, that was actually from the city of Brooksville, and that was down by the railroad tracks,” Mrs. Rupe explained.
Adrian Bell, the owner of Bell Fruit Co. had his office, “between Jefferson St. and Ft. Dade Ave. next to the railroad tracks for shipping purposes.”
A little ways away from the crate of oranges, stands a man holding a newspaper, called, “The Brooksville Register.” Interestingly, the Brooksville Register was actually the first newspaper that was in the area. And if you look closely at the newspaper’s columns, you’ll find a list of names that include, “those budding artists who chose to keep the artist company and to help her paint the mural.”
The artist, Maurea Sleesman was able to create a wonderful piece of art, despite the difficulty of painting around the three large windows on the wall. And, not only did she capture these fantastic aspects of Brooksville’s history, but the cat that is looking out of the window, is actually John Covell’s cat.
The mural has a wonderful composition, and almost seems to be a snapshot of what life must have been like decades ago.
Continue to follow this series, as we will be featuring the history of more of Brooksville’s murals, after we give you a look at the STEMworks exhibit at Pasco-Hernando State College’s gallery in New Port Richey next issue.