When the late Fredericksburg artist, teacher and humanitarian Johnny P. Johnson was asked to sign a mural dedicated to him in 2018, he instead praised Bill Harris, the one who painted it.
“He wrote: ‘Bill is great,’ which he did on everybody’s artwork,” said Arts & Cultural Council of the Rappahannock President Cathy Walker.
The original painting, completed directly on cinderblock on the side of a building on Sophia Street, started to crumble.
It was repainted on metal panels and the completed project was unveiled and rededicated Saturday morning with more than 50 in attendance, including city officials, civic leaders and Johnson’s family and friends.
Jada Johnson was asked to sign the new painting completed by Harris, and the teenager took a page out of her grandfather’s playbook when she scrawled, “Johnny loved FXBG!” in red paint.
“Dad loved this city,” said one of Johnson’s two sons, Shelton Johnson. “Everything important to him pretty much happened here — his teaching, his art career flourished here … He loved everything artsy. Most of all, he loved you, and we love you as a family.”
The dedication of the original painting occurred on Johnny P. Johnson Day six years ago.
Lisa Durham, who served on the RappArts committee that spearheaded the effort, said the group’s enthusiasm was immediately tempered when the mural began to fracture. RappArts quickly began exploring the possibility of restoring the mural and received assistance from several stakeholders in the city, who helped move the effort along.
“We thought, ‘There is just no way we’re going to have a man of his stature and someone we have so much respect for, and people look on a mural that’s crumbling,” Durham said.
Fredericksburg Assistant Director of Tourism M.C. Morris came up with the idea of painting the next iteration directly onto metal panels to prevent the troubles from reoccurring. Durham said RappArts was told the panels should last up to 20 years, and Harris agreed that he could make the painting work on that type of surface.
A representative from Sherwin Williams had the company donate paint, and another artist, James Padgett, painted the cinderblock surrounding the mural.
“Everybody’s been saying it’s a little brighter and a little nicer than the previous mural,” Harris said. “That’s because I had a lot of help.”
Walker raised awareness of the effort to restore the mural on Facebook and received support from the community. A fundraising dinner was held, and the Johnson family donated one of his paintings to be auctioned.
Johnson’s fraternity, Tau Rho Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, provided a significant monetary contribution, and its members were on hand Saturday to celebrate the unveiling.
“I don’t need to tell you the many great things he has done for the City of Fredericksburg as an educator, as an artist, as a civic leader,” Johnson’s fraternity brother Thomas Parker said. “He and I became charter members of the [fraternity] in 1964 and he was an inspiring and very instrumental person in the growth of our fraternity … I know that this portrait continues his memory and his legacy.”
Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine said the mural will also take on national significance. Fredericksburg is one of four locations in Virginia that is part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. A wayside panel detailing Johnson’s contributions to the city sits across the street from the mural, and the area is the second stop on the city’s trail. The multi-talented Johnson was also recently added to Fredericksburg’s wall of honor, an accolade that became official at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“As you can see this is a work that keeps growing, and original good work manifests other good work,” Devine said. “In July of 2018, this was a foundational cornerstone, a critical part of the public telling of the whole story on which so many other community stories now rest.
“The work is not done, not even close. But today we can see this cornerstone is strong and compelling and the city is so grateful to RappArts and all the community on this beautiful and important project.”
