Generations of Inspiration: Building a Legacy in Statesville
By Meredith Collins
The roots run deep in the Statesville community for Jane Getsinger. Jane’s passion for Statesville’s success shines through her management of the City Center building (located in Downtown Statesville at 211 S. Center St.) and leadership of the Land & Legend art project. The Land & Legend Art Project is one stop on the “ArtScape Statesville” tour, a captivating art display featuring an array of sculptures and paintings installed around Statesville. This public art initiative enriches the community with creative expression, inviting residents and visitors alike to experience the town’s vibrant art scene as they explore these carefully curated pieces in various locations.
A Visionary Start
It all started back in the late 1970s when Jane’s father, Chalmers Eugene “Gene” Troutman, Jr. had a dream and seized the opportunity. Known as a visionary, an Iredell Neighbors article in the December 4, 1983 edition says “Gene Troutman sees things differently from other people.” At a time when businesses were vacating Downtown Statesville and moving to Signal Hill Mall, and while many people just saw an empty Spainhour’s department store building, Gene saw potential. He envisioned an indoor shopping center like a small mall and planned to attract small business owners unable to afford rent at the larger malls. Tenants soon included a florist, stockbroker, frame gallery, church, dress shop, The Statesville City Club, and more.Gene's entrepreneurial spirit laid a foundation for revitalization, but all of that came to a sudden halt with his tragic death in 1984.
Carrying the Torch
After Gene’s passing, Jane’s husband, James Jennings, stepped in to keep the City Center vision alive. A dreamer in his own right, James balanced the responsibilities of managing the building with running Lake Norman Realty, which he had founded in 1978. At this time the Jennings family was young, and Jane was busy at home.“Mother had wanted to sell the City Center building when Daddy died, and there were offers, but they fell through,” Jane said. “I started thinking, James, we are in real estate, why don’t we buy the building? Throughout the 80’s and 90’s James handled it as part of our real estate business, while still doing everything else.”
In 1998, the Jennings family experienced more tragedy as James was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Their daughter, Abigail, mentored with James during his last year taking over as President at Lake Norman Realty. Jane took over the City Center and that began as a labor of love as Jane remembered her Father’s love of Downtown Statesville. Through the years, the building has required the maintenance needed for a 1957 building.
“When James passed away, I became very hands-on with the management of the City Center building,” Jane said. “My first thought was that I knew how to clean bathrooms, and there were a bunch of bathrooms. I started taking it one task at a time. Then I worked on the 3rd and 4th floors. The fifth floor is still unfinished. There is always a project.”
Managing the City Center connected Jane with people like Dwight Bassett of the Downtown Statesville Development Corporation. “He was a mover and a shaker, and made a lot of things happen,” Jane said. “In the early 90’s it was brought to our attention that the Statesville Depot was going to be torn down. The well-known artist Robert Steele who had roots in Statesville took an interest in saving the depot. He offered a watercolor of the depot to be made into prints that raised over $21,000.
Along with all involved with the Downtown Statesville Development Corporation Board at the time who also worked hard to save the depot, and Amy Steele, Jane’s co-chair, the group used artists’ talents and conceived of a “Land and Legend” benefit that contributed a sizable amount to the funds needed to allow the depot to be moved to its new site and restored. The Arts really got the wheels turning to bring the efforts to save the depot to closure. With lots of collaboration with local artists and community members, they organized a black-tie benefit on November 17, 1995, held at another historic landmark, the Historic Vance Hotel, auctioning off Steel’s artwork of local landmarks (like his painting of J.C.'s Toot-N-Tellum pictured here to the right). Twenty-six local artists also contributed. The “Land and Legend” project raised $31,700 for the depot.
Land and Legend
The events inspired Jane and others to take “Land and Legend” one step further. With the help of a local professor from Catawba College, Dr. Gary Freeze, who identified over 70 historical sites in Iredell County, the project was taken to Iredell County high school students.Jane worked with the local schools to identify 48 advanced art students and worked with them to draw, paint and reflect outdoors at respective sites. “I have this incredible, wonderful feeling when I’m able to sit and paint outside,” Jane said. “We wanted the students to get to have this experience on a local historical site. In this way the spiritual component of silent communication with the land was tapped into by the students who were just beginning not only their art journeys, but their life journeys into a wider world.”
The idea was put forth in the form of a grant request to The National Endowment for the Arts. The group received a grant of over $12,000 to fund this project in 1999. It took one year and involved Jane taking students individually to each historic site and guiding them through the artistic process. Students used Robert Steele’s watercolors for inspiration. Jane, Robert, and James Wells each did an artwork for the “Land and Legend” exhibit as well. This artwork is pictured below - Top: by Robert Steele; Second: Jane Getsinger; Third: James Wells.
Art, History and Education
Jane reflects on this project as being one of the most fulfilling experiences in her life. Combining her passion for art with educating young people about our local history was a perfect fit for her. “Working with the students was so rewarding and they did beautiful work,” she said.
“The Depot and other historical buildings show the uniqueness of our community,” Jane said. “It all shares our story. And each student had a special feeling for his or her individual artwork, but when placed and hung on the wall, they were each just a small part of the grid."
These artworks all hung at the Depot for many years, but when the Depot was sold, it was decided to re-locate all the 'Land and Legend' artworks. Because of the size of the project and because Jane felt the whole project should be hung as one, several sites were considered. There are 51 art pieces plus signage.
“We wanted all the pieces hung," Jane said. "We wanted the project located in our Downtown and we wanted the works to be available for viewing for the public, so I offered my building. A major passion of mine has been to keep downtown beautiful and revitalized. I see Downtown Statesville as our city’s living room - it’s our shared space….and as far as preservation in our larger area, I hope others are inspired to carry this torch.”
The entire collection including all 48 pieces as well as pieces by Robert Steele, Jane Getsinger and James Wells are displayed at the City Center building and available for public viewing from 8am - 5pm Monday - Friday. (If you were a student who participated, Jane would love to hear from you!)
Originally posted by DISCOVER Statesville, North Carolina via Locable
