by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
The jaguars are spreading. Jaguar painted buildings that is.
Motorists and pedestrians heading east on Forsyth Street might notice something new peaking at them as they cross Ocean Street. Looking up over the Larry’s Giant Subs on the corner, passers-by may notice they are being watched by a prowling jaguar painted on the bricked-in windows on the side of the Ann Teague Bonding Agency building.
Teague said she noticed the city has been doing a lot of sprucing up, so she figured she would help by covering the bare concrete block windows on her building.
“I was thinking about something simple so the concrete blocks wouldn’t look so ugly,” she said.
Teague asked artist Walter Williams about painting something such as a cat in the window, but Williams came up with a better idea.
“He came back and said, ‘What about a jaguar cat?’ ” said Teague. She really liked the idea because she enjoys looking at the jaguar covered building on the corner of Bay and Ocean streets when she comes to work. She also wanted to keep the jaguar building theme alive just in case the building is renovated.
It took Williams about one day to finish the mural. He also painted a cityscape of Jacksonville on a window beside the jaguar. Williams likes his new mural because it commemorates the major themes of the city.
This wasn’t the first piece of art that Teague has commissioned Williams to do. Teague’s office looks like a Williams museum. Teague said she has known Williams since the 1980s and her walls can attest to that.
“I have been buying his paintings for years,” she said. “He can paint just about everything. He is a great artist and he works very hard.”
Besides Teague’s building — inside and out — Williams’ work can be found all around Jacksonville. Some of his larger works are in Riverside. He has painted several murals, including one on the side of Linda’s Seafood on Park Street. Williams’ work can also be found at the new Brown Museum in Springfield, which is scheduled to open in November. Williams said he is also working on a deal to be included in the next month’s Downtown ArtWalk.