Chattanooga’s Wayne-O-Rama celebrates grand opening

A large figure of Chattanooga TV icon Bob Brandy will be placed into a huge television, seen in the background, for the grand opening of Wayne-O-Rama on Saturday.

By Barry Courter November 17, 2016 3 min read

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‘Chattanooga Fun House’: Volunteers help Wayne-O-Rama go big

Stephen Haas paints part of a model representing Lookout Mountain.

Lorrie Malcolm works on the puppet head of former Chattanooga Times Publisher Adolph Ochs.

James Bruneau does some detail painting on the puppet head representing actor Samuel L. Jackson.

In a studio on Rossville Avenue, Mimi Pond traces cutouts to get ready for the grand opening of Wayne-O-Rama.

David Marmer paints a section of the Sequoyah puppet head while preparing for the opening of Wayne-O-Rama.

If you go

* What: Wayne-O-Rama grand opening.* When: 2-7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19.* Where: Tenn Art, 1800 Rossville Ave.* Admission: Free* Website: Wayneorama.com.

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Wayne-O-Rama spotlights art in the Scenic City

White has created four maguettes, which are smaller models of the larger pieces he will create and all of which have played important roles in White's life.

In an interview with the Huffington Post promoting Beauty is Embarrassing, White said it was his first-grade teacher at Hixson Elementary, Sandra Stoddard, who gave him the confidence to pursue art as a career. On the first day of school, after seeing White's drawing of the day's lunch, she announced to everyone that, one day, he was going to be an artist. He now hopes to inspire other local students.

Wayne White is quick to credit his first-grade teacher, Sandra Stoddard, for making him believe he would be an artist. She announced to the class on his first day of first grade at Hixson Elementary School that White would grow up to make art for a living.

He credits the tourism industry in Chattanooga for influencing how his art would look and feel.

“I always say in my talks that my first idea of the art world was Chattanooga’s tourist attractions,” he says. “They took the beautiful landscape and history and memories and heightened it and dramatized and made it sexier and charged you to see it.”

After a career that has seen him win three Emmy Awards for his production and design work on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” and groundbreaking music videos for people like Peter Gabriel, White has returned home at least part-time to create Wayne-O-Rama.