Artist Shaun LaRose had things going pretty well, financially speaking, back in Minneapolis. He was making good money as a commercial artist, but he wanted more. Consequently, he moved his wife and children to Chattanooga six years ago.
Fact FileName: Shaun LaRose.Vocation: Artist.Age: 32.Family: Wife, Sember,and children Isobel, Mason, twins Elisha and Kaiden, Manessah.Hometown: Houston.FavoritesMovie: “Waking Ned Devine.”Book: “Cutting for Stone,” “The Book Thief.”Play: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”Musical artist: Josh Garrels.Painter: “I’ll tell you who is most inspirational: Maxfield Parrish. He resurrected the art of the glazing technique. But more than that, he is one of the only artists I know who managed to have a great family life and be a great artist.”
Since then he has adapted his artistic skills to include murals and now set design. His most recent work was designing part of the set for “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” being presented Friday at the Tivoli.
LaRose’s murals at the corner of Main and Mitchell streets, at Williams and Main streets near Hiroshi’s restaurant and inside Greyfriar’s restaurant.
Q: What is the process for creating one of your murals?
A: The one by Hiroshi’s was looking at the development of Main Street. I look at all of the icons I can find relating to a community. Things like architecture and the people. The Zarzours are featured, for example. Then we hired a story teller — Jim Pfitzer — to collect stories and we depicted them into the piece. Then we brought in some kids from Battle Academy and featured them. It is all about ushering Main Street back into the golden era.
Q: So there is a lot of background and research that goes into a mural?
A: A tremendous amount. The design has to burst out and represent the community. You look for what are the community’s values and who are their heroes and you try to bring that together.
Q: What is the time frame for a piece?
A: Four to six months, depending on how detailed the design is. I spend at least one month on research.
Q: Had you done set design work before?
A: I’ve done scenic painting at the Guthrie in Minneapolis. This is my first set design.
Q: What’s it been like?
A: It’s been a real learning curve. It’s new to me. The builders and set crew had to work with my limitations. It was a great challenge, but I think what we came up with was well outside the box and they were able to capture that. … The set is supposed to be from a child’s perspective so it fantastic and otherworldly.