Two entrepreneurs with a mission to help people fall in love with Augusta released a coloring book featuring illustrations of local businesses and leaders.
“We believe people want a place to love, not just to live,” said Jeremy Rueggeberg, who co-founded the nonprofit Beautify Augusta with Jessica Baskette in early 2022 to fund local art projects.
The Downtown Augusta Coloring Book was sponsored by local business leaders who paid for a one or two-page spread in the booklet. Each of them got an illustration for people to color and a short “get to know me” section. Sanjeev Singhal took the photos that Cole Phail used for the graphic design and illustration work.
Participants include Evan Grantski of Grantski Records, Shawn Ledford of Mellowmushroom, Jeremy LaFontaine of Joe’s Underground, Rudy Oliva of Broad Street Tattoo Studio and Nader Khatib of Laziza Mediterranean Grill. The booklet also includes illustrations of local artists, who were included for free.
The coloring book sells for $10 around town, including at the featured local businesses. In the three months since its release at the end of April, 1,100 copies have been sold, including 80 bought by the Augusta University College of Nursing, Rueggeberg said.
The funds go back into Beautify Augusta to help fund more murals around downtown, Rueggeberg said.
“When there’s more artwork downtown, it brings more people downtown,” he said.
Beautify Augusta typically partners with business owners to sponsor murals. For example, Summer Aesthetics and Customer Pharmacy-Nort Augusta sponsored the wings mural at 1289 Broad Street.
Last weekend, Beautify Augusta unveiled a colorful floral mural on a fence at Walton Options for Independent Living. It was painted by Regina L. Brejda and her team at 4P Studios.
Beautify Augusta is also working with Michelle Alos Parker and Mark Parker, owners of Belair Donuts and Coffee Corner, to paint a custom-designed mural on the side of their Jimmie Dyess Parkway location. It’s expected to be finished in September.
The idea for Beautify Augusta was originally born out of a viral Facebook post.
Rueggeberg had seen a before and after photo of a highway underpass that was an eyesore until someone painted a mural over it. He posted the photo on his Facebook page and said, “If anyone can do this, my business will pay for it.”
The next time he opened his Facebook, he was overwhelmed with likes, comments and messages. Soon, city leaders began to reach out to him.
That’s when he learned many local artists were all trying to drink from the same cup of limited, local grants and asked his friend Baskette to help him start Beautify Augusta. The two now both work at Little Guide Augusta, with Rueggeberg working in sales and Baskette overseeing production.
Rueggeberg, who has a background in publishing, came up with the coloring book idea after noticing the nurses who wrote for his medical magazine often had adult coloring books at their desks for stress relief.
Beautify Augusta is already planning a second volume of the coloring book project, but there is no timeline for it yet, Rueggeberg said.
“We already have nine businesses signed up,” he said.
COLORING BOOK LOCATIONS:
Evans Sport & Spine Chiropractic Center
Grantski Records
The Munchies Lab Augusta
Hang-Ups Custom Framing and Art Gallery
Garden City Social
Leisure Time Stain & Seal
StillWater Taproom
Halo Salon & Spa
Alter’D Salon and Spa
Joes Underground
Laziza Mediterranean Grill – Augusta
A Lustrous Finish
Phinizy Swamp Nature Park
Sumner Aesthetics
Matt Kelly – Your Local Realtor 7068140998
Mellow Mushroom, 1102 Broad St.
Sacred Heart Cultural Center
Nuck Services-Talent Search/Recruiting/Screening
ATC Development
Sample Augusta
Visit Augusta
Belair Donuts and Coffee
