For three years, Callaway High School art teacher Clint Robinson, who lives in Hogansville, has looked for a way to incorporate the city into his school’s art program. He joined the city’s art-related groups, but nothing ever seemed to “gel.” Then last year, he took a grant-writing workshop.

Since then he’s brought in more than $3,000 in local, state and federal grant money to the art program and his latest project is a tribute to the city where he lives - and its history.

“It didn’t take long for me to find out after moving here that if you say you’re from Hogansville, people look down on you,” he said. “The town has been around a long time and there’s a lot of history here.”

Robinson received $2,000 this year from the Grassroots Arts Grant program. The money, which pays for art supplies, will allow his National Arts Honor Society students to research, photograph and paint historic sites in Hogansville, recommended by the city’s Downtown Development Authority.

“This grant ensures our children will have the opportunity to not only see what is Hogansville, but to be engaged it through the use of visual arts,” said DDA chairman Andy Brubaker. “As these students learn about Hogansville through the use of art, they will learn that it is a place where they can raise their families, work, play and thrive.”

The school’s National Art Honor Society president, senior Matthew Brown, helped compose the grant request.

“There aren’t a lot of times we get to see things in their location,” Brown said. “We have a chance to record them for ourselves.”

The painting will begin this week, but Robinson already has kept his students busy photographing and researching the buildings and sites. He hopes to find older photos of the buildings in the Troup County Archives so “then and now” can be shown side by side. Callaway senior Nicole Burns walked all around Hogansville, taking pictures.

“I never knew how big Hogansville was until I was walking through it,” she said.

She’s picked a favorite building.

“The Grand Hotel is just amazing from the outside. I’m sure it’s the same inside,” she said. “I’d love to be able to look inside it one day.”

Robinson also has a favorite building - the long-abandoned community building on Johnson Street, across from the mill. The community building is one of several on the list that are abandoned or soon could be torn down, another reason to do the paintings and preserve Hogansville’s history before it’s gone.

Once the paintings are done, the students will hold a show in Hogansville, likely in May, then present the photos to the community to be displayed in businesses around town.

The students’ love for Robinson is obvious. As a reward - or incentive - Robinson will paint pinstripes on items for his students, a slew of cell phone parts was in the process of drying late last week.

“He does a lot beyond the scope of what he’s required to do,” Brown said.

Robinson says when he arrived at Callaway, there still were crayons included in the high schoolers’ art supplies. He melted them into a sculpture that now hangs on the door to the storage room. Another storage room was turned into a photography darkroom, and student artwork now is displayed in the school hallways. Other artwork by his students covers every available inch of space in the room, and a door opens to an outside sculpture garden.

Like most teachers in any discipline, Robinson frequently is asked to “do more with less,” which makes the grant money even more important. Robinson re-ceives $1,200 a year for art supplies from the school system. The grassroots grant will pay for canvasses, paints, brushes and pallets, some of which may be added to the schools’ supply and used again.

“A lot of people ask the art department to do something, and they don’t realize how much supplies cost,” Robinson said.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@ lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.