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When football players make their way into the home locker room of Callaway Stadium this fall, there’ll be a colorful and welcoming new addition waiting for them.

Earlier this year, with the financial support of Michael Stogner, owner of LaGrange Toyota, Pine Mountain artist Dennis Bugg was commissioned by Troup County Parks and Recreation to create a mural to be painted on a wall in the locker room at the stadium.

Bugg got to work, and on Friday afternoon an unveiling ceremony was held for the mural, which covers a healthy chunk of one of the walls in the locker room.

The painting is of the stadium, with trees in the background, and with the words “Welcome to Callaway Stadium” written above it in white letters on a blue background.

Lance Dennis, Troup County Parks and Recreation director, was appreciative of the effort Bugg put in to make sure the mural would be a worthy addition to Callaway Stadium.

“He worked tirelessly over here for a month,” Dennis said. “We gave him a key so he could come in here in the mornings, and he’d stay until late at night. He was here on the Fourth of July. He just kept painting, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dennis. He’s an amazing artist.”

Bugg, a Pine Mountain native whose first art exhibition was in 1992 at the LaGrange Art Museum, said his goal was “for the team members to feel like they’re almost walking onto the field.”

As for the process of creating the mural, Bugg said it started with Dennis providing an overhead image of the stadium.

“Lance had an idea of kind of a welcoming to Callaway Stadium,” Bugg said. “I asked him if he had any good aerial pictures. There was a gentleman that used a drone, and he sent me the picture, and it kind of went from there.”

From there the work began, and Bugg said “it’s almost like a puzzle, and the pieces come together.”

Dennis is grateful to Stogner for helping make sure the project became a reality.

“We felt like as a county government that we should not spend our funds on anything other than essential needs, so that put a damper on the plans (for the mural),” Dennis said.

“Fortunately for me, I knew there was somebody dedicated in the community like Michael Stogner that I could make a phone call to, and he really supports this community. He said whatever you need. He didn’t ask any questions, he wanted to be a part of it.”

Bugg is glad that he was the one tasked with bringing the mural to life for future student athletes to see.

“It’s a big deal, a great opportunity, and I’m so glad, and so grateful,” Bugg said.