Fundraising nears completion for teenager’s Butler Park mural Eagle Scout project

An Atlanta teenager with Gainesville ties is wrapping up the funding process for his Eagle Scout project.

 

Ashton Dziengue, a senior at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School and a member of Boy Scouts Troop 15, has been leading the effort to paint a mural of Dr. Emmett Ethridge Butler for the up-and-coming Butler Park.

 

Dziengue’s goal is to raise $5,000 for painting supplies by Sept. 30. You can find information on how to donate to his project here or mail a check to 4370 Rolling Ridge Dr., Gainesville GA 30543.

 

The aspiring Eagle Scout was looped into the Butler Park plan by his cousin and Newtown Florist Club member Andre’ Cheek-Castleberry. She and an unnamed committee of citizens had been working on the park’s vision with Hall County Commissioners, and they wanted to add an educational component to inform visitors of the area’s legacy.

 

When Cheek-Castleberry approached Dziengue with this idea, he jumped on board. Dziengue designed the artwork himself, which depicts a cartoon-style portrait of Dr. Butler in front of a film reel.

 

“Art was one of my passions growing up,” Dziengue said. “I always used to sit in front of the TV just drawing away and watching cartoons. As I began to grow up, I wanted to share more of my art to the people around me – to my friends, to my peers, to my family. When I was introduced to Boy Scouts, my Scoutmaster gave me an opportunity to express my art in some of the meetings that we had.”

 

Dziengue’s piece will be painted on a 5-foot-tall, 120-foot-long wall mural that will surround the park. Butler Park is on Athens Street, next to the E.E. Butler Center which formerly served as E.E. Butler High School for Hall County’s Black residents during segregation.

 

The film reel behind Dr. Butler’s portrait will incorporate the short yet rich history of the high school, which was open from 1962 to 1969.

 

“The film reel will have all sorts of E.E. Butler High School alumni kind of streamed along that reel,” Dziengue said. “So we'll have sports teams, organizations and clubs be a part of this wall, as well as some members of the Gainesville-Hall County community for possible alumni. Or family members of these people in these pictures [will] actually be able to notice and recognize some of them.”

 

Cheeks-Castleberry said there are also some surprises in store for the mural pending approval from commissioners.

 

Dziengue will not be painting the mural by himself. Instead, it will be a community effort and will involve collaborations with community organizations and artists.

 

“We'll actually have a Google Forms page open for any participants and artists willing to participate in taking the hand in this project,” Dziengue said. “We'll probably start painting in October.”

 

This project has required Dziengue to get comfortable leading a group of individuals and participating in the local government process. The teenager has been working closely with Hall County commissioners to nail down the mural’s logistics.

 

“Throughout this process, I've learned about being more accountable for my actions and being a go-getter and kind of taking charge of some things and not having to sit back and let other people do it for me,” Dziengue said. “When I had to talk to certain people to get fundraising donations and to stand in front of the commissioners, I really had to get out of my comfort zone and learn how to communicate properly.”

 

He stood in front of commissioners on Aug. 25 to present his project and officially start fundraising. At the conclusion of the meeting, Commissioners Jeff Stowe, Billy Powell and Commission Chairman Richard Higgins gave Dziengue the first donations.

 

“It was kind of an overwhelming rush of craziness,” Dziengue said. “I was like ‘Why did this happen so fast?!’ I thought I was going to wait one day and then maybe I'll get an email or check in the mail later. But it happened right then and there and I was so shocked and surprised I couldn't even believe it myself.”

 

Commissioner Stowe and others have been working to make Butler Park a reality for 10 years. He has enjoyed working with Dziengue on the mural, and said he is impressed by the young man’s work ethic.

 

“I've been involved since I've been on the commission with some other Eagle Scouts in our parks,” Stowe said. “And they've been great projects, but not one to this extent of all that he's going to have to do with having the community come help paint, raising the amount of money that's needed to complete the mural and everything. So he’s been an exceptional young man to work with.”

 

The park will have a pavilion, a basketball court, an interactive water fountain, a playground, a multi-use field and walking trails. There is not an estimated completion date yet for the park itself, but Dziengue hopes to finish painting the mural by late October or early November.

 

“We plan to start [painting] somewhere in the middle of October to really get the rest of those materials and volunteers in and then start,” he said.

 

Dziengue is looking forward to honoring Dr. Butler’s impact on the community. Dr. Butler was a gynecologist and in 1936 he was the first Black physician to receive privileges to practice medicine in Hall County. He was the first Black member to serve on the Gainesville Board of Education, spearheaded the first Black voters drive and served as a deacon at St. John Baptist Church.

 

“I'm really grateful for all the people that have helped me through this process,” Dziengue said. “It couldn't have been easy doing it myself. I'm just glad to have so much support from my family members and people in my community who support what I'm trying to do and the history I'm trying to show to the youth about this historical person who did so many great things in his career.”