There was a broadening experience on our first road trip to Rutledge. We weren’t looking for the World’s Largest Painting when we set out, but now we want to know. Where is the World’s Largest Painting? We take road trips all the time and sometimes interesting things happen, and sometimes not. This time, we have some stories to tell. This is one of our favorites, because it involves human effort, which we appreciate.
By the way, we’re practically experts on travel in the southeast US. If you are a visitor from Europe and California, it’s fun to know that there are still places like this, because it is about interesting stories. We are proponents of Back Road Travel and this is an example.
Directions to Rutledge (suitable for biking)
From the end of the driveway, take a left. At the top of the hill, take a left on Wilson road. Go for about a mile to where the railroad tracks are, and take another left. Keep going until you see the stop sign.
The total distance to the middle of Rutledge was 7.4 miles, which included the long driveway. This makes the Road Trip to Rutledge biking distance, but drove because it was hot and no one was in the mood. Maybe this fall.
Alternate, more boring directions:
From the end of the driveway, take a right. In about 5 miles, at the Dollar General, take a right again. This will lead you to the middle of town.
The Jerkwater Town
Rutledge is the very definition of “Jerkwater Town” namely one of the little towns along the railroad because they needed a constant supply of water.
We will do a separate post at some point on the essence of the Jerkwater Town if you are interested.
The claim to fame of Rutledge is that Sherman’s army burned it to the ground on November 19, 1864 on the way to Madison, which they spared the day or so afterward.
Jackson Bailey’s Home and Art Center
Drive past the stop sign, and go a little bit up the hill toward the water tower. You will find the Jackson Bailey Home and Art Center. It is not really open to the public. This is because it looks as though someone lives there. They will give you a tour if you call the local number.
Here is the website.
https://www.jacksonbaileyart.org/Contact_Us.html
They have a Facebook page. If you can call for an appointment, they may tour you around. For awhile they were using the place for weddings and other gatherings.
Jackson Bailey
Come to find out, Jackson Bailey was the designing painter of the world’s longest continuous painting. This work of art is 11 feet high, and over 1000 feet long, featuring the Life of Christ. This was started in 1960 after Jackson had a massive heart attack and stroke, and survived. At one point, the painter had a staff of artists working with him. This was hard, because the artists wanted to paint their own things on the canvas. According to the story, the artists each painted their self portrait into some scene.
He finished the painting in 1971, at which point it was supposed to be presented as a cyclorama painting in a place called “Bible Land” in Orlando.
But, because, that project fell through, it wasn’t. The painting, which is longer than an aircraft carrier, has never actually been seen displayed, in large part because of the thing that made it famous.
What happened to Jackson Bailey? He was accidentally shot in 1974, and after miraculously recovering from both that and a brain tumor, did art in the local area. He passed away in 2004 having never seen the entire painting himself other than in his vivid imagination.
The Mystery of the Whereabouts of the World’s Largest Painting
The website doesn’t say exactly where it is.
In 1992 this painting was subject of a lawsuit in Florida, and ostensibly stuffed into a warehouse in Osceola county. This is because a white elephant is hard to care for, even if it is the world’s largest painting.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-06-02-9206020650-story.html
In 2005 it was announced that the painting would be restored. Five tractor trailer trucks were supposedly required to haul the painting to a gallery in Marietta. It is not that big of a gallery.
As of 2013 it is suggested that the painting was in or near the Art Center
This 2015 reference says that the painting was still going to be “restored” by the Avery Gallery in Marietta, at the cost of multiple millions of dollars:
http://jacksonbaileyart.org/Restoration.html
As of 2016 this reference thinks that the painting was in Marietta.
And this article says that “a portion” of the painting was to be unveiled in Arkansas, having been “gifted” by the Avery Gallery.
https://www.greatpassionplay.org/the-life-of-christ.html
Where the rest of the painting is, how the “restoration” is doing, and the exact status of the painting is a bit of a mystery still.
The Definitive Answer: Where is the World’s Largest Painting?
p.s. If you ask Alexa, she thinks it in Rutledge, and she may be right, because Alexa is quite often right.
There is irony in here somewhere but there is some suggestion that at least the whole thing has now been photographed.
At a length of 1000 feet, because of Math, the cyclorama would have to have a diameter of 315 feet. Therefore if anybody wanted to assemble it again, there is only one building in the state that would hold it.
https://mercedesbenzstadium.com/
Your jaw has to drop at the sheer human effort involved, because of all of the work.
The World’s Largest Painting
Well, the best we have to say on this is that there is a good movie script in this story.
We will have to chip in any profits to the restoration and assembly of the World’s Largest Painting in the only building in the state that can do it justice.
Here’s the plot: Small town man, working against the machine, is struck by divine inspiration and decides to paint the World’s Largest Painting.
It takes him over a decade, and he has to endure the frustration of never having seen it put together.
There’s probably another movie script in here, about the family’s efforts to make something positive out of it. This is because it was not done without some sacrifice on their part as well, since high quality linen does not grow on trees. If you see this, Bailey Family, you have an invitation to come to our place and share the sacraments and tell your story. Stories like this are fun because of their audacity.
So that’s the story.
