LUMBERTON — Joy McGugan, a “retired” art instructor living in Lumberton, has assumed the mantle of the 2019 Rumba on the Lumber artist.

The Rumba is a three-day festival, hosted by the Robeson Road Runners, that begins March 1 and revolves around a race in downtown Lumberton. McGugan recently unveiled her painting for this year’s race competition, and it will be featured on posters, fliers, T-shirts, websites and racing bibs worn by the runners on race day.

”It’s thrilling,” McGugan said. “It makes me proud to have done something for the town.”

McGugan will be taking the place of longtime artist and retired Lumberton podiatrist Dr. Matt Thompson, who painted his 15th and final Rumba painting in 2018. McGugan said she is familiar with his work, having attended art classes with him.

”I went to the Lumberton Visitors Bureau because they have almost a gallery of Matt’s previous works,” she said. “He’s a hard act to follow. He is an amazing artist.”

People accustomed to seeing Thompson’s watercolor images depicting a runner or runners in downtown Lumberton can expect to see one major change — the artistic style. Although McGugan’s painting features runners, her style is to use acrylic paints instead of Thompson’s trademark watercolors.

“It was unbelievable pressure ‘cause I knew I was different,” she said. “Matt did watercolors and I have a more solid painterly style.”

The painterly style is usually done with a thick application of the paint, clearly displaying each brushstroke from the artist.

“You can see brush strokes in my work,” McGugan said. “I work in layers of color as opposed to watercolor, which is real thin.”

Jef Lambdin, Rumba on the Lumber coordinator, approached McGugan in October about undertaking the artistic task.

“He contacted me and I said I have a fantastic photograph that I took downtown Lumberton one day because we walked down to the fountain,” McGugan said. “He was like ‘Go for it.’”

McGugan said she was nervous when she first showed the painting to Lambdin, but her fears faded after witnessing his reaction.

“He loved it,” she said. “He was so nice about it. He was so excited and he hollered. I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction.”

Lambdin said that the painting grasped the concept of the festival.

“When the Rumba on the Lumber Committee saw her painting, we loved the color and motion inherent in the piece,” he said. “It really reflected the intentions of our festival honoring our community.”

McGugan is a mix-media artist, inspired by an assortment of things. Her painting this year was inspired by a photo she took about five years ago at North Elm and West Fifth streets across from the Robeson County Courthouse.

“I paint a lot of my photographs, and I kinda held on to that one because I wanted to do it, and then this came up,” McGugan said. “I thought is was perfect.”

She attempted to capture the setting sun’s rays in the painting, but it didn’t work out, and she took them out, McGugan said. With the help of Google images, she searched for photos of people running in profile and placed them over the existing image, using Photoshop, to serve as a reference. She chose three runners, a man, a woman and a boy, for the painting to display a diversity of age, gender and race.

“I think I’ll get a lot of exposure from it and I hope the runners like it,” McGugan said.

McGugan held a pop-up art show in 2018 to show the works of local artists, and this year she will display the work of her students. In conjunction with the Rumba on the Lumber festival, students of McGugan’s art class at Robeson Community College are exhibiting their works from the class at the Carolina Civic Center in the River Run Art Show.

Paintings in the exhibit will be available for sale, and a reception is scheduled for March 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. Tours or visits can be arranged by calling the theater at 910-738-4339.

Lumberton artist Joy McGugan looks over the original painting she completed for the 2018 Rumba on the Lumber. McGugan was approached in October to do the work.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_DSCN6067-1.jpgLumberton artist Joy McGugan looks over the original painting she completed for the 2018 Rumba on the Lumber. McGugan was approached in October to do the work. Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian

Shown is the Rumba on the Lumber image by Lumberton artist and instructor Joy McGugan. The art will be displayed on posters, fliers, T-shirts, websites and racing bibs worn by the runners during the festival that begins March 2.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Rumba-2019-Joy-McGugan-1.jpgShown is the Rumba on the Lumber image by Lumberton artist and instructor Joy McGugan. The art will be displayed on posters, fliers, T-shirts, websites and racing bibs worn by the runners during the festival that begins March 2. Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Organizers enlist Joy McGugan to create art for the three-day festival

Tomeka Sinclair

Features editor

Reach Tomeka Sinclair at 910-416-5865 or by email at [email protected].