A Q&A with Artist Andrea Ehrhardt

417 Magazine: Your latest project has been incorporating paintings of your creation, Roger the Raccoon, across Rogersville. Where did the idea for Roger come from?
Andrea Ehrhardt: When you’re creating all day, you just get these ideas sometimes and some of you act on and some of you don’t. I had this thing called the Artist Academy, where I interview other artists and I coach artists. So I’m surrounded by a lot of artists in person and online. We like to be creative and gain inspiration from other people’s ideas and give inspiration. So my artist friend in Texas, Whitney, was doing pelicans all over this town. They were really cute and they were just like little window paintings. I’m like ‘what if I did that but made it a raccoon?’

417: Why a raccoon to represent Rogersville?
A.E.: When you first Google it, Rogersville used to be known as the raccoon capital of the world. I was doing a bunch of research for what I would include into a ‘Greetings from Rogersville’ mural. Springfield has one on the side of the Discovery Center. I was like we need to bring first and foremost one of those here. I ended up painting it at the park this summer and I was looking up facts about Rogersville and that was one of the first ones that came up.

417: How are you hoping for Roger the Racoon to impact Rogersville?
A.E.: I would love for when somebody comes to visit or locals go out anywhere in Rogersville, they see Roger the Raccoon. You see him at every corner turn, on the fence post, literally everywhere. It just becomes a fun mascot for the community for kids to point out. I think art brightens a community and just adds to a community’s sense of pride.

417: Do you happen to have a favorite Roger you’ve painted and why?
A.E.: I’m always making new ones, but I think my favorite was probably the one on the car wash where he’s giving himself a bath with a sponge and bubbles. I think because that was one of the original I painted.

417: What is next for Roger the Racoon?
A.E.: Nothing is completely set, but I’m pretty adamant about when I want to do something and I think it’d be good for the community and I had good feedback. I think I can make it happen. For these first couple of raccoon murals, I’m just telling people pay for the supplies, pay for the paints, I’ll do the labor. We’re hopefully, this fall, going to have a few fun raccoon murals that are really big. We’re gonna have Roger the Raccoon all over everywhere as long as people continue to want it and think it's fun.