Feature
Lifelines
For local artist Rod Reeves, history is not just illustrated in his wake, it is reinvigorated.
- Heather Luxemburg
- Fred Lopez
Born in 1940, this Winter Garden native has seen first-hand the last 82 years of growth in our beloved town, and he has dedicated much of his resources to preserving the town’s history, in more ways than you’d expect.
Commonly known for his stylistic sketches of Winter Garden architecture over the years, Rod Reeves’ intrigue with art and architecture was sparked from his own childhood home on South Woodland, just two blocks from downtown. The bungalow-style was built using lumber from the razed Bell Hotel, and it isn’t difficult to see where an aspiring artist may find inspiration nestled in the corners—Rod’s bedroom door even had a hotel room number on it!
“I loved that house, and I’m just so afraid it will be torn down. It was a wonderful house. It’s probably why I’ve always wanted to preserve things as they are; we’ve had some really interesting buildings here that have been lost.”
More than just a childhood memory, it was at this house that Rod’s verve for art was visualized. “One of my earliest drawings shows a store with a baby, and a woman peering out of a hospital window. It was probably one of the first drawings I did that included architecture and family. I was probably around 3-4 years old.”
This fascination carried into Rod’s adulthood, where he was able to shape his passions into multiple careers throughout his life.
“When the Heritage Foundation started in 1994, I was asked to be the founding director.
At some point along the way, we did a book about Winter Garden architecture. The title is off-putting—Sundays in the South—but that comes from our Sunday drives. When I grew up here, we’d ride the same route every Sunday, just to get out.”
Just one glance into this book gives an idyllic perspective of the town in Rod’s eyes, during those casual Sunday trips. But it’s important to note that the town we currently love is not the town Rod remembers. Growing up, he recalls that they could not go four blocks from any intersection of Plant and Main without being out of town, and back then, everybody knew everybody. Of course, any small town would be remiss without a close-knit community in its heart. In fact, both of Rod’s parents even had jobs downtown: Mae Reeves, a telephone operator, and Dock Reeves, the town barber. Having been so close to the people and businesses downtown for his entire life, it’s easy to understand Rod’s affection for the area, and why he still sighs with heartache for the many structures that were unfortunately not kept throughout the years.
Sharing one of his sketches, Rod reminisces, “This building used to be Davis’ Pharmacy—it was turned into the pizza place downtown. I went there and had a Coca-Cola every afternoon after school, from first grade until it closed. That was one of the worst days of my life. I couldn’t believe it. And you know what’s interesting? I went up one day and said, ‘You know, I’ve never drawn looking out.’ The pharmacist told me, ‘Well it’s good you’re here today, because once we close the doors at the end of the day, we’ll never be open again.’ So that was gratuitous.”
What was worse, while many of the local businesses were beginning to move away from downtown, many of the familiar buildings that Rod had grown to love were also beginning to be changed or demolished. “We have a wonderful variety of architecture. Sadly, we’ve lost a lot of it over the years. In the last decades of the 20th century, Winter Garden had become a ghost town. The bank had moved, the pharmacy, the hardware. It was just empty. We were very concerned in Winter Garden becoming a main street town, and preserving the buildings. I’m grateful to have lived long enough to see it happen.”
In fact, during his tenure at the Heritage Foundation, Rod collected a mixture of local history, through his own drawings and artifacts and other locals’ as well. “We started family files, which you only had to contribute one thing. One time somebody brought in a rabies vaccination for their dog, and we took it! It gave the local people a feeling of belonging.”
A Teacher’s He(art)
It’s evident that Rod is a jewel to our community, and his magnificent sketches depict Winter Garden in a manner that begs for adoration. But before Rod was lending his hand (and pen) to preserving the history of downtown Winter Garden, he was sharing his artful wisdom. After earning his degree in art education with a minor in illustration, Rod spent 32 years coloring the minds of many students, teaching multiple art classes, including watercolor and humanities, to name a few.
Starting in 1962, Rod has taught at Lakeview and West Orange high schools, and after his retirement in 1994, he moved to teaching night classes at Valencia College, finally finishing his teaching days at the University of Central Florida.
“I loved that season of my life. I was blessed to have taught the nicest kids a teacher could have hoped for.”
In fact, this time in Rod’s life had such an impact on him that one day, he set out to send some of his former students a much-needed gift. “If time permitted, I’d sketch my students. During the pandemic, I decided that I’d like to photocopy the drawings and send them to the students, and there were about 800. With the help from an amazing assistant, we found 600 of them. I received wonderful responses! I had no idea the impact it would make. Some of them were very emotional. It touched my heart, and not to mention validated my teaching.”
It’s clear that Rod leaves an enduring impression on anyone he meets—his affable demeanor is just as inviting as his art.
“When I taught at UCF, I worked for the Artist in Residence program with the loveliest ladies. I tried to teach them art, but I quickly realized that they weren’t interested.” Laughing, he adds, “They had come for coffee and donuts.”
Keeping the ladies busy with homemade Christmas cards and other crafts he refers to as “uncreative” (but we know the ladies loved them), Rod spent his time there working on a favored cookbook. “They always said, ‘my mama cooked,’ or ‘my mama said,’ so the cookbook was called Mama Cooked ’N Said, and it sold out just like that. I wanted to honor their mothers and their recipes.”
Ever the artist, this octogenarian is still stretching his skills. “I want the times to be remembered visually, and so much now is not. So I’m working on a comic strip. I’ve always wanted to do one. It’s about people in a small town. It will be 13 chapters over the course of the year, and once a week.”
With the help of an assistant, Rod is beginning to sketch a lifetime of memories, illustrating Winter Garden in a new light. “They always say write about what you know—well, this is what I know, characters in a little town. So I’m working on that now, and I have so much motivation. I want to honor the locals in our town.”
An artist’s work is never done … and we’re all the better for it.
