Aaron Munn: Molding minds and beautifying Perry

When Eric Schultz and his wife, Lauren, purchased the restaurant formally known as A Couple of Jerks in downtown Perry, they had no idea that the announcement of a global pandemic would soon follow suit. Despite the challenges that COVID-19 ushered into middle Georgia as well as the rest of the world, the doors of Schultze’s, which opened in March of this year, are still open today. For those who may be wondering, Schultze is the nickname that Eric Schultz has carried since he was a youngster.

The rebirthed, remodeled “soda fountain” type, 50s theme eatery is now in full swing, and as a part of the renovation of it, Schultz partnered with a local muralist by the name of Aaron Munn to help bring his family owned business to life.

“The old restaurant was a soda fountain restaurant too, but when I purchased it, we decided to remodel it to make it more authentic 50s style,” Schultz said. “We put in new ceilings, new lighting, new décor and a new kitchen. When we repainted the place, we used 50s style colors, a 50s theme and we even have an authentic 50s menu.”

When he initially began working with Munn, Schultz said that it was to get Munn to design a logo for the branding of Schultze’s. Then he got Munn to paint murals on the inside walls to bring even more genuineness to the establishment.

“We had Aaron to paint Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry on the inside beside our jukebox,” Schultz shared. “It makes the whole restaurant pop—the jukebox, the records over it, and then a silhouette of Elvis and Chuck on either side of it.”

From there, he was inspired to have a large mural painted on the outside of the building. Between the military and his personal life, Schultz has traveled extensively and has seen how colorful artwork has the potential to bring communities together, and he said he was inspired to try to do that in Perry.

“Perry is about to become a bustling area,” Schultz predicted. “This is something that Perry can take pride in. It’s the county seat of Houston County, but sometimes it gets overshadowed by Warner Robins because Warner Robins has the base, and it’s so much bigger. But Perry is the oldest city in Houston County, and it has something that none of the rest of the county has—a real downtown area. I hope this mural will play a part in drawing people in and making them take a real sense of pride in the community. We chose the right man to help us get that done.”

Munn has been designing murals for about 10 years now, but Schultze’s is only the second restaurant assignment that he’s completed. Most of his other artwork has been done for county schools where he takes an active role in molding and educating the minds of students. Munn is an instructor at Houston County High School where he teaches graphic arts.

“It took me a little longer than normal to get [the mural] finished because of my obligations as a schoolteacher and because I do a lot of things at Houston County High,” Munn stated. “In addition to that, I run two other businesses other than my mural business.” He mentioned that the coronavirus and weather challenges earlier in the year played a part in slowing down the process as well.

“I started the project back in March, right as the pandemic was happening,” Munn recalled. “That’s when I painted his logo. Then after the pandemic wave passed through, I got started with the dogwood flowers in the summertime. That took a couple of weeks to get finished. The actual Perry postcard sign took weeks—just because I was having to bob and weave through rainy days and my personal schedule. So, I got started back in March and just finished it on this past Monday (October 19) at about 12:30 a.m.”

Munn said that some of his inspiration for what he would ultimately create was drawn from a mural that he saw in Savannah, Georgia. “They had taken some scenes from Savannah and put them in the lettering of the word ‘Savannah,’” he pointed out. “I figured Perry is just as historical as Savannah in many respects. I decided to go with that idea.”

Knowing that Schultz wanted to include some historical representation of the city of Perry, including dogwood flowers, Munn said he took the idea and ran with it.

“I immediately thought of the vintage postcard because those were very popular back in the 50s, and the whole theme of Schultze’s Soda Shop is 50s style diner. The wait staff even dresses up as if they’re in the 50s, so I took that and thought about what type of artwork or graphics were popular back then. I did some research and immediately fell in love with the whole vintage postcard look. When I came up with it, Eric and his wife really liked it, so we submitted it to the city of Perry, and they submitted to the Fine Arts Society. Everything had to go through those committees to make sure everybody was OK with it since it was going to be on display for all to see.”

Munn admitted that it’s a good feeling to know that he has added beauty to downtown Perry. “Being up there on the ladder and on the lift and having people in the community walk by and say nice things—that’s the ultimate gratification, in my opinion,” he shared. “That’s a great thing. The idea of putting a stamp somewhere and knowing that it will be up for many, many years to come is pretty cool. It’s an humbling experience.”

Schultz confirmed that the mural has drawn quite a bit of attention, and it’s all been positive. “Aaron nailed it,” he said. “People enjoy looking at it. They take pictures in front of it. Even the people in the voting lines have talked about how they enjoy just looking at the mural while they’re waiting to vote.” He went on to say, “I’ve gotten positive feedback from the Perry Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown City Merchants Council. They are really enjoying the attention it’s bringing to the downtown area. When downtown Perry does well, and people are drawn here, then everybody does well. This mural is to draw people downtown—not just to Schultze’s, but to downtown in general. I want everybody to benefit.”

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