Johnny Hagerman is a storyteller.
But not in a way most of us think about telling stories with beautiful words and flowery phrases.
Hagerman shares amazing stories with bricks.
A stack of earthy “green” unfired brick is like a blank canvas for the Tazewell County artist who has spent at least the past 30 years mastering the art of brick sculpting.
Although he humbly dismisses his local fame, Hagerman’s work is revered for its captivating way of bringing bricks to life in the form of larger-than-life sculptures, many of them celebrating nature.
A trip to Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands will unveil some of his most distinguished work adorning buildings on campus: a pair of Native Americans, two large bears and a mountain lion.
A pair of Native Americans are represented in a brick sculpture at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Hagerman’s work at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of the school. 
Johnny Hagerman, left, and Dr. Charles King, the founding president of Southwest Virginia Community College, stand in front of an eagle sculpted by Hagerman. The eagle will be installed in an outdoor pavilion at the Old Gristmill in Cedar Bluff. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
The mountain lion is part of a panoramic view of wildlife at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman.
But his three-dimensional work shows up far from his Southwest Virginia home near Richlands. One of his largest, best-known works of brick art decorates the valet area across from the entrance to the Cascades Lobby at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he carved the faces of country music stars including Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl. “I carved Roy Acuff and even got to meet him,” said Hagerman, who completed the brick sculptures in the late 1980s.
He’s also created two murals at the Ronald McDonald House in Johnson City, Tennessee, as well as contributed artwork to the General Shale Brick Natural History Museum in Gray, Tennessee.
That’s just some of his custom brick art sculptures that are featured throughout the country. Some works are freestanding while others are integrated into the structure of a building.
He’s created work for many primary, secondary and higher education facilities, churches, mausoleums, welcome centers, lending institutions, corporate office buildings, upscale farm and subdivision entrances, libraries, parks and museums, medical facilities, restaurants, stadiums and ballparks, and private settings.
Spring tulips are part of a private collection that decorates the entry way at Johnny Hagerman’s home. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
Hagerman sometimes experiments with different designs just for the fun of it. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
A brick sculpture of an iris was done to honor Johnny Hagerman’s mother. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. The mountain lion is part of a panoramic view of wildlife at Southwest Virginia Community College. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman.
‘What an amazing thing’
So, what prompted this watercolor and portrait artist to choose such a charming, but obsolete art form? The answer is one that celebrates the inspiration that’s sometimes found in the most unexpected places.
Hagerman was intrigued when he spotted an article in an architecture magazine in the library of Whitewood Public School, where he taught art at the same school he attended as a young student.
“The article covered brick sculpture and I thought what an amazing thing,” said Hagerman, who began experimenting with the unusual art form. “You don’t think about brick being artwork,” he said.
When Whitewood High School was about to get a new building in the late 1980s, Hagerman was introduced to Donald Helton, an art teacher and brick sculptor at Sullivan North High in Kingsport, Tennessee, who had embellished the building with some of his work.
“The first piece I saw at the school was a profile of Samuel Clemens,” said Hagerman, who began developing an appetite for learning more.
Using the basement at the old school, Hagerman involved his art students in creating sculptures that eventually would be placed in the new school once built. The sculptures represented the school mascot, the area’s coal industry and academics.
The art of shaping bricks was an intriguing new art form for the teacher. He knew that historically brick art sculptures had been used in churches, temples and monuments.
“But here in Southwest Virginia?” he wondered.
A watercolor and portrait artist for years, Hagerman, a 1976 graduate of Radford University, had never thought about turning bricks into art.
“I had never thought about taking a clay class when I was an art student in college. I don’t know why,” he said.
The artist said there were few tutorials when he started learning brick sculpting. “The artwork goes back to the birth of Christ. There’s a lot in Middle East temples, but very little about it today.”
“I learned everything by trial and error,” said Hagerman, who admitted he “eats, sleeps and thinks” about the art.
“I’m driven and I like that. There has to be this hunger and drive behind it. I like waking up with a really interesting project in mind. A lot of days it’s interesting because you’ve made a mess,” he said with a laugh. “That’s one down side to working with clay. There’s a mess that comes along with it.”
One-of-a-kind creations
Unlike pottery artists who work with a mass of unformed clay, brick sculptors create a canvas by stacking and arranging the unfired brick into desired shapes.
“Brick clay has high shell content and is too rough to be thrown on a wheel,” he said.
Each brick sculpture is a one-of-a-kind creation.
Hagerman explained that a sketch drawn on a large sheet of paper is laid on an easel of unfired bricks. Needle marks transfer the design to the clay, leaving an outline to carve.
The art even brings out a philosophical side to Hagerman.
“Before the drying process, brick is clay for a moment in time, but if you take that moment in time, wrap it up and keep it damp before being fired in a kiln, the possibilities are just wide open,” he said.
After teaching art in Buchanan County Public Schools for more than a decade, the sculptor transitioned to a career in 1991 with General Shale Brick of Johnson City, using bricks exclusively manufactured by the company.
To support his new-found art career, in 1998 he built a shop at his home where he breathes life into slabs of clay to make art masterpieces. The ceiling in the shop is 20 feet high to accommodate the massive artwork. A tilted easel will handle a 15-foot-by-20-foot sculpture. Some large designs have to be pieced together.
His career soon began to soar, with his work being featured in a Brick Institution of America publication and an issue of Southern Living magazine.
Hagerman became an independent artist in 2015 after his relationship with General Shale dissolved, at which time he created his own small business, Lost Art Brick Carvings, to supplement a teaching income at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands. This semester, Hagerman is teaching two courses on the art of brick sculpting at the college.
“The impact he’s had on our students has been an amazing experience for them. Learning this trade from a master himself, you can’t get any better than that,” said Stacey McGhee, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation.
“His passion for this school runs deep,” she said. “Every time you turn a corner, there’s a piece of him that’s engraved in this school and on this campus.”
Hagerman has completed brick sculptures throughout the campus at Southwest Virginia Community College, including signage for Eagle Valley Housing Complex, the King Community Center, and Dellinger Hall.
“Every time we have visitors on campus, they’re always in awe of how beautiful the sculptures are. They are one-of-a-kind pieces that you’re not going to see anywhere else,” said McGhee.
“His legacy will live on from all of the projects he’s done not only here on campus but throughout the community, too.”
This shows the right side of the Old Gristmill in Cedar Bluff, Virginia, where Johnny Hagerman is creating an outdoor pavilion. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
The Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation has commissioned Hagerman to create an outdoor pavilion at the Old Gristmill in Cedar Bluff; These are sketches drawn by Hagerman. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
The Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation has commissioned Hagerman to create an outdoor pavilion at the Old Gristmill in Cedar Bluff; These are sketches drawn by Hagerman. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
The Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation has commissioned Hagerman to create an outdoor pavilion at the Old Gristmill in Cedar Bluff; These are sketches drawn by Hagerman. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman.
Currently, the Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation has commissioned Hagerman to create an outdoor pavilion at the Old Gristmill in Cedar Bluff. Installation of the sculpture is scheduled to begin in the spring.
A carved eagle with a 6-foot wingspan will be the centerpiece of a quilter’s thimble, installed above the fireplace.
Hagerman’s inspiration for the brick sculpture comes from his late mother, who had a passion for quilting.
“It will take on the appearance of a large quilter’s thimble made out of stone and brick. The eagle is such an inspiration for me. Every once in a while an eagle travels though Little River where I live. The river empties into the Clinch River in Russell County.”
Hagerman plans to keep producing the artwork as long as he’s able. “As long as my knees hold out,” he laughed. “Scaffolding takes a toll.”
“I’d really like to pass the baton to someone — maybe a student who will want to continue this art form.
“It’s so permanent. The artwork will go way beyond our lifetimes,” Hagerman said.
“And how interesting is that?”
The before and after pictures of a sculpted logo done by Johnny Hagerman for a charter school in North Carolina. The students at the school were models for the sculpture. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman. 
The before and after pictures of a sculpted logo done by Johnny Hagerman for a charter school in North Carolina. The students at the school were models for the sculpture. Courtesy of Johnny Hagerman.
