George Kotalic

“Huntington Then and Now” by George H. Kotalic.

George H. Kotalic is a landscape designer and owner of Kotalic Landscaping and Design of Huntington, W.V. which has served the Tri- State area since 1976. He also owns and operates River and Rail Micro-Nursery of Lesage, W.V.

Kotalic has found creative outlets, not only in his design work, but also with professional sculpting companies, doing sand sculpture, as well as installing “Living Art” on walls with plants throughout the U.S. He has created unique pieces of metal sculptures and fountains and has always been involved in photography.

The history and architecture of Huntington was the inspiration for the design of this train. The old photographs of landmark buildings in Huntington exhibited on one side of the train were obtained from the city archives. The new photographs depicting the same buildings and sites were taken by Kotalic using GoPro and Drone technology, each of which he incorporates into the landscape design business, as well as real estate videos, inspection services and advertising.

Dave Thomas of Chesapeake, Ohio, was instrumental in working with Kotalic to engineer the solar-driven lighting of the train. “Pointillism,’’ using acrylic paint hand applied one dot at a time, was used to apply the color on the train.  

Kotalic has admired other city projects in North America in which artists decorate prototypes of flamingos, cows, guitars, clowns and other symbols to adorn cityscapes with street art.

This is Kotalic’s first juried exhibit of street art.