Longtime Harrisonburg tattoo artist takes business on the road to raise money for city monument

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – A longtime Harrisonburg tattoo artist and instructor is beginning a new chapter for his business and tattoo artist school. T.J. Warsing owns T.J.’s Dermagraphics Tattoos and has been a tattoo artist in Harrisonburg for over 30 years. Now, he is preparing to take his business on the road.

Early this year, the community helped Warsing keep his business afloat when his tattoo artistry school was in danger of closing after some flood damage. Now he will be closing the doors of his business on North Main Street and will begin traveling around the nation to give people tattoos and continue training the next generation of tattoo artists.

“We’re now closing up to do a reality show, and we’re going to go on the road to be able to do tattoos at one’s home,” Warsing said. “We’re working on getting funds to help us with a trailer and we’re going on the road to be able to teach that way.”

During his travels, Warsing will also be selling his artwork and creating urns and small monuments for veterans to raise money for the creation of a welcome monument in Harrisonburg.

“All of the flags of all the nations that have ever come here to Harrisonburg will be placed on this for opening up their business or putting their children in school and raising them in the community,” Warsing said. “It will stand 18 feet high, 40 inches wide, 20 inches thick. It will have solar lights around it running it to where people can see it at night.”

Warsing is a veteran and is working with a group of four other local veterans to create the monument.

“The monument will represent a flag from each one of those countries that are familiar to all these people,” said Carson Rinker, a navy veteran from Harrisonburg. “It’d be quite interesting for the city of Harrisonburg to have something to represent all these people.”

Rinker is a retired Rockingham County Sheriff’s Deputy, and he also worked for a company that created monuments and headstones for area cemeteries for 20 years. He is helping to raise money for the monument and will oversee its creation.

“I’ve done quite a few … mausoleums and monuments [at a] large scale in this area for people in cemeteries, so I’m very familiar with what is necessary to do,” Rinker said.

It will cost around $280,000 to create the monument. The group of veterans hope to raise all the money themselves. Warsing estimates that it will take around five years to raise all the money and build the monument.

While the City of Harrisonburg is not paying for the monument, Rinker, Warsing and the other vets are partnering with the city on the project. The city and VDOT will determine where the monument will be built.

Warsing thanked the Women’s Auxiliary VFW in Harrisonburg and former Harrisonburg Mayor Rodney Eagle for their support in helping him save his tattoo school. He said they are also helping with the monument project.

Rinker and the rest of the group of veterans will work locally to raise money while Warsing does so on the road. Warsing plans to document his travels and fundraising efforts in a reality show on YouTube.

Anyone interested in donating to the monument project can do so via CashApp @rubyminitatu.

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