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2 PLACE A SENSE OF PLACE “What is it about this place?” We explore that question in the upcoming exhibition The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson. In featuring a man who made his own paintbrushes, who worked the earth into vessels and embarked on eccentric adventures by boat and bike, we seek to understand Walter Anderson’s creative genius and his undeniable connection to the land that is Mississippi. I’m so proud of what we have in store for you – our members – for the rest of the year. From Sept. 7 to Nov. 23, 40 unique pieces of artwork, including paintings, pottery, and sculptures, will be on display in our Fred and Sissie Wile Changing Exhibition Gallery. Please join us for the member-only opening reception on Friday, Sept. 6, from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. Then, come back again and again, inviting family and friends to join you as you experience Walter Anderson in new ways, from book readings and musical performances to pottery demonstrations and workshops. Hear John Anderson describe his dad’s travel adventures and share an intimately personal account of the prolific artist’s secrets, sorrows, and triumphs that led to an incredible body of work. Help us welcome Sarah Margaret Huff home on Sept. 25 as she performs with her folk trio, JEMS. As a bonus, come early for a delectable pop-up chef experience by James Beard Award Semifinalist Hunter Evans. Speaking of pop-up chef experiences, come by The MAX for a preshow social before soon-to-be-inducted Hall of Fame honoree Mac McAnally performs at the MSU Riley Center on Saturday, Nov. 9, and enjoy fine fare by Chef Joey Thompson and his Moondog Makers & Bakers. I hope you’ll join us for a season packed with events, opportunities to connect, and celebrations of Mississippi arts and culture. See you soon, Penny Kemp President + CEO The MAX
3 FALL 2024 Save the Date HOF The MAX Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Jan. 23, 2025 MSU Riley Center, Meridian, MS 2024 Hall of Fame Inductees William “Bill” Ferris Folklorist, Author + Educator Shelby Foote Historian + Fiction Writer Bobbie Gentry Singer + Songwriter Mac McAnally Musician, Singer + Songwriter Natasha Trethewey Author, Poet + Educator Reception following at The MAX
4 PLACE THE MAX STAFF Penny Kemp, President + CEO Aaron Windham, Director of Operations Stuart Yarbrough, Director of Finance Phillip Bolin, Museum Curator Rose Cole, Housekeeping Supervisor Margo Evans, Membership Manager Courtney Keith, Assistant Store Manager Gabby Ortiz, Marketing Coordinator Ted Reynolds, Facilities Manager Reginald Smith, Maintenance/Security Coleman Warner, Historian/Writer Wendy West, Visitor Services + Store Manager Elizabeth Williams, Sipp & Savor Festival Producer Stanley Wright, Group Coordinator + Assistant Manager Board of Directors Eddie Kelly, Chair, Bay Saint Louis Marian Barksdale, Vice Chair, Oxford Barbara Thomas, Secretary, Meridian Michael Truelove, Treasurer, Meridian Fred Wile, Past Chair, Meridian Archie Anderson, Starkville Kim Caron, Tupelo Sheryl Davidson, Meridian Veldore Young Graham, Meridian Checky Herrington, Starkville Annie McMillan, Hattiesburg Sammy Moon, Jackson Joe Norwood Sr., Meridian Lisa Rice, Madison Caroline Cannada Rush, Meridian Kelly Swain, Meridian Millie Swan, Hattiesburg Billy Thornton, Gulfport Dianne Walton, Meridian Duffee Williams, Meridian Laura Carmichael, Visit Meridian (Ex-Officio) Craig Hitt, City of Meridian (Ex-Officio) Director Emeriti Ann Alexander, Meridian Fred Cannon, Nashville, TN Tommy Dulaney, Meridian Billy Estes, Fairhope, AL Alan Lamar, Meridian 2155 Front Street Meridian, MS 39301 601-581-1550 msarts.org CONTRIBUTORS Writers Penny Kemp Coleman Warner Photographers Megan Bean, MSU Photo Services J’Marcus Alfred Tom Beck PLACE is published biannually by Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience. Every effort is made to avoid errors and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our apologies and notify us at info@msarts.org. This email contact also can be used to request address changes or additional copies. On the Cover: Walter Inglis Anderson, “Pelicans on North Key,” c. 1960. Watercolor on Paper. Partial Gift of Leif Anderson, WAMA Permanent Collection.
5 FALL 2024 BRENT FUNDERBURK Award-winning Mississippi artist will show and tell MAX visitors why he considers Walter Anderson “an American master.” WALTER ANDERSON “America’s Van Gogh” cared passionately about his art, but “I don’t think he cared if anyone ever saw any of it.” 6 10 of contents table “Frigate Birds,” Walter Inglis Anderson SIPP & SAVOR Close to 3,000 people enjoyed small bites, cold beers, fine wines, and craft cocktails. 12 MERIDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS Over 1,500 students, teachers, and family members took part in a dozen+ performances. 14 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT + CEO Penny Kemp 2 MEMBER RECOGNITION 19
6 PLACE WALTER ANDERSON ‘America’s Van Gogh’ cared passionately about his art, but ‘I don’t think he cared if anyone ever saw any of it’ Seventeen years after the 1965 death of Walter Anderson, a painter and writer who favored the company of wildlife over people, this eccentric Mississippi figure had yet to claim legendary status. It would be another nine years, in 1991, before the Walter Anderson Museum of Art was founded in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. But feature writer Raad Cawthon and photographer Karena Newsom, staff members for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, were drawn to Anderson’s mesmerizing story, and were eager to share it. The journalists traveled to the Gulf Coast in 1982 to spend time with Anderson’s wife, Sissy, and see his past workspaces. The artist’s widow, a sacrificial family caretaker during his many personal adventures – rowing out to Horn Island for time immersed in nature, or bicycling countless miles across America and in other countries – reflected on his craving to produce art, but not to secure fame. “All he cared about was the doing,” she told them. “I don’t think he cared if anyone ever saw any of it.” In recent decades, art advocates, institutions, and critics have indeed come to treat “America’s Van Gogh” as a legend, bestowing accolades he never sought. The attention includes books, documentaries, lectures, and a major 2003 exhibition, Everything I See Is New and Strange, at the Smithsonian Institution. And the public recognition of Anderson will soon gain new momentum in Meridian. The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (The MAX) will host The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson, an exhibition of 40 works by the artist, from Sept. 7 to Nov. 23, 2024, with a preview reception for members on Sept. 6. The exhibit will feature rarely seen watercolors, ceramics, and sketches alongside some of Anderson’s iconic, recognizable works.
7 FALL 2024 Organized by the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, the exhibit draws from the museum’s permanent collection and that of the Estate of Walter Anderson. “Walter Anderson was a wholly unique and prodigious creator who does not fit neatly into any one category of art,” said Julian Rankin, executive director of the Anderson museum. “He was as talented in watercolor as he was in printmaking, as deft an illustrator as he was a muralist.” MAX President and CEO Penny Kemp said, “We couldn’t be more excited to host this prestigious exhibit. We are equally excited to partner with various arts organizations locally and around the state to offer unique programming surrounding this exhibit. We also look forward to welcoming school field trips from around the state.” The MAX will offer various exhibit-related programs, such as: On opening day, John G. Anderson, son of the artist, will talk about his new book, The Bicycle Logs of Walter Anderson. The presentation, on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 11 am in the Alexander Family Church Gallery, will include book collaborator Anthony Thaxton of the Institute for Southern Storytelling at Mississippi College. Anderson and Thaxton will be available for signing books. Visitors that day are encouraged to take part in a bicycle “ride in” recalling the artist’s epic cycling adventures. The award-winning documentary film Walter Anderson: The Extraordinary Life and Art of the Islander, created and produced by Thaxton and Robert St. John, will also be screened in the church gallery. Former longtime Mississippi State art professor Brent Funderburk will share his expertise twice. He will guide an exhibit tour, “Ecstasy: Walter Anderson’s Transcendent Moment,” at 5:30 pm Thursday, Sept. 12, and deliver a lecture, “Inside Nature: Chasing the Path of Light Through Watercolor,” in the multipurpose room at 5:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 3. Collaborating on both is the Meridian Museum of Art, which has a Funderburk exhibit Oct. 4-Nov. 30. A reading of Robinson: The Pleasant History of an Unusual Cat will highlight a children’s program on Saturday, Nov. 9, 10 am-noon. The book, written and illustrated by Walter Anderson, will be read at 10:30 am. The program, in the Hall of Fame, also offers a piano performance and a musical instrument “petting zoo.” The Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library and Meridian Symphony Association are collaborating with The MAX.
8 PLACE Anderson suffered a mental breakdown in the late 1930s and in later years became increasingly reclusive, living apart from his wife and children, even as he continued producing art pieces and logbooks from his wideranging bicycle travels. Anderson’s creations included hundreds of watercolors, cast ceramics, block prints, and thousands of pen and ink drawings, most on paper not designed to last. Some estimate his art pieces total more than 20,000 in multiple mediums. His favorite subjects included pelicans and fairy tales. With the exception of exhibitions at the Born in New Orleans in 1903, Walter Anderson spent most of his life in or near Ocean Springs on the Mississippi coast. Anderson was classically trained at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and worked for a time as a designer in a family business, Shearwater Pottery. He married Agnes “Sissy” Grinstead, an art history graduate, experimented in a wide range of art forms – including block print storytelling (as in the Robinson book) – and produced a large mural on Ocean Springs history in a school auditorium. Walter Inglis Anderson c. 1951
9 FALL 2024 Brooklyn Museum and the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery in Memphis, Anderson’s works received little attention while he was alive. Through the years that has changed, and dramatically so, as demonstrated by documentaries, the Smithsonian exhibit, and books such as The Bicycle Logs of Walter Anderson. The MAX has always celebrated Anderson, including the “Visionary of the Gulf Coast” in its first class of Hall of Fame inductees in 2017. In addition to highlights on the artist available in Hall of Fame kiosks, one immersive gallery features a photographic image of Anderson’s beloved Horn Island that transitions into a spectacular watercolor, referencing Anderson’s “Fresh Water Waves” (circa 1945), courtesy of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. As it does with other legendary Mississippi figures, The MAX sheds light on Anderson’s creative passion, noting how he might wade into the Gulf or climb a tree in search of inspiration. Among the Anderson quotes highlighted: “I’m an artist. It comes over me like a physical craving, like hunger.” “Rowing at Night,” Walter Inglis Anderson “Terror, the Little Devil,” Walter Inglis Anderson
10 PLACE rtist and academic Brent Funderburk has been fascinated with the work of Walter Inglis Anderson for nearly a half century, and is a longtime associate of the Meridian Museum of Art. That pattern continues this fall with an added feature – Funderburk’s role in a unique partnership between the art museum and The MAX. A North Carolina native, Funderburk calls the Gulf Coast artist “an American master, on par with his more recognized contemporaries such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock. His life work radiates a world-visionary union of mankind with nature.” Funderburk served on the Mississippi State University art faculty from 1982 to 2018 and still lives in Starkville. Accomplished in watercolor and other mediums, he has exhibited and lectured widely and is the recipient of a 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Arts Award. Early in his career, in the late 1970s, Funderburk saw a public television broadcast about Anderson and was astounded. After joining the MSU faculty, he said, he “soon met the Anderson family in Ocean Springs, and produced a touring lecture, ‘A Halcyon Day! A Day in the Life of Walter Inglis Anderson,’ that traveled around the state and region.” His subsequent close attention to the artist’s career has included lectures, writings, and curating traveling exhibitions – and Anderson is an ongoing influence in Funderburk’s own creative efforts. Photo by Megan Bean, MSU Photo Services BRENT FUNDERBURK Award-winning Mississippi artist will show and tell visitors why he considers Walter Anderson ‘an American master’ A
11 FALL 2024 Forty years after his first one-person show at the Meridian Museum of Art, Funderburk will open his Path of Light exhibition at the museum with a reception and talk on Oct. 4. Featuring some 60 works spanning five decades, the show will include watermedia and oil paintings as well as drawings and mixed-media pieces. The exhibit runs through Nov. 30 at the museum, housed in a former Carnegie Library building several blocks from The MAX. Meanwhile, as part of the programming for the Walter Anderson special exhibit at The MAX, running Sept. 7-Nov. 23, Funderburk will provide a “walking conversation” about Anderson’s greatest works during a tour of the exhibit on Sept. 12. He returns Oct. 3 for an illustrated lecture, “Inside Nature: Chasing the Path of Light Through Watercolor.” Funderburk said he will “explore the mysterious power and subtle majesty of watercolor in art history and unexpected discoveries the medium has illuminated throughout my life.” MAX President and CEO Penny Kemp and Meridian Museum of Art Executive Director Kate Cherry are excited to collaborate in tapping Funderburk’s knowledge of Anderson and his influence. “This is a unique opportunity for cross-promotion as we enhance arts offerings for local residents while attracting more visitors to Meridian as a cultural center for the state,” Kemp said. Cherry added, “What we’re all about is community – it’s very significant.” “Red Wings,” Walter Inglis Anderson
12 PLACE Close to 3,000 people enjoyed small bites, cold beers, fine wines, and craft cocktails in April, with a third of them being from outside the Meridian area, including multiple states. Over 30 award winning chefs represented 44 restaurants across the Southeast.
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14 PLACE Over 1,500 students, teachers, and family members took part in dozen+ performances in April by eight choirs, four dance groups, three bands, and two percussion groups, making this the largest turnout in festival history. FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
15 FALL 2024 Downtown Meridian | msarts.org Mac McAnally preshow social Join us before Mac McAnally’s MSU Riley Center concert. Our preshow social features pop-up chef Joey Thompson + his Moondog Makers & Bakers team from Corinth, Mississippi. SATURDAY, NOV. 9 5 PM-7 PM Members-Only Event Get your membership today. Email margo@msarts.org
16 PLACE EVENTS SEPT. 6 Member Preview – The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson 5 pm-6:30 pm Members and their guests are invited to preview the exhibit The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson. Anderson’s youngest son, John G. Anderson, and writer/artist Anthony Thaxton will attend the opening reception. SEPT. 7 Experience Walter Anderson, The South’s Most Elusive Artist 9 am-5 pm Join us for opening day of our new exhibit, The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson, featuring 40 pieces of art. Celebrate the release of the book The Bicycle Logs of Walter Anderson; learn more about The Extraordinary Life and Art of the Islander through a documentary film by Anthony Thaxton and Robert St. John; immerse yourself in Anderson’s world in an interactive virtual boat trip to his beloved Horn Island; and travel to The MAX on bicycle, in the style of Anderson and his epic bike rides. SEPT. 10 Rising Hope Documentary Screening 6 pm-8 pm Join us for a screening of the new documentary Rising Hope. This inspiring film explores a vibrant tapestry of voices and personal narratives found within the Delta – where hope survives despite generational poverty. A cash bar and small bites will be available. The filmmakers will answer questions after the screening. Presented in partnership with the Mississippi Film Society. SEPT. 11, 18, 25; OCT. 2 Stained Glass Class 1 pm-4 pm Discover the artistry of stained glass with artist Bj Hatten. Join us for a four week class for beginners and intermediates SEPT. 12 Brent Funderburk’s Ecstasy: Walter Anderson’s Transcendent Moment 5:30 pm-6:30 pm Mississippi State University Distinguished Professor Emeritus Brent Funderburk will explore the artist/designer/writer’s most exalting experiences in his gallery walkthrough presentation.
17 FALL 2024 SEPT. 19 NightMarket Extended hours: 5 pm-8 pm The MAX and Earth’s Bounty invite you to NightMarket for great food and drink, artists, artisans, farm vendors, food trucks, children’s activities, live music, and more. Free and open to the public. SEPT. 25 JEMS in Concert 5:30 pm social 7 pm concert Settle in for a special concert by JEMS and Cyrena Wages. Fresh off tour with their new album, JEMS is a singersongwriter trio made up of Jessica Rotter, Emily Colombier, and Meridian native Sarah Margaret Huff. OCT. 3, 10, 17, 24 Introduction to Pottery with Stephen Phillips 5:30 pm-7:30 pm The South’s Most Elusive Artist contains a dozen examples of Walter Anderson’s pottery. Learn this art form as Stephen Phillps guides participants through making their own bowls and cups from clay. OCT. 3 Brent Funderburk’s Inside Nature: Chasing the Path of Light Through Watercolor 5:30 pm-6:30 pm Funderburk will present an illustrated lecture about the rich, light-filled possibilities of watercolor, a favorite medium of both Walter Inglis Anderson and Funderburk himself. OCT. 5 First Saturday: Paint Your Own Walter Anderson 10 am-noon Free admission 9 am-5 pm Bring your family and friends to The MAX and unleash your inner creativity. This First Saturday, you can paint your own Anderson. Choose your favorite block print to watercolor for free, 10 am-noon or while supplies last. Enjoy free museum admission all day and view our exhibit The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson. OCT. 16, 23, 30; NOV. 6 Stained Glass Class 1 pm-4 pm Discover the artistry of stained glass with artist Bj Hatten. Join us for a four week class for beginners and intermediates.
18 PLACE NOV. 2 First Saturday: Artist Angi Cooper 10 am-12:30 pm Free admission 9 am-5 pm Angi Cooper returns to offer a free watercolor workshop from 10 am-12:30 pm. Like Walter Anderson, Cooper draws inspiration from the natural world in Mississippi. Enjoy free admission all day and view our exhibit The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Anderson. NOV. 9 Reading of Robinson: The Pleasant History of an Unusual Cat 10 am-noon Join us as we celebrate our Walter Anderson exhibit with a reading of Anderson’s book Robinson: The Pleasant History of an Unusual Cat in collaboration with the Meridian-Lauderdale County Public Library, followed by a musical instrument petting zoo hosted by the Meridian Symphony Association. NOV. 9 Mac McAnally Preshow Social 5 pm-7 pm Join us before Mac McAnally’s MSU Riley Center concert. Our preshow social features pop-up chef Joey Thompson + his Moondog Makers & Bakers team from Corinth, Mississippi. NOV. 16 Earth Color Workshop with Robin Whitfield 9 am-noon Join The MAX for an Earth Color workshop with Horn Island resident artist Robin Whitfield. This three-hour workshop offers a connection to nature through finding and processing plant and mineral pigments. Participants will work with found raw materials directly on paper and have access to inks and raw pigments gathered from wild locations in Mississippi and beyond. NOV. 21 Merry NightMarket Extended hours: 5 pm-8 pm The MAX and Earth’s Bounty invite you to NightMarket for great food and drink, artists, artisans, farm vendors, food trucks, children’s activities, live music, and more. Free and open to the public. NOV. 23 Allen Chen Wheel Throwing Demo 10 am-noon Come back to The MAX one more time to experience Walter Anderson with Hattiesburg ceramics artist Allen Chen, whose utilitarian forms and glazes reflect much of Anderson’s work and arts and crafts inspirations. Chen is a professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he works in traditional wheel throwing, wood firing, and experimental paper clay and teaches multimedium installation ceramic techniques. For details and to register for events visit msarts.org/events
19 FALL 2024 PERFORMER CIRCLE Ms. Corliss N. Atterberry Mr. Hardy Graham, Jr. CHARTER CORPORATE CIRCLE Honorable Lawrence Primeaux CORPORATE CIRCLE Atlas Roofing Mr. and Mrs. Jay Davidson Duff Capital Investors Leading Edges of Mississippi Magnolia Beverage Company Mississippi Power Southern Pipe & Supply CHARTER BENEFACTOR CIRCLE Dr. and Mrs. Woodie Abraham, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Ric Alexander Dr. and Mrs. Robert J. Cater Mr. and Mrs. Greg Creel Mr. and Mrs. Marty Davidson Mr. and Mrs. Thomas K. Dobbins EMBDC Freddie’s Fine Spirits Glass, Inc. Insurance Advisory Group, LLC Mr. and Mrs. Larry Love Mrs. Vicky McDonnell Mr. and Mrs. Archie R. McDonnell, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Phillip McLain Mr. and Mrs. Scott McQuaig Mr. and Mrs. Manny Mitchell Stifel Nicolaus Dr. and Mrs. J. Lee Valentine Waters International Trucks Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wile Mr. and Mrs. Brad Woodall BENEFACTOR CIRCLE BankPlus Mr. and Mrs. Bob Barham Castle Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Coleman Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Hall Mr. and Mrs. Scott Hudson Dr. and Mrs. R. Condon Hughes Mr. and Mrs. Bob Luke Dr. and Mrs. David Makey Meridian Airport Authority Dr. Thomas R. Singley Visit Meridian Mr. and Dr. Daniel Wile CHARTER GRAND PATRON Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Alexander Mr. William E. Arlinghaus Mr. Claiborne and Mrs. Marian Barksdale Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Cobler Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Coffin, III Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey N. Cook Crow’s Nest Properties Mr. and Mrs. Michael M. Davis, II Mrs. Lindy Deen Mr. Tommy Dulaney and Mrs. Rebecca Combs-Dulaney Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd S. Gray Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hammack Mrs. Alice James Mr. and Mrs. Larry Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Ken LaBruyere Mr. and Mrs. Sam E. Long, III Mrs. Ann Maynor and Ms. Carrol Ann Maynor Mr. and Dr. Evan McDonald Mr. & Mrs. Mitch McLellan Mr. and Mrs. David G. Ray Mr. and Mrs. Don Rogers Ms. Carolyn Smith Mr. and Mrs. Buck Thomas Ms. Peg Wahrendorff Mr. and Mrs. Coleman Warner Mr. and Mrs. Duffee Williams GRAND PATRON Mr. and Mrs. Eldean Boyken Mr. and Mrs. David Brevard Mr. Courtland Gray and Ms. Shannon Crowe Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Drinkwater Dr. and Mrs. Daniel J. Evans Mr. and Mrs. Checky Herrington Mr. and Mrs. William O. Isaacs, II Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Kahlmus Kemp Associates, LLC Mr. Robert Kennedy Mr. and Mrs. Alan Lamar Mr. and Mrs. Stacy Nicholson Ms. Hallie Phillips Mr. and Mrs. Harry G. Robinson, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Wade Sims Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Temple Mrs. Elizabeth S. Frohse and Dr. Thomas T. Tischer Dr. and Mrs. John D. Voss Mr. and Mrs. George S. Warner Mr. Terry Winstead MEMBER RECOGNITION
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25 5:30 pm social 7 pm concert This transcendent alternative folk concert is a perfect pairing with the Walter Anderson exhibit, on display at The MAX from Sept. 7–Nov. 23. Come early for the members-only preshow social featuring James Beard Award Semifinalist Chef Hunter Evans. Concert tickets $20 for non-members. Not a member? Not a problem! Join today by emailing margo@msarts.org Settle in for a special concert by JEMS and Cyrena Wages. Fresh off tour with their new album, JEMS is a singer-songwriter trio made up of Jessica Rotter, Emily Colombier, and Meridian native Sarah Margaret Huff. 2155 Front Street Meridian, MS 39301 JEMS in Concert
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