We all have strengths and weaknesses in life. We learn about them in school and have them measured in gory detail on report cards and such.
My strength was and is writing, which I've described as painting pictures with words. It's more than made up for my lack of talent drawing and/or illustrating pictures with, well, pictures. More on that in a few minutes. But, I'm in awe of people who can paint, sculpt or otherwise create works of art of all kinds. And the place to check out some impressive works of art and support visual arts programs at Hinds is the Centennial Art Show, which started Monday and runs through Oct. 27.
That's Sarah Teasley pictured above; she's the chair of the Art Department and director of the Marie Hull Art Gallery on the Raymond Campus, where works of art are being displayed. Showcase artists include former Hinds faculty, such as Bob Dunaway, the department's former chair, as well as big names in art and related fields who either attended Hinds or have supported the program in the past. That list includes Wyatt Waters, Bill Dunlap, Jerry Hymel and fashion designer Gary Feazelle, among others.
"The theme here will be the connections these artists have to Hinds," Teasley told me during a visit some weeks ago, before pieces arrived. Her own contribution is the sculpture next to her in the photo. Pieces from current faculty and and other former faculty, students and alumni are also part of the collection viewable during the show's run.
My own foray into art as a youngster didn't yield much. Matter of fact, it hasn't evolved much since my only structured art class, in sixth grade. The instructor taught us to create "perspective" by using a ruler as a guide, and that turned into my only "piece." I've titled it "A Road with Telephone Poles." I re-created it for this blog. Shows my already-advanced age, since landlines are going away steadily. Those shadowy stick figures to the right are trees, and that's supposed to be the horizon back there :) I could benefit from "a little bit of color," like TV artist Bob Ross used to say, but I don't happen to have any color pencils at the moment :)
Now that you've gathered yourself from all the chuckling, a little bit of history before you head to the art show...
The Hinds Art Department was established in 1949 by Katherine Denton, for whom the art building on the Raymond Campus is named. According to a 1983 Hindsight article, classes were first held in a dorm room of Williams Hall, which burned in 2016.
The following year, the art program moved across the hall from President Dr. George McLendon’s office and had its first exhibit. As the program grew, it moved from location to location, including in the library, until McLendon suggested that “we just build an art building. A fine arts building.”
The Katherine Denton Art Building, which opened in 1968, also houses the Marie Hull Gallery, named for the renowned Mississippi artist in 1972.
In 1980, another Mississippi artist Andrew Bucci, a Vicksburg native, one of Hull’s former students, exhibited at Hinds. Hull donated several Bucci pieces to Hinds, and he donated several himself, for a total of 10. In 1983, Dunaway spearheaded having the reference room at the McLendon Library renamed the Andrew Bucci Reference Room in his honor.
Check out some of that fascinating artwork on display. And check out some of the Art Department's best talent on Instagram, at https://www.instagram.com/hindscc_art/
