Year of Delta Heritage Celebrates the Visual Arts

The philosopher Edward S. Casey has written extensively about the ways in which place is represented in painted landscapes, photographs and maps.  Among his arguments is the contention that truly successful representation of place requires that the artist move from simply drawing the physical identity of the place (called topographic representation) to a more sublime “topopoetic” representation, capturing the emotional poetry of the place.  The Delta is a place of great emotional poetry, with glowing sunrises, misty cypress brakes and oxbow lakes, vast fields of cotton and rice, the River, heat, humidity, and all the emotional conflict, contrast and turmoil that is summed up in The Blues.  

Many visual artists have re-presented this poetry through their photographs and paintings.  Although many of these artists have been associated with the Delta State University Art Department and owe some allegiance to Malcolm Norwood as their teacher, it is the Alluvian Hotel in Greenwood that has fostered a true School of Delta Art.  The Alluvian, together with the Alluvian Spa, has done this not by promoting a single genre or style of painting, or even by promoting artists trained by a single school, but rather by sponsoring artists who capture the “topopoetry” of the Delta.  They have commissioned works by some three dozen Delta artists, asking for specific themes like “Delta Land,” and “Delta air,” and “Delta tranquility.”   The result is a spectacular collection of original works that allow hotel visitors to see the poetry of the Delta through the eyes of the Delta’s artists, artists whose work would not have been so abundant or prominently displayed if not for the patronage of the Viking Range Corporation. 

Artists in the Alluvian collection currently include Pat Brown, Marion Brown, Langdon Clay, Taylor Bowen Ricketts, Barbara Baine, Jane Rule Burdine, Mary Rose Carter, Maude Schuyler Clay, Jeff Cole, Gerald DeLoach, Jerry Lee "Duff" Dorrough, Bill Dunlap, Amy Evans, Deborah Fagan, Aubrey Falls, Sheila Gourlay, Pryor Buford Graeber, Alice Hammell, Stephanie Harrover, Will Jacks, Dolores Justus, Richard Kelso, Bill Lester, James Lindsey, Pam Matthews, Gloria Norris, Collier Parker, ChesleyPearman, Kathleen Robbins, Mary Ann Ross, Kim Rushing, Susan Russell, Nan Sanders, Maude Schuyler Clay, Jim Seale, Mickie Turner, Shawn Whittington, StevenYee.  All of these artists belong to the “Delta School” in that they recreate the image and the feel of the Delta, the poetry of place. 

The visual arts also include three dimensional representations.  McCarty’s and Peter’s Potteries, in Merigold and Mound Bayou, respectively, have become icons of the Delta in their own right, and many Delta tables are set with dishes glazed in green and brown.  These art potters draw customers from Jackson, Memphis, and points beyond.  They also provide excellent examples of how the fine arts can anchor communities by providing economic stability.

Delta State University recently unveiled the Jimmy and Hazel Sanders Sculpture Garden, bringing another dimension to the visual arts in the Delta.  This collection of free-standing sculptural works is arrayed in front of the Bologna Performing Arts Center amid landscaping and a fountain.  Another DSU visual arts collection will be unveiled on the first of this month.  This permanent exhibit, titled “A Cast of Blues” is a collection of almost 60 life-casts of the faces of blues performers.  Each sculpture was made directly from the face of a living blues performer by sculptor Sharon McConnell, creating a life-sized three dimensional image of their face.  A Cast of Blues includes the faces of Hubert Sumlin, Robert Lockwood Jr., R.L. Burnside, Pinetop Perkins, David Honeyboy Edwards, Bo Diddley, Henry Townsend, Bobby Rush, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Bobby Blue Bland, Willie King, and many others who have lived the Blues.  It is on permanent display in the foyer of Ewing Hall on the DSU campus.  While neither the sculpture garden nor the Cast of Blues collection focus exclusively on the Delta, both resonate with the place and culture of the Delta.

The Mississippi Delta is truly a place of scenic beauty and great emotional poetry.  The artists of the Delta interpret both these aspects of place through their paintings, photographs, ceramics, and sculptures.  Paintings of Delta landscapes, pottery pieces with a twist of river running through them, and the faces of the men and women who lived the Blues all interpret and reflect the topopoetry of “This Delta, this land.”  Collectively, Delta artists have re-presented the place of the Delta, allowing any viewer to feel the sun on their skin, smell the cotton gin and the fried catfish, hear the snow geese overhead and the voices of the people, and touch the river as it meanders south.