The Square is a collage of Oxford’s best shops and restaurants and serves as the cultural center of the town. No single store displays this artistic scene better than Southside Gallery. The gallery features works by artists from across the Southeast and is open to the public.
Southside Gallery is free to the public, and open Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Fridays, the gallery is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There are about twelve exhibits a year at Southside Gallery, and each one is open to the public and offers the artists opportunities to engage with visitors and collectors.
Milly Moorehead opened the gallery in 1993. It was sold to the current owner, Vickie Cook, in November 2002. Vickie Cook works with her son and gallery director, Wil Cook. The gallery promotes the arts in Oxford through its monthly exhibitions, frequent artist receptions and other public events.
Typically, artists interested in exhibiting their work reach out directly to the gallery with their portfolios. The Cooks’ goal is to represent these artists, showcase their work and potentially sell it for them.
“We do exhibit artists who aren’t from Oxford, but we really emphasize artists from this region, like Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana (and) Arkansas,” Wil Cook said.
The gallery displays various forms of media. Prices typically range from $100 to $800.
“There’s not a particular media that we emphasize,” Wil Cook said. “We exhibit paintings, photography, textile work and sculpture.”
The current exhibit at Southside features works by Coulter Fussell, Wil Cook’s wife, who is a Water Valley, Miss., native. Her exhibition is called “MAX HOT” and consists of 23 textiles. Each piece is created from a custom-printed chiffon fabric, with photographs and kodachrome slides printed on.
“People donate all the old fabrics to my studio, and then I mix the fabrics with donated photographs,” Fussell said. “People send photographs, and I print it on fabric and make these upholsteries.”
Textiles were not Fussell’s original medium of choice. She earned her B.F.A. in art with a painting and drawing emphasis from the University of Mississippi in 2000.
“I didn’t switch to textiles until 2015, so I have been doing it for about 10 years,” Fussell said. “I live in Water Valley, (Miss.), and I have a studio there.”
Growing up in Mississippi deepened Fussell’s appreciation of Southern art and local artists. She believes that Mississippi as a location can serve as artistic inspiration.
“I would say that the South is an encouraging place for people aspiring to be artists because I … there’s a lot to make art about here, and I think that there’s a lot of freedom in being an artist,” Fussell said.
She believes that, although the South is somewhat isolated from the more popular spots in the art world, its environment is no less rewarding.
“There’s not a very structured art world, so that’s very challenging,” Fussell said. “It’s isolated from big urban centers where the art world happens, so there are challenges, but if you can make these challenges work for you, then I think it’s a great place.”
Southside also serves as an integral part of art classes at the University of Mississippi. Every summer during the May intersession, students can take “Art 323: Plein Air,” a landscape painting course that takes place outdoors rather than within a studio. Students produce oil paintings of local landscapes, learning specific color palettes and gestural outdoor application techniques and developing individualized artistic approaches.
The class ends with a reception hosted by Southside Gallery, where the students get the opportunity to display their work.
“They have an annual Plein Air show, and I think that’s (professor of art) Phillip Jackson’s class,” Fussell said. “They have this show upstairs, and it’s really popular, and they fill the whole room up with work.”
