The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council held a reception on Thursday, Oct. 24. for the art exhibition,  “The Food Show,” which will run through Nov. 1. 

The exhibit showcases everything from paintings of muscadine wine and boiled peanuts stands on rural roadsides to impressionistic paintings of cherries and assemblage art of pineapples. 

The reception provided those who attended with free food and drinks and was followed by Thacker Mountain Radio — which is housed in the same building — this time with special performances by Soul City Three, Eden Brent and author Marion Barnwell. 

The Powerhouse regularly holds art shows, providing artists an opportunity to present their work. 

“(The shows) make art accessible to artists who aren’t necessarily, you know, big and famous,” Jana Wilson, an artist from Memphis who had his works featured, said. “I find that being down in this area really inspires me a lot.”  

Wilson’s art is one of the central displays of the exhibition, showcasing various types of assemblage art, including a piece featuring pineapples reminiscent of an Andy Warhol painting and a tomato-themed piece with a babydoll locked inside of a cage.  

“I’ve always put things together in interesting combinations. When I see things, they tell me a story. I can walk out there in the parking lot, find some stuff on the ground, and go, oh my gosh … look at all the red things together or today’s color is turquoise … visual things tell me stories,  so I try to reproduce that,” Wilson said.

Other artists, like the late Oxford artist Janet Barnes, Debbie Myers, Linda J. Peters and Vicki Stevens also have their art featured. 

“The Powerhouse is home to the Arts Council … so I feel like there’s art constantly up … I can’t say enough good things about (it) … I absolutely love it here,” Payton Thornton, an integrated marketing communications major from St. Louis, said. 

The reception was free to the public, and many of the art works were for sale. “The Food Show” will be on display through Friday, Nov. 1.