The Water Valley Main Street Association will host the town’s 16th annual art crawl on Saturday, Oct. 19. Art enthusiasts can peruse homes and businesses opening their doors for the event and mingle with local artists from 6-9 p.m. Following the crawl, which has 14 stops, an after-party will be held from 9-10:30 p.m.
In addition to being the owner of stop #13, Mulberry Lane Resale Shoppe, Katelynn Dillard is a member of the Water Valley Main Street Association. This is Dillard’s first year as a co-chair for the art crawl.
“What’s really fun about the Water Valley Art Crawl is that it features both locally owned and operated businesses as well as historic homes,” Dillard said. “You get to see (artists’) workspaces, their personal collections of art from other artists as well as their own art featured in their own homes.”
Stop #1 on the crawl is The Blue Melon Rendezvous. Mari Foster is the creator of this gallery, which highlights the work of experimental artists. Stop #2 is The Magnolia Coffee Company, the parent company of the Magnolia Copper Top food truck on campus. At this location, guests can watch musical performances and listen to ghost fables and tales about Robert Johnson.
Stop #3, Bozarts Gallery, will feature nine visual artists of mixed media and one harpist. University of Mississippi English professor and owner of Bozarts Gallery Annette Trefzer was one of the founding members of the Water Valley Art Crawl.
Stop #4 is the home of Kate Donovan and Leslie Joblin, also known as the Cat Head House. The house was featured in the June issue of Better Home & Gardens magazine because of its bold and vibrant color scheme and decorative style.
Stop #5 and #6 are GG’s Flowers and Gifts and the Water Valley Main Street Association office, respectively. Glenda Gordon, owner of GG’s Flowers and Gifts, has been selling an array of unique home decor since 2014. The Water Valley Main Street Association, the nonprofit sponsoring the art crawl, will feature the works of the nationally renowned Mississippi quilter named Coulter Fussell.
The next two stops are more historic homes. The Creekmore House, stop #7, is where poet and novelist Hubert Creekmore grew up. This stop will feature a quilter, a ceramicist and a sculpture artist. Stop #8 is the Grapefruit House, home of Macon Humphries and Graham Hamaker, the artists who run the grapefruit clothing company. Their home will feature four artists.
Stop #9 is The Stitchery, a newly opened needlepoint shop owned by Camille Breckenridge. This stop will transform into a fiber art market composed of three artists with a quilter, an artist who does abstract embroidery and a crochet artist.
Stop #10 is aptly named “TIN” — an abbreviation for the nonprofit organization This Is Noteworthy. TIN will display the works of photographer Alan Messer and house a sculptress Tori Smith in their space. TIN will also showcase the creations of several local and regional artists.
“Alan Messer has photographed an endless list of greats, from John Lennon to David Bowie, Diana Ross, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash and many more. He will be present at the event,” Dillard said.
Stop #11 is the Courthouse Cafe, where Susan Tamboli, a painter, will be present, followed by stop #12, where Jonathan Kent Adams will open the doors of his art studio and display some of his own work.
Dillard’s business, Mulberry Lane Resale Shoppe, is stop #13. Dillard chose to feature watercolor artist Robbin Whitfield, who shares the store’s passion for being environmentally conscious.
“What I love about Robbin is she is not only an artist, but she’s a naturalist and a kayaker. So she gets in her kayak (and) goes kayaking with all of her art supplies to a remote place in the swamp,” Dillard said. “She makes her own natural pigments and paints with them in the swamp using the natural paints, and that’s her work that we’ll be featuring.”
The final stop on the art crawl, #14, is McDaniel Made Workshop. Justin McDaniel, owner of the wooden furniture workshop, is the co-chair of the art crawl alongside Dillard. McDaniel made the watercolor map of the art crawl locations that has been featured on the Water Valley Main Street Association’s social media and website. McDaniel’s workshop will house two painters.
The band “The All Tore Up,” led by UM Biology Professor Steve Brewer, will provide music for the after-party located at the Courthouse Commons.
The 16th annual Water Valley Art Crawl is free for anyone who wishes to participate and is open to all ages.
“It’s all about just a free community event, and the artists are there to mingle, meet people, but also they’re there to sell their work,” Dillard said. “So people throughout the evening are welcome and encouraged to talk with the artists, get to know them, get to know their body of work and buy something from them to really show how much they support (them).”
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the date of the art crawl as Friday, Oct. 16, however, the Water Valley Art Crawl will be taking place on Saturday, Oct. 19.
