He Might’ve Been a Minister or a Juggler

American realist painter Bartlett featured at UM Department of Art spring lecture April 25 and panel discussion April 26

The University of Mississippi Department of Art invites the public to its spring visiting artist lecture, hosting internationally acclaimed artist and American realist painter Bo Bartlett. The lecture is Thursday, April 25, at 3 p.m. at the Jackson Events center in Oxford, with a reception afterward.

Also, on Friday, April 26 from noon to 1 p.m., at the University Museum, the Department of Art will host the “Muses and Metaphor” Panel Discussion, a brown bag event featuring Barlett; Betsy Eby, American encaustic painter; and William Dunlap, Southern painter.

In high school, Bo Bartlett’s list of career choices, in order, was short: a Baptist minister, circus juggler, and artist. He hitched his star to the last. He would be an artist. After studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, he found himself on the doorstep of his hero, the great American realist painter Andrew Wyeth. Wyeth not only became Bartlett’s mentor but they worked together along with Wyeth’s wife, Betsy on a five-year collaborative film project, Snow Hill.

“I’ve recommitted to painting the best paintings I can,” Bartlett said. “I want to carry Andy on in my work.”