The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council (YAC) and Oxford Film Festival have partnered to produce an unforgettable Art Crawl, starting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 23.
For the uninitiated, the YAC hosts a free Art Crawl event the fourth Tuesday of every month. Starting at the Powerhouse, a double decker bus transports attendees to and from a variety of venues.
This month’s Art Crawl has been expanded into an Oxford Day for Art. It will feature a number of special exhibits that tie into the Oxford Film Festival.
What can you expect if you come out and crawl? Here’s a list of can’t-miss exhibits.
Vintage Spy Movie Posters at the Burns Belfry
More than 40 vintage spy movie posters and related memorabilia will be on display at a special exhibit called “The Parker Collection” at Burns Belfry Museum from Jan. 23 to Feb. 11.
The Parker family owns the collection. Win Parker is retired from the intelligence community. His wife, Tamara, is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. Their son, Harrison Parker, is an air and space attorney who graduated from Ole Miss Law School. Small wonder that one of their favorite film genres would be spy movies. The family will meet with the public at the Burns Belfry Museum. But don’t ask too many questions about Win’s background. It’s probably classified!
“The Spirit Seam: Sets and Clips” at Misbits
Brooklyn-based artist Ashley Gerst’s film, “The Spirit Seam,” will be screening during the 2018 Oxford Film Festival in February, but a sneak peek is available earlier. On January 23, stop-motion animation sets and pieces she used to create the film will be on display at Misbits, a new media art space. Gerst has spent years painstakingly researching the lives of Appalachian people in mid-20th century mining country. From the houses they lived in to the furniture they used and the cars they drove to the mines, it’s all recreated in the magical yet realistic world in which “The Spirit Seam” takes place
“Dinner and a Movie” at The Frame Up
The Frame Up/Basement Gallery will host a solo exhibition by Oxford artist J-MAN from Jan. 22 to Feb. 26. You may already have seen some of J-MAN’s work in the form of Faulkner paintings utilizing clever plays on words. However, this show, titled “Dinner and a Movie,” will be a tribute to the influence of Andy Warhol’s artwork on J-MAN, with works ranging from pop art portraits of popular actors and actresses to depictions of materialism and consumerist culture in the food industry and interactive pieces combining art and technology. Although the exhibit opens as part of the Jan. 23 Art Crawl, the opening reception will be held later, on Feb. 6 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
“Celebrating Storytellers: Bicentennial Photo Documentaries” at LQC Lamar House Museum
“Celebrating Storytellers” is a project commemorating the state’s 200-year history through photo stories created by residents from all over Mississippi. Once created, the photo stories are transformed into three-minute films highlighting the importance of cultural and economic revitalization.
Exhibit-goers will be introduced to an interactive form of storytelling. Each image in the gallery is embedded with a QR code that can be scanned by viewers with their smartphones. Once scanned, the exhibit-goer can view the related micro-documentary on their smart device.
This innovative project was the result of a partnership between Blue Magnolia Films and Corner to Corner Productions. It originally debuted as a mile-long exhibit along Capitol Street in Jackson. Billed as the nation’s largest pop-up gallery, it even garnered attention from the New York Times.
Now, this incredible project is coming, in scaled-down form, to LQC Lamar House in Oxford.
“This is really about celebrating Mississippi,” said Chandler Griffin, co-founder of Blue Magnolia Films. “At 200 years, this is about celebrating our story, celebrating who we are, where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we’re going in the future. Mississippi is the first to use this technology in a statewide initiative. It represents a critical shift in how we develop and tell our story going forward.”
“We are always looking for fun ways to expand celebration of the arts,” says Oxford Film Festival Executive Director Melanie Addington. “Working with the Powerhouse to be part of the Art Crawl – and with the various artists and the Parker family to share their amazing collection – seemed like a fun way to expand the celebration of our 15th anniversary. The art shows range from cool spy posters to experimental art to Mississippians telling their stories through images. Truly, there is something for everyone, just like we attempt with the films at our festival.”
D.L. Perea is an Oxford-based filmmaker, photographer and writer and also serves as senior media producer for PMQ Pizza Magazine.
