Free weekend admission, block party, and concerts by Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA) announces Walter Anderson Weekend, Friday, Sept. 20 to Sunday, Sept. 22, a celebration of creativity and community inspired by the life and works of Walter Inglis Anderson. The weekend features free museum admission and special hours on Saturday and Sunday, a Saturday block party in the streets of Ocean Springs, and two concerts by Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars. The event also serves as an early 116th birthday party for Walter Anderson, who was born on Sept. 29, 1903.
“The creative and entrepreneurial legacies of Walter Anderson and the Anderson Family continue to reverberate across the region,” said Julian Rankin, WAMA Director. “Walter Anderson Weekend is a chance for us to share these contributions with residents of and visitors to the coast, as well as an opportunity to showcase the contemporary artists and makers who are keeping this creative legacy alive.”
Walter Anderson Weekend is sponsored by Visit Mississippi, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, the R&B Feder Foundation, Lemon-Mohler Insurance, Charter Bank, Gulf Hills Hotel & Conference Center, Chandeleur Island Brewing Company, Cathead Distillery, Broadbent Selections, Government Street Grocery, Coastal Mississippi, and the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce. In partnership with the Mississippi Songwriters Festival.
Music Inspired by Seven Climates
Bookending the weekend are two concerts by Dickinson, the fourth year in his “Music Inspired by the Seven Climates” series of performances inspired by Walter Anderson’s murals in the Ocean Springs Community Center. Dickinson, the son of record producer Jim Dickinson and past member of The Black Crowes, has assembled an all-star ensemble of collaborators, including Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and founding member of The Allman Brothers and Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band; Vaylor Trucks, founding member of the Yeti Trio and son of Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers; Jake Eckert, New Orleans Suspects; Kirk Joseph, founding member of the Dirty Dozen Brass and leader of Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove; Big Chief Juan Pardo, The Golden Comanches Mardi Gras Indians; Callaghan Miles, 14 year-old bass prodigy; Sharde “Fifemastor” Thomas, blues torchbearer and granddaughter of fife and drum pioneer Otha Turner; and Johnny Vidacovich, New Orleans drum legend of Astral Project. Each of the two performances features a different collection of musicians. The lineup is subject to change.
Dickinson’s Friday night performance, “Wall to Wall Sound”, begins at 8 p.m. on Sept. 20. The night of rock, funk, blues, and musical experimentation showcases collaborators Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe), Jake Eckert, Kirk Joseph, Big Chief Juan Pardo of The Golden Comanches Mardi Gras Indians; Sharde “Fifemastor” Thomas, and Johnny Vidacovich. Tickets are $50 for priority seating, $35 for general admission, and $25 for standing room.
Sunday’s more intimate performance, Dickinson’s “In the Round” Recital, begins at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22. Dickinson takes as his muse the colors and rhythms of these iconic artworks, translating their visual dynamism into mind-blowing and often improvised sound. Dickinson is joined by Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe); Vaylor Trucks, Callaghan Miles, and Johnny Vidacovich. Tickets are $40 per person.
Dickinson will also participate in a panel discussion at 4 p.m. on Sept. 22, “Conversations In-spired by…”, where he discusses the origins of the series and shares his process of translating visual art into sound. The panel discussion is free to the public.
“As soon as I walked into the community center, it just blew me away,” Dickinson told the Clarion-Ledger. “For the first time ever, the art made me hear music… Walter encouraged me to break the code,” he continues. “Because of Walter, I’ve learned how to harmoniously bridge the gap. It’s broken through a whole vocabulary of chords for me as a writer.”
Luther Dickinson tickets are available at www.walterandersonmuseum.org.
Free Museum Admission
WAMA offers free weekend admission to the Museum’s reinstalled permanent collection, Walter Inglis Anderson: Artist, Naturalist, Mystic. Special weekend hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The sprawling exhibition interprets the story of Walter Anderson through the pivotal moments and localities of his life, presented in conversation with larger themes of the 20th and 21st centuries. A reintroduction to the artist-philosopher who revolutionized art in the South, Artist, Naturalist, Mystic casts Anderson’s large body of work – and many of his rarest and most exceptional creations – in the expansive context of the American imagination.v*Ocean Springs Community Center closed Saturday for a private event.
Block Party
On Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the celebration of creativity spills into the streets for a family-friendly day of art, music, and local entrepreneurship. The day featuring food trucks, musicians, local artists and creators who showcase and sell along Washington Avenue, as well as the unveiling of an exhibition of Walter Anderson block prints decorated by artists from across the region. Free admission; food and drink for purchase.
