At first glance, an assembly of ceramic artwork crafted by a group of University of Southern Mississippi (USM) students appears as pieces of a dream – figurines that include a teddy bear, computer laptop, rolls of toilet paper and a regal magnolia bloom, among several other items.
This seemingly random collection of objects awakens to form the 8-by-4 ceramic mural “Magnolia of Hope” to be installed next to its predecessor mural “Destination Hub City” in the Luckyday Citizenship Hall Breezeway on USM’s Hattiesburg campus. The piece will be revealed and dedicated during a ceremony on Sept. 12 at 10:30 a.m. Members of the Southern Miss community are invited to attend.
Inspired by the profound transformation the world underwent beginning in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic challenging norms and reshaping daily living worldwide, Southern Miss art students sought to capture what began as a sudden disruption from the pandemic and evolved into adaptation and resilience.
Allen Chen, associate professor of ceramics in the School of Performing and Visual Arts, facilitated the project as a faculty member, bringing in visiting artists Alexis Gregg and Tanner Coleman and a planning group that included USM faculty and students, to look back on these transformative years and express their experiences through a commemorative mural.
“I want our students to have steady exposure to high-caliber, nationally prominent ceramics artists and educators,” Chen said of the initiative.
In the fall of 2017, Gregg and Coleman conducted a workshop with Southern Miss art students and community members to make “Destination Hub City,” which was completed in the university’s ceramics studio. Chen worked with university administration to secure the installation of that mural at the Luckyday Breezeway, but the Covid-19 pandemic put the entire project on pause.
Chen describes the new mural as “a collaborative effort with a public component” and expressed gratitude to the USM Partners for the Arts and the School of Performing and Visual Arts for their support of the project.
“Destination Hub City” was installed in the fall of 2022, and in 2023, Gregg returned to conduct another workshop with student to launch ‘Magnolia of Hope.’ Both Gregg and Coleman will be on hand to lead USM students, along with Chen, through the two-day installation effort before the formal dedication.
Chen said students were asked to write about their own experiences in the pandemic and then translate those thoughts into form for the mural, creating pieces reflective of their lived experience.
“The central image of the magnolia, with its roots, branches, and leaves, gathers the sculpted stories of our shared journey,” Chen noted. “The spreading seeds of the magnolia flower symbolize a collective sense of hope and unity for the future.”
Chen says that people have strong feelings and memories about major events occurring in their lifetime across the generations, such as when President Kennedy was assassinated or 9-11, as examples.
“The pandemic is that for us, and I believe this mural captures the imagery and emotions felt by so many who dealt with the challenges we all faced over the last four years,” he continued. “It’s so intricate – the students worked really hard on this, and I’m so proud of what they’ve done.”
‘Magnolia of Hope’ was crafted with stoneware clay, color slips, underglaze and finished with low-fire glazes, with production taking about three days, with USM students and a few faculty members and Hattiesburg-area community members making the objects from clay. The mural was then cut into sections and dried slowly for a week before it was loaded into a kiln and then fired over 48 hours to cone 2~3 (approximately 2,075 degrees Fahrenheit).
Among the students in Chen’s ceramics class contributing to the project include Kayla Beeles and Bria Sims.
A senior from Pascagoula majoring in sculpture and ceramics, Beeles lost her father, Mark Beeles, during the pandemic due to complications from Covid-19. She crafted a small boat for inclusion in the mural to memorialize him and his love for fishing.
“The entire mural – it’s very sentimental,” Beeles reflected. “Everyone’s contribution, each experience – good or bad – reflected in it, is special. It’s very well done. It has really come together nicely with everyone working together.”
A junior graphic design major from Laurel, Sims said, “There’s a lot going on here in the mural and that’s good, because everyone was going through different things, and it gives representations of them. We were all going through these different challenges, many of us alone, at the same time – all over the world.”
For Sims, most of her days during the pandemic were spent at home listening to music, which helped get her through the confinement brought on by the regulations on public interaction during that time. This inspired her to craft a musical note as her contribution to the mural.
“I hope when people see this, that they see a part of themselves in it and also gain a sense of community in reflection on what we’ve been through, and hopefully acknowledge that we can get through anything if we’re willing to work together and be considerate of each other.”