{"id":117292,"date":"2023-09-05T10:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=117292"},"modified":"2023-09-05T10:00:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:00:33","slug":"mississippi-artists-to-paint-faulkners-mule-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/mississippi-artists-to-paint-faulkners-mule-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Artists to Paint Faulkner’s Mule Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Ole Miss art student paints a dilapidated structure at Greenfield Farms, where nine Mississippi artists will paint William Faulkner’s former mule farm as part of a competition benefitting the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency project. A public reception on Sept. 17 will allow guests to watch the painters complete their works. Photo by Kevin Bain\/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services<\/p><\/div>\n

OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 Nine artists from across Mississippi will soon converge on what was once William Faulkner’s mule farm to depict the landscape in a “plein air” painting competition.<\/p>\n

The Sept. 17 event will be held at Greenfield Farm, a 20-acre parcel of land east of Oxford previously owned by the famous author. The University of Mississippi<\/a>, which owns the property, plans to convert it into a one-of-a-kind writer’s residency<\/a> that will attract writers from Mississippi and those who make Mississippi their subject.<\/p>\n

Besides fundraising for the project<\/a>, the painting competition will include a public reception at 4 p.m. During the reception, visitors can watch the competitors complete their pieces, enjoy refreshments from Tarasque Cucina<\/a> and potentially purchase paintings created that day.<\/p>\n

“Greenfield Farm is so beautiful,” said Brooke Alexander, organizer of the event and instructional assistant professor of art. “It’s overgrown, and you can just feel the history in the land and all the stories that have come through the space.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>“Obviously, the land is going to change once the writer’s residency begins, so we wanted to somehow document it before changes start to happen \u2013 to showcase the beauty that the land has claimed on these ruins.”<\/p>\n

The artists will be given free rein to use their medium and canvas size of choice. Of the finished pieces, one will be selected for a $1,000 grand prize and will become part of the farm’s permanent collection. Other works will be available for purchase.<\/p>\n

Alexander said the scope of competing artists demonstrates “a very small portion of what Mississippi artists bring to the table.”<\/p>\n

“Mississippi has such a wide range of artists,” she said. “The writer’s residency will welcome a diverse group of people, so we are trying to get that sense already at the start of this project. We hope to introduce these artists to people in Oxford and get them interested in their work.”<\/p>\n

Competing at the event are:<\/p>\n