Last week I promised that I would cover in more detail the upcoming event, Conversations: Oxford Artists Explore the Museum’s Vault being held at the University of Mississippi Museum on Saturday starting at 12:30 p.m..

The program consists of three events with the first being a panel discussion including three local artists.

The Friends of the Museum Board put on the event, and this year selected Glenn Ray Tutor, Brooke White and Charlie Buckley to be on the panel.  Each artist has selected works from the vault and will discuss what inspires them as artists.

Collections Manager Marti Funke spoke with each artist about what artists, genres and media they liked, and she gathered some pieces for them to choose from for their part of the discussion.

Participants are allowed to ask questions of the speakers making this a real conversation that gives everyone a real sense of how artists work generally and specifically as each artist shares their personal inspirations, techniques and aspirations as artists.

Charlie Buckley earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting at the University of Mississippi in 2004 and opened up his own studio in Oxford where he worked on commissions and personal work until receiving a graduate assistantship in 2007 to the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio, where he pursued his Master of Fine Arts, which he earned in 2009. He now operates a full-time studio in Tupelo.

Brooke White is an associate professor of Imaging Arts at UM and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University and her Master of Fine Aarts from Cornell University. She currently teaches in the art department and works as a fine art photographer.

Glennray Tutor is a photorealist whose work is shown and collected around the world. He currently works in Oxford, and has work in the Seymour Lawrence Collection at the University Museum. 

Also part of the program, the studio visits begin at 2:30 p.m. and this is where everyone gets to really see what goes on in the artistic processes of each artist since they are seeing the actual work, tools and space that the artist works in. 

To finish up the day, the third and final event is the second annual Rowan Oak Mint Julep Party at 5:30.

I urge you not to miss this illuminating program, which is free and open to the public. If you plan on attending, contact Rebecca Phillips at 662-915-7028 to register, so they can plan for studio visits. 

ANDI BEDSWORTH is owner of Art To Go, which brings free art opportunities to children in the community.