2001 mural at City Front may be moved to park|[5/03/06]

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Artwork preceded historical images.

The only non-historical mural along Vicksburg’s City Front may be moved to make room for four more of the pieces being painted by artist Robert Dafford.

&#8220Anybody can see it’s not in keeping with the other murals,” Main Street Director Rosalie Theobald said as she and members of the Vicksburg Riverfront Mural Committee met with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday to discuss the project, which has seen 17 historical murals painted along the north and south floodwalls along Levee Street in four years.

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Those paintings, each 12 feet long, by Dafford and his crew from Shreveport join a 57-foot-long image painted by Vicksburg artist Martha Ferris in 2001.

The committee and board proposed that the mural be re-created or moved so that four historic murals can be put in its place.

Mayor Laurence Leyens suggested the mural painted by Ferris and owned by the City of Vicksburg be reproduced and moved to The Art Park at Catfish Row, where city officials are planning to have local artists decorate concrete walls with work reflecting the history of the Mississippi River and Vicksburg.

Vicksburg Riverfront Mural Committee chairman Nellie Caldwell said the committee already has plans for 18 additional murals on the north floodwall, and the list is growing. The mural by Ferris, also located on the north side of the wall, is large enough for four historical murals.

&#8220We need to know if we have those four sections or not,” Caldwell said.

Ferris was selected by former Mayor Robert Walker and his board from a panel of 10 artists from across Mississippi to paint the mural, which focuses on the river, railroad and highway that the artist felt represented Vicksburg’s culture and diversity. The mural was equally financed through a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission and funds from the City of Vicksburg. The total payment was $15,000, the price paid by sponsors of historic murals on the south side floodwall. Murals on the north side of the floodwall cost $16,500, a markup due to inflation.

Ferris said by telephone after the City Hall meeting and after being contacted by Caldwell that she was &#8220offended” by the proposal to move her work.

She said the suggestion of covering up the art is an insult to her and to the nine-member local committee who selected her.

&#8220It’s an insult to all those people – to discard their selection,” Ferris said. &#8220The notion of painting over someone’s art is against what art is about.”

The nine-member committee was formed by the former administration, who had the final vote. The board had a 2-1 vote, with former South Ward Alderman Sam Habeeb against Ferris’ design. Ferris said the mural has always been controversial, but public art often is.

&#8220Some love it, some don’t. That’s the way all art is – even that of Dafford,” she said.

The floodwall mural was the first of three Ferris painted. The other two are in Jackson.

While board and committee members would like to have the space for more historic murals, they want the mural Ferris painted to continue to have a presence downtown.

&#8220The mural committee is in no way in a fight to have Ms. Ferris’ mural covered, but it is imperative for us to know for our future plans,” Caldwell said.

Committee and board members said Tuesday they will plan a meeting with Ferris to discuss the next step. She said later she would be &#8220happy” to meet with the board and mural committee.

Caldwell, a volunteer who has led the riverfront mural group, said she is leaving the decision about the Ferris mural up to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen since the mural is owned by the city. If the decision is to keep the mural, she said her committee will work around it.

Ferris said she has been pleased with the historic murals and looks forward to seeing more. She would also like to see more variety and work by other artists, she added.

&#8220I think they’re wonderful and I commend Nellie Caldwell for all her work,” she said. &#8220I think Robert Dafford and (his artists) are doing a beautiful job.”