Work to begin in fall to blend Ferris, Dafford murals|[6/2/06]

Published 12:00 am Friday, June 2, 2006

Mural artist Robert Dafford will begin work in the fall to paint transition panels around the first mural painted at City Front.

&#8220We sketched out some ideas and ways to stylistically make the transition of my mural to the continued line of historical murals,” said Martha Ferris, the artist who created that first mural in 2001.

Since then, Dafford, who has painted more than 250 public works worldwide, said he and his associates, had been commissioned and had completed 19 murals on panels of the concrete floodwall.

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Sparks flew in March when the committee coordinating the Dafford work floated the idea to City Hall of repainting the Ferris mural across Levee Street as part of the Art Park at Catfish Row. That would have allowed a continuous line of realistic depictions of historic events by Dafford.

Ferris and others objected to that idea, and the artists agreed, instead, to come up with a way to make her work, stylized and in vivid colors, blend better with the Dafford murals to its north and south.

On the south side, between the Ferris mural and entrance gate to City Front, Dafford and his crew will paint silhouettes of musicians marching from the gate to the riverfront, he said. The panel will measure about 12-feet by 15-feet and will depict the three Mississippi River steamboats, the American Queen, Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen.

The north side, which will measure about 12-feet by 12-feet, will have a large image of the late Willie Dixon, a Vicksburg native and world famous blues musician.

Ferris said she and Dafford independently had ideas to incorporate music alongside her mural with a focus on Dixon.

To further the idea of making Ferris’ mural reflect the new park across the street, Dafford will also paint brightly colored smokestacks at each side of the Ferris mural.

&#8220There will be smokestacks matching those in the park across the street,” Dafford said.

Last week, the two artists had a meeting, which Ferris called &#8220a wonderful meeting of minds and spirits.”

Ferris was selected in a competition to paint a mural on the north side of the floodwall for $15,000 provided by the Mississippi Arts Commission and the City of Vicksburg.

Later in 2001, a volunteer committee was formed to employ Dafford to document local history, beginning with the south floodwall, where murals cost $15,000. Most have been privately funded.

As the first Dafford mural was unveiled in 2003, it became clear the first phase, which included 14 murals, would not meet demand and additional sponsors began paying $16,500 for works on panels north of the Ferris mural.

By using the Ferris mural space, the committee would have had space for 22 murals on the north floodwall. Without them, the project will move forward with 18.