From staff reports

Backyards & Beyond: Mississippians and their Stories — The First Year After Katrina, an exhibit by Vicksburg gallery owner H.C. Porter, will be on display until the end of November in the Katrina Research Center at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park campus in Long Beach.

The traveling exhibit is comprised of environmental portrait paintings by Porter paired with audio recordings collected by collaborator and Backyards & Beyond executive director Karole Sessums.

Porter and Sessums traveled to the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. While Porter photographed, Sessums collected live field recordings of the people they met.

For its Gulf Coast premiere, the exhibit is being displayed in three installments — the first was on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; the second and third will be featured at the beginnings of October and November so that 27 new paintings and storieswill can be displayed each month. The exhibit will travel to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock in 2010 for the fifth anniversary of Katrina.

The Katrina Research Center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and 2 until 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free. Call 228-214-3423 or visit www.backyardsandbeyond.org. The H.C. Porter Gallery is located at 1216 Washington St.

Local quilter’s creations to be at Hattiesburg show

A special exhibit honoring a Vicksburg quilter will be part of a show in Hattiesburg next month.

The works of Master Quilter Martha Skelton will be highlighted during the Pine Belt Quilters Guild’s Fiber Art and Quilt Show, set for Oct. 10-12 at Lake Terrace Convention Center. This year’s theme is Two-Color Quilts. About 400 quilted entries are expected to be entered.

The judge will be Flavin Glover of Auburn, Ala., who is known for her log cabin and geometric patchwork quilts.

There will be a category in which the winning quilt will be purchased by the Hattiesburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. Other activities include a lecture/trunk show and a workshop.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Lectures, trunk shows and workshops have additional fees.

For information, call Jo-Ann Evans at 601-264-9706 or visit www.pinebeltquilters.com.