Double Decker regulars share their thoughts on being part of the bigger arts festival circuit.
44 Sliding Into the Blues
A Mississippi Arts Commission grant provides a musical opportunity for an Oxford teenager to learn from longtime slide guitarist.
48 Turning Heads
An Ole Miss graduate’s unique custom hatmaking business is sitting pretty.
54 Staying Busy
An Oxford octogenarian transforms ordinary items, including her shoes, into colorful creations.
58 A Mind for Art
An Ole Miss graduate makes it big as a painter with prolific artwork, from exhibits depicting his own family history to everyday city scenes.
LETTER from the PUBLISHER
Spring is in full bloom, and we are excited to bring you an issue packed with talented people, beautiful art and great stories.
This month, we are highlighting all things that make our community a vibrant place to live and work. From making hats (page 48) and transforming shoes (page 54) to teaching slide guitar (page 44), there’s something for everyone in this magazine. Art, music and food have an impact on
our lives but also have an economic impact on the places we live and work. This year, the Double Decker Arts Festival is projected to bring more than 60,000 people to Oxford over three days and impact the community more than ever before.
Without artists and musicians to provide entertainment, paintings, pottery, jewelry and much more, this event and many others around our area would never exist. You can find a few of the artists who
make sure they are part of Double Decker every year starting on page 36. Enjoy reading about the talented and creative individuals we are highlighting in this issue, and we will see you right back here next month.
RACHEL M. WEST, PUBLISHER
PUBLISHER
Rachel West
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Emily Welly
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Leslie Criss
EVENTS EDITOR
Jiwon Lee
FOOD EDITOR
Sarah Godwin
COPY EDITOR
Ashley Arthur
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR
Jennie Lee
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Eugene Stockstill
OFFICE
BUSINESS MANAGER
Hollie Hilliard
DISTRIBUTION
Allen Baker
Brian Hilliard
MAIN OFFICE
662-234-4008
ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Holly Vollor
SENIOR EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Joe Worthem
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Austin Dillon
Jiwon Lee
Olivia Moore
Lindsay Pace
Lisa Roberts
ADVERTISING ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS
Alise M. Emerson
Leigh Lowery
Whitney Maxwell
Lynn McElreath
Moni Simpson
Whitney Worsham
ADVERTISING DESIGNERS
Paul Gandy Markka Prichard
ADVERTISING INFORMATION ads@invitationoxford.com
To subscribe to one year (10 issues) or to buy an announcement, visit invitationmag.com.
To request a photographer at your event, email invitationmag.events@gmail.com
Invitation Magazines respects the many diverse individuals and organizations that make up north Mississippi and strives to be inclusive and representative of all members of our community.
PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE
COMING UP IN OUR
COMMUNITY
OXFORD
Conference for the Book
APRIL 2-4
The annual celebration includes themed moderated sessions on campus and in town, a special edition of Thacker Mountain Radio, book signings and more. See website for complete schedule and details. oxfordconferenceforthebook.com
Spring Fling
APRIL 5
Junior Auxiliary of Oxford is ready to par-tee at its golf-themed Spring Fling fundraiser to support projects for local children. 3-6 p.m., the Powerhouse. jaofoxford.org
Ole Miss Big Event
APRIL 5
Throughout the day, Ole Miss students participate in volunteer service projects around Oxford and Lafayette County. bigevent.olemiss.edu
Theatre Oxford
APRIL 11-12
Theatre Oxford presents the musical revue “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”
Tickets $15. 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and
OLE MISS BASEBALL HOME GAMES
APRIL 1 VS. JACKSON STATE
APRIL 9 VS. ALCORN STATE
APRIL 11-13 VS. TENNESSEE
APRIL 15 VS. LITTLE ROCK
APRIL 25-27 VS. VANDERBILT
APRIL 29 VS. AUSTIN PEAY
7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Powerhouse. oxfordarts.com
Smash Cancer Pickleball Tournament
APRIL 11
Benefits Baptist Cancer Center Jerry and Mary Lexa Patient Assistance Fund. 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Oxford Activity Center. baptistcancercenter.com/smash-cancer
Opera Performance
APRIL 11 AND 13
UM Opera Theatre presents “La Canterina”
and “The Beautiful Bridegroom” featuring the LOU Symphony Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. April 11; 3 p.m. April 13, the Ford Center. olemiss.edu/opera
Meet the Rebels
APRIL 12
Meet Ole Miss football players and coaches. 1 p.m., the Manning Center. olemisssports.com
Governor’s Cup
APRIL 22
The Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball teams hit the road to play their annual nonconference game in Pearl, Mississippi. 6 p.m., Trustmark Park. olemisssports.com
“Hadestown”
APRIL 24
The Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical takes the stage in Oxford. Tickets from $55. 7:30 p.m., the Ford Center. fordcenter.org
Double Decker Festival
APRIL 25-26
Oxford’s premiere festival returns with two days of food, music and the arts. doubledeckerfestival.com
Evening at the Museum
APRIL 5
Join Janet and Will McFarlane for songs and storytelling from a Muscle Shoals legend. Tickets, $25, available online. Doors open 6 p.m.; music starts 7:30 p.m., Gumtree Museum of Art. gumtreemuseum.com
Hospitality Arts Festival
APRIL 5
Join Booneville Main Street for a juried arts event with over 100 vendors, artist demos, a kids arts contest, live music and more. 8 a.m.-4 p.m., downtown Booneville. visitbooneville.com
FCA Night of Champions
APRIL 10
Fellowship of Christian Athletes hosts an
evening headlined by Clemson University’s head football coach Dabo Swinney. Tickets from $20. 6:30 p.m., Cadence Bank Arena. cb-arena.com
A Novel Affair
APRIL 10
Friends of the Lee County Library are hosting a roaring 20s-themed celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of the publishing of F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” to benefit the library. Purchase tickets, $75, in advance at the library. 6 p.m., Tupelo Country Club. leeitawambalibrary.org
Amory Railroad Festival
APRIL 10-13
With a carnival, car show, food and craft vendors, a 5K race, live music and more for the whole family, Amory’s 44th annual Railroad Festival will not disappoint. Downtown Amory. cityofamoryms.gov
Sessions Open Mic
APRIL 11
The Link Centre hosts an open mic night featuring spoken word artists, singers, musicians, comedians and more. 7 p.m., the Link Centre.
facebook.com/LinkCentreTup
“Holding Space”
APRIL 11
Artist Samantha Haring hosts a live demo and art talk in conjunction with her “Holding Space” exhibit, and Chris and Holly Hallmark sponsor a closing reception. Live demo and art talk at noon; closing reception at 5 p.m., Gumtree Museum of Art. gumtreemuseum.com
“The Blues is Alright”
APRIL 12
Heritage Entertainment presents an evening of Southern soul featuring several blues
artists. Tickets from $59. 7 p.m., Cadence Bank Arena.
cb-arena.com
Crossroads Clash
APRIL 12
EPW Wrestling comes to Corinth. Tickets from $7. 7:30 p.m., Crossroads Arena. crossroadsarena.com
Easter Egg Hunt
APRIL 19
Tombigbee State Park hosts an Easter Egg Hunt. Admission included with park entry. 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
mdwfp.com
Tupelo Sprint Triathlon
APRIL 26
Tupelo Sprint Triathlon includes a 300-meter pool swim, 11-mile road bike and 5K run. Registration, $75-$100, available online. 8 a.m., Tupelo Aquatic Center. facebook.com/TupeloSuperSprint
Sacred Choral Traditions
APRIL 26
An NMSO performance featuring the combined choruses of the First United Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church and Harrisburg Baptist Church. Tickets $35. 7:30 p.m., Harrisburg Baptist Church. nmsymphony.com
SHOUTOUTS
Meet the 2025 Double Decker Arts Festival Poster Artist
Sarah Buzzell developed an appreciation for art early in life, thanks to her artist grandfather, Don McCain. Also a teacher of art, he taught Buzzell and her sisters oil painting and later how to sculpt.
“He didn’t force art on us,” said Buzzell, who falls in the middle of the Buzzell sisters. “He just encouraged us to love it.”
The 21-year-old who works in Tupelo at Starbuck’s paints anytime she has free moments. She paints with anything she can get her hands on, but her primary medium is acrylic.
With those acrylics, Buzzell created a painting that was chosen as the 2025 Double Decker poster.
It almost didn’t happen.
“My mom sent me something about the poster competition, and she told me I should enter,” said Buzzell, daughter of Amy and Thomas White. “I had to tell her the deadline was the following day. Still, she wanted me to try.”
Buzzell went home and thought about just telling her mom she had entered a
painting in the competition and not really doing it. She also looked at the posters created by past winners.
“I knew I could not do anything as good as what I saw,” she said. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about it and late that night, I started working on an idea. I felt I had to try.”
Until the Double Decker poster competition, Buzzell only did art for herself and friends — she didn’t feel comfortable showing it to others.
She made the deadline and at some point, she received an email letting her know her painting had been chosen.
“I was stunned,” Buzzell said. “I was at work, but I called Mom, who was at work, to tell her. We were both crying on the phone.”
As the Double Decker poster winner, Buzzell gets a booth for her art and is the festival’s featured artist.
“I have been painting as much as I can to finish pieces for Double Decker,” she said. “I’m so glad I tried. The experience has certainly made me more confident.”
Tupelo CVB Deputy Director Recognized Among Top 25 Extraordinary Minds
Jennie Bradford Curlee is passionate about her job as deputy director of Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau. When awards come her way, she humbly considers them a bonus to work she loves.
In early 2025, Curlee was named one of the “Top 25 Extraordinary Minds” for 2024 by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International.
The deputy director makes sure folks know the recognition was due to a team effort by the CVB staff.
Her appreciation also includes Turner PR that is responsible for nominating Curlee through the national organization.
“I had no idea about the nomination,”
Curlee said. “It was a complete surprise.”
Curlee, a Tupelo native, spent eight years with the Community Development Foundation. For the past 13 years, she has been with the CVB, first in public relations and international sales. A year ago, she became deputy director, second in command.
The day word was delivered that Curlee was named to the Top 25 list, the CVB director asked to speak to her in the board room. For a moment, Curlee thought something was wrong, until he announced her award.
“It is certainly nice to be honored,” Curlee said. “I so love what I do here. So, really, any recognition is icing on the cake.”
‘Do
SHOUTOUTS
Butterflies Make Butter?’
A new children’s book by Oxford’s Brandall Laughlin has been a labor of love from the start. The seed for the book was planted when the youngest of Laughlin’s four sons, Walker, was 3.
“We were out in the yard, and he toddled up to me and asked, ‘Do butterflies make butter?’ I’d never heard a question like that before,” she said.
Not long after, Laughlin wrote down rhyming words to answer her son’s question. Then she put the words away for a time.
In 2016, Walker lost his life in a car accident. He was 14.
“I was determined to work on the book and see it come to fruition,” Laughlin said. “When you lose a child, part of that experience (is) you don’t want your child to be forgotten. This book is his legacy.”
An artist known for her photography, drawing and painting, Laughlin also illustrated the book that helps answer her young son’s long-ago question, and she is now traveling for book signings and other events to share the story.
“Our Oxford community has been very supportive . . . I’ve received messages about the book from people I grew up with,” Laughlin said. “The whole process has been magical in a lot of ways.”
“Do Butterflies Make Butter?” can be found locally at Square Books Jr. Other bookstores can order the book for readers.
IN SEASON: STRAWBERRIES
EVERY SPRING, CLEAR CREEK PRODUCE BRINGS AN ABUNDANCE OF SWEET STRAWBERRIES TO MARKETS ALL AROUND NORTH MISSISSIPPI.
RECIPE BY SARAH GODWIN | PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
In April, folks flock to local farmers markets for sweet Mississippi-grown strawberries. Matthew Britt from Clear Creek Produce, who harvests thousands of pounds of strawberries every year, knows this from experience.
“Clear Creek strawberries are a big talk of the town when everyone is starting to think about short sleeves,” he said. “I have people that drive hours to pick up multiple flats of strawberries and take back to their hometown to distribute to others and make jams, jellies and freeze for smoothies or other uses.”
This recipe, perfect for an afternoon snack or evening appetizer, pairs sweet strawberries with tangy goat cheese and balsamic vinegar.
1 ½ cups diced strawberries ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush baguette slices with melted butter, and bake for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, toss berries with vinegar, brown sugar and salt, and let sit for about 20 minutes. Once crostini are toasted, allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Once cooled, spread each crostini with a spoonful of goat cheese, then top with strawberry mixture, julienned basil and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Serve immediately.
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 pinch of salt
2-3 ounces goat cheese
4-5 basil leaves, julienned
2 tablespoons balsamic reduction
Continued on page 32
FROM THE FARMER: CLEAR CREEK PRODUCE
This month’s In Season features local strawberries from Clear Creek Produce. Matthew Britt, who runs the farm shares more about its sought-after spring crop.
Q: Tell us about Clear Creek Produce.
A: Clear Creek Produce got started back in 2010. My love of farming, caring deeply for the land and all that entails, began from working for farmers like my granddaddy, Gayle Crowe, and Bobby Briscoe. They were great role models and mentors to me, along with Allen Eubanks that has Eubanks Produce in Lucedale ... The farm is currently located in the Clear Creek area known as Burgess. I rent/lease some of the land and the other was some of my granddaddy’s land that my parents purchased.
Q: What do you grow on the farm?
A: We currently grow a huge assortment of crops including strawberries (a prideful crop that comes with a lot of challenges), onions, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, greens (in the fall) of all varieties, tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers along with some specialty peppers, eggplant, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydew melons, sweet corn, green beans, Purple Hull peas, all colors of pumpkins, and all the winter squash.
Q: Let’s talk about your strawberries.
A: Strawberries are the first spring cash crop that bears in early spring … they begin to start growing when temperatures are above 50 as a night-time temperature. We plant in the fall, and they survive our winter temperatures. They begin to bloom and ripen in mid-March to April. Normally in Oxford, peak season is late April through May and tapers off early June. Currently, there are roughly 16,500 plants in the field right now and will bear 1 ½ pounds per plant, give or take our weather conditions. We harvest thousands of pounds of beautiful large red berries.
In addition to the farm stand at Clear Creek Produce, Britt is a regular vendor at Oxford Community Market, Midtown Farmers Market and the Hernando Farmers market. He also delivers wholesale to Chicory Market and Cash Savers and sells to local restaurants including BBB/Snackbar, Sola, Taylor Grocery, Taylor Grocery Catering, Saint Leo, BTC in Water Valley, Living Foods and more.
FIND THE FARMER:
(662) 832-3910
40 County Road 361, Oxford Facebook and Instagram @clearcreekproduce
Matthew Britt
DOUBLE DECKER REGULARS SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON BEING PART OF THE BIGGER ARTS FESTIVAL CIRCUIT.
WRITTEN BY LESLIE CRISS
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Numbers suggested by members of arts commissions across the United States tell us each year there are well over 1,000 arts festivals in the country. Mississippi, with its 82 counties, boasts more than 100, with new festivals popping up all the time.
Oxford’s Double Decker Arts Festival, among the biggest in the state, is an arts festival about which artists offer rave reviews. And they — along with a crowd of 60,000 — continue to return year after year. This year’s Double Decker starts April 25. Many of its artists consider themselves to be part of the arts festival circuit. That means Double Decker is not the only festival in which these artists take part each year.
Catherine Ann Herrington Davis
Blake Gore
Ashley Benton
Starting out
Ashley Benton of Jackson doesn’t need more than two hands to count the festivals she attends each year, but she considers herself “on the circuit.” In layman’s terms, that means she chooses the arts festivals in Mississippi and beyond where she will travel with her art to share with festivalgoers.
Her first Double Decker festival was in 2023; this will be her third in which to participate as an artist, but she bought her first piece of art at Double Decker when she was in college. She’s also shown and sold her art at festivals in Fairhope, Alabama. And she participates in a lot of pop-up festivals in the Jackson area where she shares her work with art lovers.
“I do oil paint, landscapes, mostly skies and sunsets with a sliver of land,” said Benton, who received her degree in art at Ole Miss. “I knew I wanted to pursue an art career, but I also have a job I love.”
She is a display artist at Anthropologie in Ridgeland. She did her first art show when she was in third grade and sold her first painting in the sixth grade. She sometimes paints with acrylic and uses watercolor to paint houses for people, but she prefers oil.
“I mainly paint skies,” she said. “There are so many layers of clouds, and with oil I can add layers and layers when it’s still wet.”
Benton had primarily positive things to say about traveling to arts festivals but
offered one concern.
“There’s certainly a liability when traveling with all your art in one car,” she said. “Other than that, I have a good support system; there are always kind people to help set up my tent and booth. Mostly, I love talking with people all day long. I’m an extrovert, so the more I talk the more energy I have.”
Perhaps the biggest plus is the people — those who come to appreciate art and add to their own collections and the other artists who bring their own art for display.
“You get this great community of artists who root for you when you apply to festivals,” Benton said.
Continued on page 40
Continued from page 38
on the road again
Blake Gore is on the road a lot. He pulls his 5x8 art-filled trailer to 25 to 30 festivals a year. His first arts festival was in 2019; it was Double Decker.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” Gore said. “I didn’t know if anyone would be interested in my art, but I decided to give it a shot. It went great.”
Gore is known for his miniature artwork using pen and ink, silverpoint and mixed media on minimalist canvas.
In 2021, he began doing his art full time. He travels mostly by himself, but on occasion his four children — ages 12, 14, 16 and 18 — and his wife go along.
A Mississippi native, Gore now lives in Virginia and was clicking off miles and hours driving home from festivals in Florida as we talked. Though tired, he still found only good things to say about traveling the arts festival circuit.
“I love being able to introduce my work in person,” he said. “And it’s nice to know your work brings some joy and wonder to people. It’s good to be able to share that with them. And for the artists, we’ve grown into a community, those of us on the circuit. There are not a lot of us, but we cross paths so much, it’s inspirational to have a support
Continued on page 42
network. It’s good to see a friendly face.”
There are also challenges.
“It’s hard to maintain a healthy routine,” he said. “Imagine a normal 9 to 5 workday; now flip it upside down, and that’s my life. There’s a lot of driving, and it’s tempting to eat junk food and not exercise. It’s important to maintain that foundation.”
Gore has met some interesting people in his travels. For the past couple of years, Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” fame, has invited Gore to Waco, Texas, to her Silobration.
“I didn’t know she was a fan of little stuff,” he said. “She used a couple of my pieces on the napkins for Chip’s birthday party.”
Continued from page 40
hi y’all!
Catherine Ann Herrington Davis has loved art since she was a little girl. She majored in art at Ole Miss, and she’s still doing it today. Davis has multiple artistic projects in her wheelhouse. There’s print making, mixed media painting and an apparel line — Hi Yall! Made in the South. Inspiration for her art comes from the wondrous people in her life and memories of the Southern sayings she’s heard forever.
Davis is a regular fixture at Double Decker. She has shown her art at the festival for 13 of its 28 years.
“I love Double Decker,” she said. “I’m excited to be back for another year. It is a pretty special festival.”
Davis also frequently travels to other festivals with her art. She’s done the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs since 2012, and as a native of New Albany, she doesn’t miss the Tallahatchie River Fest, and she’s experienced the mid-summer heat of the Neshoba County Fair.
The Ole Miss graduate married a Mississippi State guy, and they made their home in Starkville with 8-year-old son John Parker, who has been attending arts festivals with his mama since he was 6 months old.
“It was easier when he was younger,”
Davis said. “He already has an appreciation for art. In fact, last year at Double Decker, I left my booth with my husband while John Parker and I went to look at other art. He bought his first piece of art.”
Davis agrees with Gore and Benton a community has been created among artist at various festivals.
“I am so thankful for the art community,” she said. “Especially at Double Decker. Every year we get excited to learn who’s in and where their booth is.”
And they all know the work the others have put in to get there. Gore elaborates:
“Art is part time; logistics are full time. In the days leading up to a festival, there is a frame day; a pack day for clothes, food and art; and a travel day. There’s usually a two-day show and then a travel day to get back home. And at some point, you have to squeeze in doing the art.”
Sliding Into the Blues
A MISSISSIPPI ARTS COMMISSION GRANT PROVIDES A MUSICAL OPPORTUNITY FOR AN OXFORD TEENAGER TO LEARN FROM LONGTIME SLIDE GUITARIST.
WRITTEN
BY
LESLIE CRISS | PHOTOGRAPHED
BY
LINDSAY PACE
When two music-loving strangers, both from Oxford, met last year, it quickly became clear it was a perfect pairing.
Though she is an eighth-generation Marylander, Wendy Jean Garrison has called Oxford home since 1987, when she and her Mississippi-born husband settled on 180 acres outside the city. Anyone with the slightest affection for hill country blues has likely heard her name or her music.
A lifelong music lover, Garrison took piano lessons as a child, later learning to play jazz piano.
“I loved piano, but I wanted to play guitar,” she said.
And she has — since she was 14.
She taught biology at Ole Miss from 1991 to 2015, while also playing with different bands around the Square. Students who showed up on occasion where Garrison was playing were very surprised.
It was in Mississippi that Garrison grew curious about playing slide guitar. Blues expert James Liniger first began to satisfy her curiosity. If you wanted to know anything about the blues, Liniger was your man. Considered a leading scholar on the blues, Liniger also was learning to play slide guitar. In fact, thanks to a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission in 1984, Liniger became an apprentice to James “Son” Thomas. Later, Garrison was an
apprentice to bluesman Bill Howl-N-Madd Perry. And now, Garrison has an apprentice learning from and performing with her.
Sophia Doyle, a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School, was on a quest to find someone to teach her more about guitar. The search was proving fruitless until her dad, Daniel Doyle, remembered he’d once met Garrison. He told his daughter about Garrison, and she was interested.
“I appreciated the fact she was a woman and could be a good role model,” Sophia Doyle said. “I was just hoping she would agree to give me one or two lessons to help.”
Like Garrison, Doyle had learned to play piano first. In fact, the rule was before any other instruments could be purchased and played, Doyle first had to learn piano. Her desire to play guitar was strong, even after seven years of piano lessons.
“I had always wanted a guitar,” she said. “I was home one day and opened a closet and saw my dad’s old guitar from college just sitting in the closet. So, the summer before last, I taught myself to play that guitar as best I could.”
A writer of poetry, Doyle eased into songwriting as well. And her one or two lessons from Garrison turned into a yearlong apprenticeship after Doyle was awarded a folk arts apprenticeship grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission. Since July, the two have worked together as teacher and student, and often as co-performers at
gigs in north Mississippi. As part of their year together, Garrison will teach Doyle the basics of playing slide guitar.
“I had never heard of slide guitar,” she said. “But the truth is, once I heard Wendy play it, I recognized the sound. I’d just not known what it was called.”
As part of the grant process, the person applying has to write a lesson plan of sorts of what the apprenticeship will entail.
“Then you do it,” Garrison said. “This provides structure to the year-long process.”
For those unfamiliar with slide guitar, let’s hit the highlights. Many would say the slide sound is a little bit country. The guitarist uses a slide placed on a left-hand finger — Garrison wears her slide on her pinkie. The slide is normally a smooth, tubeshaped object that might be made of glass, metal or ceramic. For her slide, Garrison uses a socket wrench. The sounds made by the slide moving across the guitar strings have been likened to certain aspects of a human singing voice.
Doyle is quite pleased with her time as Garrison’s apprentice, and she looks forward to the months ahead.
“I love playing with Wendy,” she said. “I meet so many cool people. We played a private house party, the Art Walk in Water Valley. This has opened up opportunities for me to do some events on my own. I’ve made great connections through Wendy and our work together.”
Turning Heads
AN OLE MISS GRADUATE’S UNIQUE CUSTOM HATMAKING BUSINESS IS SITTING PRETTY.
WRITTEN BY EUGENE STOCKSTILL
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
Mary Landrum Pyron seems to have a head for at least two things. Hatmaking and business. Her hat shop, ML Provisions in Crystal Springs, appears to be turning heads all across the globe.
After emailing her, for example, a group from the Netherlands came to Crystal Springs during a six-month sabbatical just so a woman could get a custom-made hat from Pyron.
“I thought it was spam,” she said about the email.
It took Pyron a while to get back home to Mississippi. She graduated from Ole Miss in 2016 with a degree in hospitality. “I’m from a family that loves to entertain and host people,” she said, explaining her degree. “I like using my hands and creating things.”
But after graduation, she drove to Wyoming in her Toyota 4Runner and wound up staying there for five years.
“I didn’t know a single person out there,” she said. “I went there to find myself. I wasn’t ready for a big-girl job.”
She bought a western-style hat, went to work at a ranch, and thought she’d move in six months to do event planning in Washington, D.C. That was before she fell in love with the mountains, snows, smells and adventure of Wyoming. She later went to work at a ski shop and at an airport. Skiing. Fishing. Hiking. Horseback
riding. Cooking 18 pounds of bacon at a pop, so to speak. Pyron did just about everything you can imagine there would be to do in that wide open part of the country.
“The ranch was untouched by civilization,” she said. “We would drive two hours to fish a stream, and we wouldn’t see anyone.”
While in Wyoming, Pyron started making hats, then made the big decision. She came back to her home in Crystal Springs, crying off and on for two months after she left Wyoming.
“You go from living this big full life to being back in your hometown, and I was living with my parents,” said Pyron. She remembers thinking, “What have I done?”
“It was all a gamble. I had to figure it out,” she said. “I had no clue if this was going to work. I thought I might work for my dad part time and sell a few hats.”
Well, a few hats sold turned into more than a few sold, and before long, Europeans were emailing her about her handmade products.
ML Provisions sits on 1,200 acres of family land in Crystal Springs off Interstate 55. Browse mlprovisions.com to find out more about the products Pyron offers, or just about anything else you may be wondering about concerning hats and hatmaking.
If you want one of Pyron’s hats, though, you’ll have to make an appointment to go
see her in Crystal Springs. She doesn’t ship. She does work parties, graduation events and corporate gatherings, and you might be lucky enough to catch her in the Grove or at the Dixie National Rodeo.
That said, many who make the trip to see Pyron turn it into a full-blown excursion. Mary Wesson Sullivan of Jackson went on a recent weekend with friends to ML Provisions. It was her second time to go.
“The first time we went because we’d always wanted to go. We made a whole night of it,” she said. “This time, we went about 1 p.m. The first time I went, I got only one of the felt hats. After I left, I was sad that I didn’t get a straw hat.”
So, back she went with a group of friends to the rustic environs, walls filled with hats and accented by other classic
Southern decor throughout the place. They brought snacks and went from station to station as each order went from being a customer’s description to a hat perched on a happy head. One of Sullivan’s friends used a special pen to write a message on a hat being given as a gift.
“They make you feel like you’re old friends. It’s not like you’re buying off a rack or off the internet,” she said. “It was almost like tailgating.”
That kind of hospitality, in addition to the hats themselves, has helped word spread about the business. In fact, Pyron says she spends zero dollars on marketing.
“It’s all just organic advertising,” she said. Word of mouth, in other words. “We have customers come in because they’ve seen hats on other people in the airport.”
“THEY MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE OLD FRIENDS. IT’S NOT LIKE YOU’RE BUYING OFF A RACK OR OFF THE INTERNET,” SHE SAID. “IT WAS ALMOST LIKE TAILGATING.”
-Mary Wesson Sullivan
Mary Landrum Pyron (in brown apron) with a group of guests visiting to celebrate a birthday.
How did she first know she was really going to make a go of her business? A man from Birmingham, Alabama, bought one of her hats in Mississippi, then later bumped into her in a Wyoming restaurant while he was wearing it. (She still goes back, on occasion.) She knew she was onto something.
The busy season is from October to February, so now may be the ideal time to visit ML Provisions, no matter how off-thewall your request. Pyron has one customer with a purple hat with a purple alligator band and matching boots.
She doesn’t just make cowboy hats. When this writer asked if she could make him a tam or wool flat cap, she didn’t miss a beat.
A few technical details about the custom felt hats, for those really interested. Pyron makes 50x hats (a blend of beaver and rabbit furs) and 100x hats (pure beaver fur). The 100x ones hold up better in the rain. You can return to have a hat reshaped. Avoid leaving hats on a dashboard or anywhere in a hot car. Remove gunk from a hat with sandpaper, lint roller or air compressor. And remember that at least in Pyron’s eyes, if you buy from her, you’re not just buying a hat.
“My hats are works of art. Normal art sits on a wall, on a shelf,” Pyron said. “My hat is art that you put on your head for an adventure.”
the oxford Hat Bar
A LOCAL HAT POP-UP SHOP OWNER IS DRAWING CROWDS FOR HER CUSTOMIZED HATS.
Ole Miss graduate Sydney Gunner is crazy for hats, and she hopes you will be, too. Plenty of folks seem to be already. Her business, The Oxford Hat Bar, looks like it has customers flipping their wigs for the latest hat styles.
The Oxford Hat Bar opened last year, Gunner said, and it just took off.
“I started it because I always loved clothes and fashion and shopping,” Gunner said. “I didn’t expect to travel as much as I have.”
The business is located in the Oxford house Gunner shares with her husband, a campus minister in town. Because it is an at-home business, you can’t just stop by, browse and purchase hats. What can you do? Schedule a private party or a pop-up event, or keep your eyes peeled for a new pop-up.
What’s a pop-up event? Just what it sounds like. A business hosts Gunner, who brings
her wares to the business, and customers flock. In addition to local pop-ups, she has had an event at a boutique in Nashville and at a wedding.
One of Gunner’s main modes of advertising is Instagram. Visit @oxfordhatbar to see a panoply of available hat styles. Gunner’s hats come from either Mexico (straw ones) or from the American Hat Company in California. Then she customizes them for her clients. Gunner designs her own ribbons and decorative add-ons for the hats.
How big is business? She is already booked a few months in advance. Well, pretty much booked.
“I could probably schedule a few more,” she said.
Gunner doesn’t seem to mind all the activity.
“I love what I get to do every day,” she said.
AN OXFORD OCTOGENARIAN TRANSFORMS ORDINARY ITEMS, INCLUDING HER SHOES, INTO COLORFUL CREATIONS.
LESLIE CRISS | PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
Hicky Crouch is determined to stay busy — she’s the happiest when her hands are not idle. This is nothing new for Crouch: She has never had a desire to just sit and do nothing, even though she’s earned her leisure time. Crouch is, after all, 84, and she shows no signs of slowing down.
The Oxford home she shares with James, her husband of 49 years, and Perry Thomas, a 12-year-old Morkie (a Maltese-Yorkshire Terrier mix), has many of Crouch’s creations
Her paintings provide bright coloring for the walls. Whimsical and painted with bold, primary colors, a bouquet of walking canes fills an umbrella stand near the kitchen. There are her embellished hangers for wedding dresses, marbled wine bottles, flowerpots covered with grout and stones, tile mosaics, painted drinking glasses, velvet pumpkins and Christmas trees embellished with ribbon and pearls.
Just when it seems Crouch has come to the end of her creations, she remembers a box upstairs filled with more handmade Christmas decorations, including ornaments and embellished pinecones.
Before moving to Oxford 22 years ago, Crouch taught second grade. In Oxford, she has served as a substitute teacher.
“When we moved here, I had nothing to do,” she said. “That’s when I started thinking of things I could do to stay busy. My mind just goes all the time — I’m always coming up with ideas of things to make.”
Those who’ve come to know Crouch probably know about her vast collections of ordinary things she has made unique. Still, talk often turns to Crouch’s shoes. Yes, she
also paints and embellishes her shoes.
“I have a narrow foot and cannot find shoes that fit me in Oxford,” Crouch said. “I order my shoes.”
The shoe painting can be blamed on a person Crouch saw wearing rolled-up blue jeans with yellow heels.
“I just knew right then and there I had to have some yellow heels,” she said. “So, I painted a pair of shoes bright yellow.”
And then she perfected the craft.
She found a special paint she orders from California to use on her shoes. “But Michael’s carries a paint for leather, too,” she said.
Crouch has learned to order bonecolored or white shoes because the paint will cover the shoes easier. When she gets a pair of new shoes, she preps them for painting by wiping the shoes down with rubbing alcohol. When she’s finished, she sprays the shoes with a sealer.
Her shoes span the spectrum of bright shades of color. There’s a pair of bright orange boots, yellow shoes with large white polka dots, red shoes with big black dots and camo green shoes with black and red dots. And that’s just the beginning.
“I haven’t kept count of my shoes,” she said. “They do wear out, and I can always touch them up. I love to wear boots, and I think I probably wear pink more than anything.”
Some of the shoes are not only painted but also embellished with beads.
“I do all these things for enjoyment,” she said. “The doing is more fun than the finished product. But it’s good to have all this proof that I stay busy.”
A Mind for Art
AN OLE MISS GRADUATE MAKES IT BIG AS A PAINTER WITH PROLIFIC ARTWORK, FROM EXHIBITS DEPICTING HIS OWN FAMILY HISTORY TO EVERYDAY CITY SCENES.
WRITTEN BY EUGENE STOCKSTILL | PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
Artist Noah Saterstrom seems to have painted himself into the wide-open world of international notoriety.
You may be aware of this already. You may have been to Nashville to see his current work on display at the Julia Martin Gallery. You may have gone to the Mississippi Museum of Art last year to see his sprawling work, “What Became of Dr. Smith?” You may have read The New York Times’ review of that show or read the book based on it. You may have been lucky — and quick — enough to purchase a piece of his work via Instagram in support of the Artist Support Pledge (see page 62 for more on that).
It seems fair to write that this son of Mississippi has created quite the life for himself. For his part, though, Saterstrom has very little interest in success. He can’t even remember the first painting he ever sold.
“I’m sure it was in college,” he said. “It didn’t make much of an impression on me to sell a painting. Sales have never felt like an accomplishment. More a necessary and unpleasant step to continuing to paint, but not of any value in itself.”
Born in Natchez, Saterstrom said his first memories of art are “the smell of Grumbacher acrylics that my father used when he would paint sometimes on the weekends (and) the peephole of my mother’s small China kiln when she painted ceramic tiles.” A big book full of Norman Rockwell prints inspired him, too.
“I did a lot of tracing of that book,” he said.
What was being a student at Ole Miss like for an aspiring artist?
“I did as little as I needed to in my classes so I could spend my time painting,”
"Road to Shubuta" Mississippi Museum of Art permanent collection
he said. “I spent a lot of time researching medieval pigments. But this was before the internet, so I had one old, tattered book and spent a lot of time walking around Oxford, finding things I could experiment with to make pigments. And painting. Oxford was very comfortable for me. Lots of good people and music.”
After graduating from Ole Miss, Saterstrom traveled to Scotland to study art, then found himself back in the United States, divorced and completely dislocated from himself.
“I became convinced not only that I did not exist, but I had never existed,” he told The New York Times. “I stopped painting, I went to therapy, and I breathed rhythmically. I tried everything to feel anything but a ghost.”
Painting old family scenes finally brought him out of his personal crisis and led him to create “What Became of Dr. Smith?” The work is so large that it fills up the walls of an entire room in an art gallery.
It depicts various scenes from his family’s past, including the life of his great-grandfather, a traveling optometrist who spent the last decades of his life in a mental institution and who became an uncomfortable family secret.
Saterstrom’s new artwork not only helped him to come to terms with his own past and his family’s, it touched a raw nerve in Mississippi’s past.
In 2012, a construction worker discovered multiple graves in an undeveloped part of the University of Mississippi Medical
Center in Jackson. Exhumations began in late 2022 on what was once the site of the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum. As a result, The Asylum Project has drawn attention to a part of Mississippi’s history that most people would prefer to forget about.
And that’s one of the reasons that art is so important, Saterstrom said.
“What art can do,” Saterstrom has written, “is remind us that every moment is valuable, even the unbearable ones, and every moment is worthy of note, even the mundane ones. It is the accumulation of these extraordinary instances and ordinary days that make us human and give contour to our lives.”
You can find Saterstrom’s work on Instagram @noahsats and on his website, noahsaterstrom.com. The collection is an impressionistic goldmine of faces, landscapes and lovely moments in time.
Consider Saterstrom’s paintings of the New York subway system, which might not strike you as a particularly artistic topic. But for some, the subway is the most sublime of experiences.
“I went to the Met to see a show about Sienese painting and then took the N train to Brooklyn. They are decommissioning those trains, and I really love those,” he said. “So I did some paintings. I tend to work from very haphazard quick snapshots sometimes. I love NYC. It is an undeniable force, like the ocean.”
Or what about the one titled “Assembling the Elephant”?
“It’s a found photo from the American
"What became of Dr. Smith" RORY DOYLE
Museum of Natural History, when they were making the elephant,” he said. “I love that museum, the dioramas.”
If you make it to Nashville, you can find his work at the Julia Martin Gallery there, too.
“She took a wonderful risk on my work when in 2018 I did a show there, ‘Shubuta and Other Stories,’ all about my Mississippi family’s relationship to slavery, which was extensive,” he said.
Saterstrom is currently working on illustrating a book. He supports the Artist Support Pledge, started during the pandemic to support up-and-coming artists financially. And of course, he keeps painting.
“At night I organize my images and thoughts and carve a path so the next day I can just go in and work. I work very quickly on many things at once,” he said. “It’s a long, long preparation for a few moments of innocence.”
#artistsupportpledge
The Artist Support Pledge was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic by Matthew Burrows, an artist in the United Kingdom. Here is how it works.
Artists post images of their work on social media to sell for no more than $220 a piece, not including shipping. Anyone can buy the work. Once an artist sells $1,100 worth of art this way, that artist agrees to buy another artist’s work.
“ASP works by example, showing how a generous culture behaves and exploring the values that maintain its ethos,” according to the website. “At the core of this is a commitment to equality of opportunity for all and an accessible platform to participate.
Noah Saterstrom is one of the artists who participates in ASP. “It’s a generous idea, open and honest and requires no middleman and spreads money around,” he said.
Here are a few tips on how artists can take part in ASP (from a video of Burrows on the website):
Post a work on your social media outlet with #artistsupportpledge. The hashtag will give artists access to each other’s work and a way to get in contact with each other.
If you post your work, make sure you post a good, clear image of the work.
Give full details about the work: Title, date, size, medium and price.
State clearly the ASP pledge and how it works.
Art collectors can also browse Instagram for #artistsupportpledge for the opportunity to purchase original artwork at a low price while supporting working artists .
"Assembling the Elephant"
OLE MISS WOMEN’S COUNCIL
The Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy commemorated its 25th year on Feb. 21 with a celebration at the Lyric. OMWC provides endowed scholarships and guidance to its scholars through a unique leadershipmentorship program.
BY
JIWON LEE
1. Atkins Trout, Anne Cantrell, Suzanne Helveston and Suzanne Wilkin
2. Miller and Molly Meisenheimer
3. Katie Hester and Candie Simmons 4. Makayla Russell and Reese Milstead 5. Ginger Clark and Ginger Anne Clark
Olivia Quin with Mikayla and Caleb Pracht
PHOTOS
EMPTY BOWLS
The annual community-organized fundraiser, Empty Bowls, took place Feb. 20 at the Oxford Conference Center. Local artists donated ceramic bowls and restaurants provided soups for the event which raises awareness about food insecurity and benefits The Pantry.
BY JIWON LEE
1. Kim Patterson, Kate Victor and Regina Black
2. Ellie Scruggs and Liza O’Reilly
3. Dave Tatum and Tim Gordon
4. Marco DeVera, Thomas Nguyen, Mohammed Al Bugami, Ryoma Matsushita, Denis Mutisya, Lina Loukkaci, Yeseo Kim and Ting-Yu Chang
5. Chelsea Boyd, Carleigh Harbin, Jake Keiser and Rainer Roberts
6. Lindsay and Thomas Ren Henrichs with Kelsey Burnett, Kristen and Grace Whelan, and Katie Zinc
7. Maha Nasher, Shivani Contactor and Shilpa Golikere Shirur
8. Terea Barr, S.T. Adams and Minnie Jones
9. Catherine Berry and Elizabeth Rodgers
PHOTOS
OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL
Acelebration of independent cinema, the 22nd annual Oxford Film Festival took place Feb. 27 to March 1 at Malco Oxford Commons. Learn more about the festival and the organization’s year-round programming at ox-film.com.
BY JIWON LEE
1. Athula Samarakoon and Shamika Nanayakkara
2. Helen Geary and Alison Anderson
3. Jerry Madden and Christie Smith
4. Shiloh Washington, Kari’s Washington, Skylar Anderson and Greta Washington
5. Tyler Keith and Cid Gardner
PHOTOS
Zac Danneman and Kasi Jones
ST. JUDE TASTE OF OXFORD
The 17th annual St. Jude Taste of Oxford took place Feb. 27 at The Jefferson Oxford to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
BY
JIWON LEE
1. Josh and Megan Harrison
2. Amy Hornsby and Jenny Johnson
3. Anil Lakhani and Shafiq Pabani
4. Dakota and McKenzie Wills
5. Don Michael Lazarus with Austin and Tresse Sumrall and Taylor Lazarus
6. Diane Holloway and Suzan Thames Hor
7. Mary Cannon Walters, Stephanie Barrett and Helean Davis
8. Taylor Weeks, Mary Blair Carrmody, Laiton Wold and Emily Cartwright
9. Josh and Clara Barber with Nicole Moorman, Courtney Mize and Mary Adams Kinney
10. Robin and Camryn Samuel
11. Tori Daniels, Asra Jackson, Molly Smith and Tameka Smith
12. Lassie and Harry Flowers with Kirk and Hilda Pavall, and Ted and Kelly Connell
13. Joe, Diane and Shelby Claire Liddell with Andrew Wilburn
14. Wanda Truxillo with Regina and Harry Harrison and Emily Boyce
PHOTOS
GIRLS NIGHT OUT
Oxford artist Sarah Godwin hosted a Galentine’s Day girls-night-out watercolor class on Feb. 13 at The Isom Place.
1. Emily Teer, Madisyn Rudolph, Morris Kelly Snyder, Katie Spillers, Kellie McClelland and Olivia Dunnam
2. Katie Pointer and Ashley Moore 3. Chloe and Anna Harrington
4. Shelby Claire and Diane Liddell
5. Molly Trost, Jenny Hancock, Brittany Franks and Rebecca Mann
PHOTOS BY JIWON LEE
Shelby Toole and Mari-Brian Crick
FOUNTAIN OF FANTASIES
Oxford Garden Club hosted a brunch Feb. 13 at the Oxford Conference Center. Funds from the event will help support the installation of a new fountain in Lake Patsy at Pat Lamar Park.
1. Kelly Wilkerson and Campbell Smith
4. Catie Hester, Brynnen Quick, Kristen Palmer and Jennie Lee
5. Lona Waller and Jo-Shannon Hartnett
PHOTOS BY AUSTIN DILLON
2. Libby Zoghby and Courtney Smith
3. Betty Robbins, Lisa Roth, Jessica Perkins and Lauren Cleary
6. Rita Gardner and Becky Killen
7. Pat Kincade, Sherry Cooper, Shannon Shanks and Anne Soldevila
8. Adair Laney and Leah McKenzie
9. Susan Hayman, Susan Taylor, Juna Goza and Laura Beth Walker
OUT & ABOUT
1. April Dupuis , Sandi Cade, Ginny Starr and Sam Parton
2. Crews, Holt, Jill Taylor, Madelyn and Jackson Lowe
3. First Baptist Church College Ministries
4. Erin and Jane Colby
5. Upasana Ghimire, Rupsha and Rupesh Kandel
6. Connor Gee, Ethan Roberts and Hayden Guenthner
7. RebelThon finale
8. RebelThon participants Katie Carter, Katie Nolan, Ellie Shannon, Hunter Miller, Hayden Guenthner, Sydney Sweet, Avery Johnson and Sellers Shockley with patients at Children’s of Mississippi
9. Haley Cote and Kam Holt
Ole Miss Baseball Opening Weekend Gifts of Love Art Show
Oxford WeeCycle
HIDDEN GEM
Challenge
FILLED WITH IMAGES OF OXFORD, THIS MURAL WELCOMES ALL.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JOE WORTHEM
This mural may seem obvious, but for many, its location is a mystery. Do you know where it’s located and who painted it?
CONTEST RULES
- Each month, look for the Hidden Gem image to be posted on Instagram @invitationoxford.
- Follow the prompts to enter the contest.
- One winner will be chosen from the participants and awarded with a prize from a local retailer.
MARCH'S HIDDEN GEM
This Little Free Library and Little Free Pantry are located in Price Hill Park, 101 Price Hill Cove in Oxford. These mini structures provide a place for neighbors to share books and nonperishable food. Anyone in the community is welcome to add to or take from the rotating inventory.
