St. Paddy’s 2013 Paint the Town Green
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hat is it about green beer, fiddle ditties and catching things that come flying off floats that makes people just so happy? How can dressing in costumes and marching around downtown instill such pride in a place? Whatever it is, it’s all here this weekend: the beads, the floats, the tunes and more. Centered around Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade, this year St. Paddy’s is bigger than ever, with Grammy-nominated musicians, world-class artists and the quirky southern soul only Jacksonians can provide.
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March 13 - 19, 2013
WYATT WATERS
COURTESY WYATT WATERS
nyone who lives or plays in Jackson long enough will eventually be driving down a road and pass a quiet, slender man with a paintbrush. Wyatt Waters, with his long, gray hair tied back and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, is known for setting up in neighborhoods and downtown to create in his calm, peaceful way. Jacksonians will get to see a new side of their favorite watercolorist this weekend, though—a green-haired, swashbuckling side. Each year, a local celebrity or wellknown Jacksonian takes on the role of Grand Marshal of the Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade. This year, Waters joins the ranks of those chosen to lead the biggest, greenest party in the state. The theme, inspired by a Coleridge poem, is “Waters, Waters Everywhere.” “(The line in the poem) is actually ‘water, water, everywhere,’ but Malcolm has adjusted this to accommodate me,” Waters says. “And so I will be dressed as a sailor, an 1800s sailor, which is not really the period that Coleridge was talking about, but again, it’s poetic license or artistic license—I call it artistic learner’s permit.” Waters describes his costume’s jacket as a mix between Jack Sparrow and Michael Jackson—rendered in shades of green, of course. Even Waters’ signature ponytail will take on the hue of the day. “My hair will be green,” he says with a chuckle. “I will be very green.” For Waters, taking on the role of Grand Marshal is a chance to stretch his limits and his naturally introverted personality. “This is a very public event, there are 78,000 people supposed to be there,” he says. “When you do books or something, and you have shows, you get to Waters painted this year’s official artwork, which he calls be public. But the part of me that’s me “Leprechauns on the Levee.” ain’t that way. … You know, (my work is) solitary stuff. It’s hard to take the solitary thing and be in public with it.” Waters says painting on location, plein air, was how meet homeless people, or you meet governors who are he got used to being around people in the first place. interested in your paintings. You meet them all—mostly “I don’t think I could look people in the eyes until I everything in between.” was pretty well into adulthood,” he says wryly. “But I Working on location allows Waters to see the city had to, because when you’re painting on the street, you change from the street level. “There’s a lot of good stuff
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Wyatt Waters leads Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade as Grand Marshal this year.
happening, particularly in this area,” he says of the stretch from downtown to Fondren. “… There’s a lot of hope for what things can be. I know what things are, but you have to see what things can be. That’s kind of the job of an artist, anyway—or of anybody. I don’t know why they put that exclusively on artists; it’s everybody’s job.” Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade is a good example of seeing what Jackson can be, Waters says. “It’s the hopeful part of what Jackson can be. And it’s just a good cause, and it’s a good excuse to get people together. I think (people coming in) will see Mississippi at its funnest. I know that’s not the correct word (grammatically), but sometimes it’s the right one.” Although Waters has always enjoyed watching the parade, he really got involved last year, when Malcolm White asked him to paint an image to be used on the posters and T-shirts for the 30th anniversary of the parade. White also invited Waters to march in the O’Tux krewe. “So I was led into this gently,” he says. This year, Waters created another custom watercolor for the event, featuring local Jennifer Breaux,