Public School Murals – Ocean Springs MS

City:
Ocean Springs, MS

Site Type:
Art Works, Murals

New Deal Agencies:
Arts Programs, Public Works of Art Project (PWAP)

Quality of Information:
Good

Marked:
Unknown

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

Walter Inglis Anderson and his brother, James McConnell Anderson were commissioned in 1935 to create murals for the 1927 Ocean Springs Public High School as part of the Public Works of Art Project. “Ocean Springs: Past and Present” was a six-panel oil on canvas. “The Fish and Bird Mural” was a tile mural constructed in four sections. Both are in the Walter Anderson Museum of Art since 1991.

Anderson’s murals were painted on canvas sheets and then glued to the wall of the school auditorium, flanking the stage. Two were 14 feet long horizontal panels and placed on the wall between the upper and lower windows. Vertical panels 11 feet high were placed on each side of the proscenium. The murals depicted Gulf Coast Indians prior to the European immigrants on one side and the activities of the current coastal community on the other side.

Anderson received a second commission in 1937 to paint a mural for the Indianola, Mississippi post office. He was unable to execute the mural due to illness.

Source notes

The 1927 Ocean Springs Public School. Ocean Springs Archives. Ray L. Bellande. Retrieved June 20, 2020 from https://oceanspringsarchives.net/1927-ocean-springs-public-school

King, A. R. (1999). Walls of light: The murals of Walter Anderson. University Press of Mississippi and the Walter Anderson Museum of Art.

Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on August 22, 2021.

Location Info


Ocean Springs, MS

Coordinates: 30.4113, -88.8279

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