April 2025 Visiting Artist, Mississippi State University

Chris Christion and I were invited to Mississippi State University as Visiting Artists in April 2025. What a fantastic experience it was to commune with the students, faculty, and staff at MSU! I am so impressed by this jewel of a campus and program. While there, Chris and I gave an Artist Talk to the MSU Community, provided a Professional Development and Pan Pastel workshop, visited classes and students' studios, and hosted film screenings featuring works from our Fieldnotes Series, Black Girl, 1966, written and directed by Ousmane Sembène.

The Pan Pastel workshop allowed students to experiment with traditional underpainting techniques using pastel mediums, with photography.

It was so touching to visit with Dixie Boswell, and to see her thriving in her role as Gallery Director at MSU. We are so incredibly proud and honored to witness her personal and professional growth. Dixie was the most generous of hosts, taking us to visit public art in Starksville, taking me to my first Waffle House, taking us to the airport at crazy hours, showing us all the wonderful parts of campus, Art Department, and student and faculty studios. It was especially touching to see Chris and Dixie talk shop in the gallery, and to see their beautiful smiles.

We culminated our visit with a projection mapping installation in the MSU Student Union. We experimented with different video works projected on the large Oak Trees on the college Green. We were delighted by the results, and excited to expand how projection mapping can work in different settings.

Projection Mapping on Oak Tree, Mississippi State University, Student Union

Thank you to Dixie Boswell and the folks at MSU for such a wonderful visit! We love you, Dixie!!!