Methodology
In choosing my topic, I interviewed two professionals in the museum field and three
artists. As shown in Appendix B, those were my questions. As a participant observer, the
interview was free to converse back and forth, and it was able to lead me to new resources. I was
lucky enough to get in contact with Southern art historian, Estill Curtis Pennington, through
Facebook. I will continue to email artists and art historians located in the South questions in
much like an unstructured interview.
In my research regarding Southern art and its promotion, there has been a lack of
information until the 1960s. Exhibits and museums acknowledged Southern art as the last
frontier for American art, and I would like to dedicate this research to production of more
Southern art. In choosing my methods of research, I will use qualitative and participatory
observation. At first, I thought about developing a theory about Southern art, but with the
understanding of how art is funded to promote a diverse culture, I later understood the improper
use of defining what Southern art is.
Instead, my research concerns Southern people’s perception on what makes Southern art
distinctive. I will be approaching Southern art broadly and chronologically through the sense of
indigenous attitudes through the research of cultural, historical and environmental responses.
Interviews will help me gain insight on how artist choices for production of Southern art. I will
also be volunteering and hopefully intern at the George Ohr Museum in Biloxi, as I will observe
the general audience that come to appreciate Southern art. I will document my perspective in a
journal.
In conducting a successful research project, ethical guidelines must be demonstrated. I
will follow basic ethical procedures through the anagram CHIT, standing for confidentiality,
honesty, integrity and transparency. For the promotion of Southern art, there might be ethical
concerns when conducting research in museums.
As I participate in Gulfport Galleria, I will be surrounded by artists located in
Mississippi, and will be able to observe art they choose to sell and get feedback about their own
sentiments and character. I will also conduct a workshop for Gulfport Galleria outlined in
Appendix C. Surveys such as the example on Appendix D will be handed out. I will be able to
observe their choices in art making and organize a class discussion. As Southerners, I would like
to see if their work has any sort of theme indigenous to the region. I will further ask them if it
was intended. This workshop will be given through the months of June and July.
In continuing on with my participatory observation, I have visited a several museums.
The Dodd Stewart collection on display at the George Ohr Museum in Biloxi houses three major
pottery workshops: Newcomb Pottery, Singing River Pottery and Shearwater Pottery. Newcomb
Pottery is crafted from local and regional clay, usually depicting Louisiana flora. They
experimented with glazes of color and are well known for their blue and green pieces. A variety
of glazing techniques give the distinct Newcomb pottery, such as its transparent matte glaze over
blue and green underglazes, and then, added pinks, ultimately in different shades.
The ceramic artist, Josephine Gautier, from Singing River even went to the limits of
fishing from the river to cast various fish. Her fist mold was of a speckled trout she caught from
the Singing River Bridge that makes her life-like ceramics popular amongst those that love
nature. She further hand crafted molds from real shrimp, crab and other various fish. Since there
are a lot of seafood eaters around the gulf, she also created crab and seafood serving dishes, and
created shell jewelry. I have bumped into a student whose mother owns one of her platters, and
probably use it for practical purposes since seafood is really popular on the coast.
In visiting Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, I was greeted by Marjorie
Anderson, who worked at the showroom, and was delighted to help me with my research. When
asked the question pertaining to how the environment has influenced their ceramics, there was a
long silence of hesitation. “Artists don’t draw up on ideas they are not familiar with,” she
commented. They give names to the glazes to give respect to their environment, such as shoal,
which is a green-blue glaze, and gets its name from the shallow waters of the gulf.
Sixty percent of the clay used at Shearwater Pottery is derived from their local
surrounding, which is up to sixty miles from their work shop. Their painted ware, or underglaze
work, is made up of pure ball clay from Tennessee. Pure ball clay is more preferable for their
work since it is much whiter, and better suited for decoration. Shearwater Pottery names their
work to reflect a coastal heritage, such as pine-cone goblet, camellia bowl and gumbo bowl.
Forms abundant in Mississippi’s coastal region, such as leaves and pine cones provide a
source of aesthetic form. Mostly Mr. Anderson claimed to be most concerned with form and
color, rather than delving into influences from Southern culture. Some of the relatives went to
Newcomb College, to get a formal education in ceramics. The Anderson family came from a
long tradition of family business in ceramics around the Ocean Springs region. As descendents
of Peter Anderson, James McConnell and Walter Inglis Anderson, they keep to the traditions of
their own family business alive.
In visiting New Orleans, I have visited the Ogden Museum in which I was able to record
and log works of art. I have also walked through Julia Street, and much of the galleries seem to
follow the popular trend of contemporary art—varied installations and ideas.
There are obvious limitations in conducting my research. One is that the research facility
dedicated to Southern art is located in Augusta, Georgia. I will be unable to use their facility,
and instead use their website to navigate any books valuable in Southern art research. The
second is the availability of students willing to take my workshop. There will be a fee, and I will
have to trust on the dates I assume teaching. I will be unable to determine the demographical
description of my class, but hope that they will all be able to fill out my short surveys.
At the end of this research, I will like to be able to have promoted Southern art in a way
that artists will be able to adapt to new knowledge about what it is to be a Southerner. Without
the concern of academia jargon about color interactions, it is still possible for artists to use
materials in a creative way. I will have promoted artists whether they had any or no education,
and encourage the production of what is most intimate to them.