Painting the Town: Hattiesburg's Public Art Trail

When Covid came calling in early 2020, Hattiesburg tourism executives considered their options. The city offers great outdoor activities, such as the Longleaf Trace hiking and biking path, but attractions such as the Saenger Theatre and the Hattiesburg Zoo were forced to close, and the University of Southern Mississippi shut down—sending much of the town’s university population elsewhere. 

“We got to thinking, what could we do without crowds?” said Marlo Dorsey, President and CEO of Visit Hattiesburg. 

The Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art, a program of Visit Hattiesburg, had been busy harnessing the creative culture in town, but up until then the focus had been on facilitating themed sculpture exhibitions throughout the city. According to Paige Robertson, Director of Communications and Digital Strategies at Visit Hattiesburg, days before the pandemic hit, the tourism commission revealed a five-year strategic plan placing public art at the forefront. When the limitations of the pandemic imposed themselves, leaders saw an opportunity to shift the focus to permanent public art installations that visitors could view on their own. 

“We realized that by increasing our public art attractions, we would be able to create a safe public attraction for people to enjoy,” she said. “Also, part of our mission was to support local and Mississippi artists who were out of work during the pandemic.” 

The Alliance put out a call to regional artists—and a few national—to submit designs for city murals and outdoor sculptures. The plan was to establish a self-guided art trail experience for visitors to the area.

“We wanted it to be a catalyst for our arts, but also showcase all kinds of different artwork,” Dorsey said. “We cast a wide net to bring in diversity. We decided it can’t be all about what we see every day.”

In 2020, the city commissioned nine murals, allowing plenty of room for the concept to grow. Artists began painting, and the Hattiesburg Public Art Trail—complete with website, signage, and brochure—launched in March 2021. Today, the trail includes forty-eight stops, with thirty-four of them murals, twenty-two of which were installed within the last two years.

“We want to be a city of one hundred murals,” Dorsey said, stating 2025 as the goalpost to achieve this. “We’re a third of the way there.”

Hattiesburg’s murals run the gamut, illustrating everything from city pride and history to subjects more whimsical and introspective, a variety that should appeal to every taste and age group.

Heidi Pitre of Marrero contributed two murals, a fanciful “Ribbons & Wheels” at Moore’s Bike Shop on Hardy Street that spotlights the Longleaf Trace and the Hattiesburg Zoo, and a vibrant “Suffrage” mural in honor of the 2020 centennial for women achieving the constitutional right to vote. 

River Prince of Moselle, Mississippi, pays homage to the heroes of Hattiesburg in his “Courage” mural that spans the side of a building facing Veterans Park. At the far left of the mural, Prince painted an imposing portrait of native son Jesse L. Brown, the country’s first African American naval aviator, who was killed in the Korean War. 

To bring attention to another little-known story, Prince adorns the side of the building housing T-Bones Records & Café with “Birthplace of Rock ’n’ Roll.” Hattiesburg was home to the Mississippi Jook Band consisting of Roosevelt and Uaroy Graves and pianist Cooney Vaughan. The musicians recorded a blues record in 1936 that many believe contains the very first rock ’n’ roll guitar riffs. 

Several mural subjects appear to have been born of the pandemic. “Wonderful Day” by art teacher Ricardo Moody, who collaborated with local high school art programs for the work, features an uplifting quote by Maya Angelou. “Spread Your Wings” by Avery Orendorf of Austin, Texas, located on the side of a nondescript brick building, illustrates a bluebird in flight against a bright sunburst. Artist Kelsey Wishik promotes community with her “We’re All in This Together” mural, placing a heart and butterfly at the center of flood and chaos.

Some murals tie in with a larger canvas. “The Hattiesbirds” is Phoenix-based artist Kayla Newnam’s Mississippi component of the artist’s project Out There Murals—an endeavor to create a mural in every U.S. state within three years. California artist Jeremy Novy’s “Koi Across the World” is part of his larger series dedicated to the colorful fish.

Another celebration of art in Hattiesburg that was born of the pandemic is the Hattiesburg Pocket Alley in the heart of downtown. In 2020, the Hattiesburg Convention Commission transformed a boarded-up window in the closed Saenger Theater (it has since reopened), adding four shelves and a miniature art exhibit exposed to the public via an alleyway. Known as the smallest art museum in Mississippi, the Pocket Museum changes exhibits every month and features a mouse as its curator.

Since the museum’s inception, the surrounding alley began collecting its own tiny pieces of art. There’s the Pocket Theater that showcases short films viewed through an eyepiece embedded in the wall, and The Pocket Gallery filled with tiny items inside a renovated newspaper stand. The “#WhatLiftsYou” dragonfly mural by Kelsey Montague cascades up the neighboring parking garage, and building walls and the alley blacktop sport a variety of artwork, from Lissa Ortego’s 3D duck (if you photograph it just right) to a cat sitting atop artist Gabby Smith’s hive of bees. There are even tiny canoeists riding a wave on a street pipe.

In addition, sculpture may be found tucked in out-of-the-way corners throughout Hattiesburg, such as “The Spike That Binds” by Jason Kimes created for the train depot’s centennial and “The Jook” by Wes Hanson, a nod to the city’s rock ’n’ roll pioneers. 

For more information on Hattiesburg’s Public Art Trail or to obtain a brochure with handy map, go to visithburg.org or hburgart.com. Be sure to bring your phone, most make great selfie backdrops.