Treasures in the Attic

“It all started when someone from Los Angeles started asking us about Mississippi,” said Lesley Silver, the fifty-year owner of the second oldest independent art gallery in the Magnolia State (the oldest is Brown’s Framing in Jackson). “People have ideas about the state. But there are so many layers to Mississippi.”

It was 1971. Silver and her then-husband were in Los Angeles for his business, a jewelry store and bridal gift shop at 1406 Washington Street in the heart of downtown Vicksburg. Friends were watching their children back home so Silver visited city galleries looking for a gift to bring back as thanks.

Cynthia Comsky, owner of Comsky Gallery, was especially intrigued with Mississippi,  and invited the Silvers to dinner. That evening, speaking of West Coast traditions, she explained that when people get married in California, guests often gift art rather than more traditional items like sterling silver or antique china. Comsky invited the Silvers to bring some of her gallery’s artwork back to Mississippi to sell in the gift shop.

A selection of artwork, including pieces by Marvin Spohn and Gary Chafee, arrived at the Silvers’ home weeks later while they were hosting their daughter’s fifth birthday party, where other parents fawned over it and purchased pieces for their homes.

“Many of those parents didn’t know what an original print was,” explained Silver, whose mother taught art at the Pratt Institute in New York. “I was always surrounded by art. I grew up breathing art, and it has always been really important to me.”

Silver saw an opportunity to share original artwork with the community and started acquiring more pieces to sell. When the she ran out of room, Silver cleared the attic above her husband’s store. In October 1971, the Attic Gallery was born.

Art That Resonates

Over the last fifty years, Silver has remained committed to selling only original artwork in her gallery, choosing pieces not because of an impressive artist bio or following—though many of her artists boast either or both—but because she connects to the work on a personal level.

In the beginning, most of her gallery’s art came from professional artists, including Dale Rayburn, a Carriere, Mississippi native, Ole Miss graduate, and professor of art at several universities, including Ole Miss and LSU. Silver noticed his etching in a gallery window of Underground Atlanta in 1972 and wrote him about selling his art in the Attic. “The rest is history,” Rayburn said. He’s been there ever since.

“Many of those parents didn’t know what an original print was,” explained Silver, whose mother taught art at the Pratt Institute in New York. “I was always surrounded by art. I grew up breathing art, and it has always been really important to me.”

Besides The Attic, Rayburn’s art can be found in the permanent collections of the High Museum in Atlanta, the Mississippi Museum of Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art, to name only a few. His wife, abstract artist Mamie Joe, is equally accomplished, with work featured in many of the same institutions and more. But, he credits Silver for much of their sales over the years.

“My wife and I are pretty much represented all over,” Rayburn said. “Lesley has consistently outperformed all as far as sales. She has an uncanny ability to connect with collectors and has placed our work with collectors all over the country.”

Around the mid-eighties, Silver turned more toward self-taught artwork, bringing in artists like Mississippi natives Earl Wayne Simmons and Kennith Humphrey, both who went on to achieve significant acclaim. “I think [self-taught artists] opened the door to many artists who believed that it comes from inside you,” said Silver. “They didn’t make art because they wanted to sell it, but because they had to.”

[Read about the studies drawing connections between art and wellness here.]

During that time, folk artists were seeing a surge in attention across the region, and customers came into the gallery frequently searching for these unique Southern art pieces. Today, the gallery features close to two hundred artists, almost all from the South and many self-taught.

Today, Silver still looks for original artwork that resonates with her. Artists do not need a biography, website, or social media platforms to be considered for placement in the gallery, though there comes a point at which she must be selective. One visit to the Attic Gallery—with every inch of wall space, tabletops, and counters filled with art—and one will understand why.

Still a Flight Up

In 1997, Silver had to say goodbye to her beloved Washington Street attic space. “1406 was so special,” she reminisced. “People would come in and just sit around the table.”

After divorcing her husband, and his downstairs store closing, Silver found that her attic space was no longer so conducive to customers, who had to traverse an empty, dark store to reach her gallery. Then, the owner of the building at 1101 Washington asked her if she was interested in buying. She agreed.

On the summer solstice of 1997, Silver enlisted her customers and artists to help move the gallery items to her new space, once again on an upstairs floor. They created an art parade down Washington Street. “Everybody who came picked up something from the gallery and brought it here,” she said.

[Read about the recent updates to Dunleith in Natchez here.]

The Attic Gallery now sits above her husband, Daniel Boone’s coffee shop, the Highway 61 Coffeehouse. The two of them happily live in an apartment on the building’s third floor. Next door is Lorelei Books, which sells and promotes local authors. “What a great block—a coffee shop, a bookstore. Everything you need,” Silver said.

To reach the gallery, customers climb the staircase from street level, emerging into a space that still feels like an attic. Paintings, etchings, and mixed media hang on the walls and rest on the floor. Tables and countertops are covered with jewelry, pottery, textiles, woodworking, and much more. It’s almost overwhelming, a visual feast of color and creativity.

“What a great block—a coffee shop, a bookstore. Everything you need,” Silver said.

The Attic should always have stairs, Silver said, because she sees stairs as a metaphor for enlightenment. “If my customers go up stairs, the problems lift off their shoulders.”

A Golden Anniversary

The Attic Gallery celebrates its fiftieth year in business with a series of special events, culminating on the first weekend in October. On Saturday October 2, the gallery will host an art walking tour of downtown Vicksburg, which will include private homes and businesses that include collections acquired from The Attic. That evening, Silver herself will host a special show featuring art from her stable of artists, including Rayburn, in her apartment on the third floor. “We want to give back to the community,” she explained. “We’ve had the privilege of being on Washington Street for fifty years. The gallery has brought so many great artists, people who look through a different prism than the rest of us.” 

Information and work from the show can be seen at atticgalleryvicksburg.com.

A native of New Orleans now living in Georgia, Cheré Coen writes about Southern food, culture and travel.