Images courtesy of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art.
The Traveler's vintage Volkswagen van features a whimsical mural by artist Scott Allen, inspired by Walter Anderson's painting of people on a streetcar in New Orleans.
On a recent visit to Ocean hSprings, I made the obligatory stop at the always-inspiring Walter Anderson Museum of Art, which channels the prolific Mississippi artist’s spirit of curiosity and admiration for the natural world through its world-class collection of his original works.
On my way out, I found myself following a walkway around the side of the building. As I went, I was met on each side of the path by towering metal pillars created by Gulf Coast artists Colin McQuilkin and Bryan Milling. I soon came upon a small flat-bottom skiff painted with Andersonesque designs and cast upside down to one side, an invitation for kids to climb and play, and an homage to Anderson's journeys to nearby Horn Island.
As I rounded the corner, I caught my first glimpse of the old cottage called The Traveler—the Museum’s latest addition, which officially opened its doors in late May. Outside of it were two exhibits. The first was a playful bicycle totem, five vintage bikes vibrantly painted and piled one atop the other. Created by husband and wife artist duo, Erica Larkin and Mitchell Gaudet, the sculpture is a tribute to Anderson's extensive bicycle travels throughout the US and abroad.
Just beyond is a vintage Volkswagen van. The whimsical work of local muralist Scott Allen covers its exterior, reminiscent of the 1940s Anderson painting of people on a streetcar in New Orleans.
The Traveler itself is simultaneously a coffee shop/café, art exhibit, green space, community venue, and living homage to Ocean Springs’ most storied artist.
The museum purchased the cottage from Mary Alice Owen, a beloved local citizen who was born and died in the century-old home. They bought it ten years ago on two conditions: she could continue to live there, and, upon her death, the museum would care for her two cats. Owen died in 2020 and only then did renovations of her cottage begin. The museum board and staff held up their end of the bargain where the cats are concerned, too. Along the path from the museum to The Traveler is a multi-level cat cottage where, on most days, you can find two pampered felines lounging.
Images courtesy of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art.
A sculpture by husband-and-wife artist duo, Erica Larkin and Mitchell Gaudet—a tribute to Anderson's extensive bicycle travels throughout the U.S. and abroad.
The Traveler is just the latest addition to the museum’s expanding campus of art and arts education programs inspired by the life and travels of Anderson. “This is our way of connecting the legacy of this one-hundred-year-old building with Walter Anderson's legacy and our coastal environment,” said Julian Rankin, the executive director of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. “All the artwork within the space is made by living artists and is inspired by Anderson’s designs. Everything is completely original but is in conversation with Anderson's work.”
Inside the café, guests find themselves in an immersive and interactive space where everything you see—from the art on the walls, to the curtains on the windows, to the very dishes on which you're served—draws connections between the Anderson legacy and up-and-coming Mississippi artists, Anderson family members included.
“The legend goes that during one of his bicycle journeys through Texas, Anderson stopped to cool off in a nearby stream, having to shoo away a herd of cows so he could bathe in their watering hole. As he lay in the water with his eyes closed, he felt a tickle on his nose, and he opened his eyes to see the cows had wandered back over, curious about the new visitor.” —Julian Rankin, executive director of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art
For instance, The Traveler’s front counter features a tile mosaic by Anderson's niece, Adele Anderson Lawton, which she created as a tribute to Walter’s two brothers, Peter and Mac Anderson, artists in their own rights. The mosaic is constructed of eighty-four individually painted, six-inch tiles and features a blue heron design that is Lawton’s interpretation of a work her father and uncle created for a local high school in the 1930s. The original installation can be seen today at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Arts Center a few streets over.
Another Anderson offspring, Walter’s youngest daughter, Leif, created what she named “Earth and Air Barn Door Murals” on the doors leading from the front counter into the cottage’s dining area. Leif based her doors on ones her father painted in his cottage on the family compound known as Shearwater. Using motifs from her father's doors, such as Black-eyed Susans and a turtle, Leif created a tribute to the flora and fauna surrounding the Anderson homeplace. Yet another family motif can be seen in the cicada sconces on the walls of the dining room, which were made from an original mold Mac Anderson created in the 1940s.
The conversation between Anderson and contemporary artists continues in a mural by Biloxi-born artist, Julia Reyes. The mural, titled “Cows on the Border” is based on one Anderson painted around his bathtub in his cottage at Shearwater. “The legend goes that during one of his bicycle journeys through Texas, Anderson stopped to cool off in a nearby stream, having to shoo away a herd of cows so he could bathe in their watering hole,” Rankin said. “As he lay in the water with his eyes closed, he felt a tickle on his nose, and he opened his eyes to see the cows had wandered back over, curious about the new visitor.”
Anderson found the encounter so enchanting that he painted the scene around his Shearwater bathtub in order to relive it every time he took a bath. Reyes’s mural is a great example of the exchange between Anderson and his influence and contemporary approaches, as she incorporates elements from her Mexican heritage and her own life experience into a work that honors Anderson's. As a wink to Anderson's storied bovine encounter, another local artisan repurposed a clawfoot tub into a couch, which sits in front of Reyes's mural.
Images courtesy of Walter Anderson Museum of Art.
Julia Reyes, painting a mural inside The Traveler titled, "Cows on the Border."
During his lifetime, Anderson spent days, and even weeks, alone on nearby Horn Island painting the flora and fauna—and earning himself the name, “The Horn Island Hermit.” His time on the island was spent sketching, writing, painting, and simply observing the nature that's the focus of most of his work. Legend has it he even rode out Hurricane Betsy on Horn Island by lashing himself to a tree. But when he was at home in Ocean Springs, he also created pottery with his brothers and designed, built, and decorated furniture, hook rugs, wallpaper, and stained glass—all reflecting his love of nature.
This appreciation for the wilds of Mississippi arises in artisan Shane Sekul's Blue Jay Table—an interpretation of Anderson's own Blue Jay Table. While Anderson's is preserved and protected in the museum galleries, Sekul intends for his version to be used for communal gatherings, family meals, and conversations over cups of coffee at The Traveler.
In addition to the permanent works at the Traveler, the cottage’s hallway will serve as a rotating gallery space, offering ongoing opportunities for regional artists to display their work.
[Read this: Meet the Andersons—At Shearwater, the artistic legacy lives on.]
Soon, the Anderson legacy will cast an even longer shadow, with a four million-dollar Creative Complex in the works. The space will include five thousand square feet of public gardens directly across the street from the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, as well as a teaching space intended for the youngest Gulf Coast artists. The emphasis of the Creative Complex, Rankin said, will be on using art to stimulate environmental literacy—a fitting extension of this grand tribute to a man who spent his life celebrating and painting the natural world.
“We want to constantly ask ourselves, ‘How do we take the inspiration of the past and use it to address our calls in the present moment?’” Rankin said. “We hope the art block can help others take agency and continue to make this a more beautiful place, the way Walter Anderson did throughout his life.”
