The GumTree Museum of Art
Inspired by the Land

BY M. SCOTT MORRIS

TUPELO - Images and monuments inspired by the Mississippi Delta will migrate for a short stay at the GumTree Museum of Art.
Duncan Baird of Cleveland and Jamie Tate of Stoneville have studied their native ground and produced abstract pieces that will be on display until Dec. 19. You won't find Norman Rockwell/photo-quality images from either artist, but you will find art that retains a sense of place.
"Coming back to the Delta, which is my home," Baird said, "I started to look at the landscape in a new way, in a more simple way." Tate said she's "taken little side trips over the years" but always returns to the Delta for inspiration.
"It's just what feels right," she said.

Tupelo connection
Baird teaches art at Delta State University. Before that, he lived and taught in Northeast Mississippi. He has taught at Milam School, Tupelo High School and Itawamba Community College. The upcoming exhibit will be his first showing in Tupelo since he moved to Cleveland.

It’s kind of exciting to be back and seeing some old friends," he said.
His work has taken different turns since he left Tupelo. In addition to the landscapes, he’s been inspired by Native American artifacts that have been uncovered in the Delta. You'll see Indian moons represented with ink and paper, as well as wood.

"I don't know what's going on, except I love discovering and playing around with new ideas," he said. "I think a lot of the energy of what I do comes from playing around.”
"I'm not someone who calls it study or experimentation. It's playing around with the materials and the excitement of what they can do."

Search for color
Tate works will acrylics and impressions. She may be inspired by a cotton field, but there's a good chance a viewer won’t recognize it. “I work abstractly,” she said. "These are not traditional Delta landscapes.

“I want to bring to the viewer a sense of place, of physicality, even though the work is abstract.”

 

She spends time taking pictures, and looking for changes from one day to the next one or one season to the next.

"There's a lot of color out there right now," she said, "but I always love the colors of the Delta."

You're invited
Both Duncan and Tate tackle their subjects in distinct ways, but the goal is the same: Create something that will elicit a feeling in the viewer."They're going to see some new work," Tate said, "and, hopefully, they're going to find something a little bit different than they normally find at a landscape exhibit."

Contact M. Scott Morris at (662) 678-1589 or scott.morris@diournal.com .

MEET THE ARTISTS
• What: Opening reception for Duncan Baird and Jamie Tate's exhibit
•When: 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday
• Where: GumTree Museum of Art, Tupelo
•Tickets: Free
• Info: (662) 844-2987
• Extra: The exhibit will be on display until Dec. 19