Statement from the Artist

The center arch of the piece contains state symbols. That state's shape is the centerpiece, and surrounding it is a catfish, a cotton boll, a Tunica Indian pot, a book (Tennessee Williams), and a blues guitar. There are two borders around the center--film tape and the names of prominent Mississippi cities and towns. The two side panels are anchored by hands opening in the ground. These hands hold the seeds of ideas. From the hands, kudzu vines grow and magnolia flowers bloom. Books from famous Mississippi authors are also "blooming" from the vine. Topping the vines are heads in sunbursts that represent knowledge and creativity. The hands are repeated, topping the heads, and the hands of the ground are now open in the sky (freedom and flight born of knowledge and creativity). In the top arch, the state bird (mockingbird) is resting on vines. The bird wears a thinking cap (a touch of whimsy). The mockingbird is a focal point because birds generally symbolize freedom and spirit. Specifically, the mockingbird repeats what it hears, and this makes this kind of bird a fitting representation of oral histories.

by Blair Hobbs
Oxford, Mississippi
2002