By Staff
special to The Star
July 20, 2003
The Meridian Museum of Art's next exhibit, "The Life and Times of the Queen City," opens Saturday.
A reception for the exhibit will be a week later from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. on Aug. 2. Both the exhibit and reception at the downtown museum are free and open to the public.
More than 50 of the finest artists in the region will be taking part in the show, including artists such as John Armistead, Bonnie Busbee, Charlie Busler, Benny Carter, Terry Cherry, Susan Clark, Dana Covert, Leslie Covington, Bob Deen, Denise Dengler, Sylvia Follis, Edwin Downer, Millie Howell and Becky Glover.
Others scheduled to participate include BJ Hatten, Neil Hatten, Darlyne Hurst, Peyton Hutchinson, Ruth Vinson Irwin, Scott Jay, John Marshall, Cornelia T. Mitchell, Charlie Munoz, Linda Munoz, Natalie Myatt, Patricia Tenpenny, Lila Thomas, Deborah Thompson, Larry Van Dyke, Alex Loeb and Jean Loeb.
The artists involved have tackled different subjects in different ways. For instance, Dengler's "The Gypsy Queen" is a moody portrayal of the queen's gravesite, while Thompson's "Me &Suzanne on a Paper Moon" is a nostalgic look back at the Mississippi/Alabama State Fair.
And artist Charlie Busler's "Echo Park" is a depiction of a once-flourishing site in the city that many current Meridianites may never have heard of.
As Busler describes it, "Built in 1906, and opened as Echo Park in 1923, the park boasted a carousel, a dance pavilion, a bear den, swimming, canoeing and the beautiful lake nestled in the foothills south of Meridian. The remains of the dance pavilion and bear den are still visible. Today, Echo Park has been silently absorbed into the Lakemont neighborhood."
The artwork will be complemented by period photographs, newspaper clippings, historical objects and other memorabilia.