Mississippi Creates: Visual Art is a collaborative project between the Southern Documentary Project, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Mississippi, and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council. This series was launched in 2021 by Professor John Rash as part of his curriculum for MFA students, who were each asked to produce a short documentary film highlighting local musicians who have been influenced or inspired by the life, culture, and sounds of Mississippi. In the spring of 2024, the project expanded to pair groups of students with local visual artists to document the craft and inspiration of their creative process.
Kira Cummings: Against the Grain
a short film by Amanzi Arnett Dowdy
This short documentary spotlights the Jackson, Mississippi-based artist Kira Cummings. The film explores the idea that powerful art emerges through vulnerability. Beneath a performance of what is palatable, profitable, and most acceptable, deeper expressions persist, breaking through even the most opaque facades.
Through the exploration of Kira’s signature wood-burned portraiture and her intimate abstract art, the film reveals the dualities that shape her practice and identity. We witness her joy in depicting Mississippi icons and her deeply personal, cathartic process of using art to navigate grief. The film also reveals her relationship with both celebrating Mississippi art and her own difficulties with feeling a sense of belonging in the local arts community.
Drawing from the duality within Kira’s work, the film situates her story within the layered landscape of Jackson itself. Polished downtown architecture stands alongside dilapidated yet storied buildings and public art, reflecting the Mississippi capital city’s beauty, tension, and resilience. Dowdy’s goal was to show the complexities of Kira Cummings and her beloved Mississippi, highlighting the beauty of what’s underneath the surface, where vulnerability becomes a source of creation and meaning.
Joe Wrenn: This Comes from Memory
a short film by Janelle Minor
This project is a documentary profile of Joe Wrenn, a folk artist based in Tillatoba, Mississippi, that is framed as a conversation. Filmed inside of his studio in Tillatoba, and at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, the work moves between intimate and public spaces to explore how Wrenn’s art lives in dialogue with the state of Mississippi.
Wrenn describes his process of creating pairings on luan boards and hand-carved wood, transforming everyday materials into layered visual narratives. His work is deeply rooted in history and place, particularly the legacy of Black farmers in Tallahatchie County, whose labor and memory continue to shape both the land and his artistic practice. Through his storytelling and various works of art, their histories are able to live on today.
As a filmmaker, Minor approached this project as a conversation. Stories from Black Mississippians have historically been extractive and focused on their pain and suffering. The structure allows Wrenn to tell his own story as both an artist, and historian. By situating his voice within the spaces he inhabits, his profile reinforces the relationship between creative, place, and personal history. This work is part of Minor’s broader commitment to documenting Southern life in a way that is complex and filled with color.”
Chef Erika: The Art of Play
a short film by Deja Samuel
This short documentary explores the work and philosophy of Chef Erika of Sola. The film follows her inspiration, creative process, and personal journey into becoming a chef, framing cooking not just as a skill, but as an evolving artistic expression. At the center of the documentary is the idea of playing like a child and editing like a scientist. Chef Erika’s approach to food reflects a willingness to experiment, take risks, and remain curious. Through her story, the film examines what happens when creativity is followed rather than restricted. Her dishes become a reflection of imagination in motion; constantly changing, surprising, and inviting people to experience something new.
The documentary suggests that artistry is not limited to traditional mediums. In the kitchen, Chef Erika transforms ingredients into experiences that bring people together and spark curiosity. Her work demonstrates how dedication and playfulness can coexist, leading to innovation and connection. Ultimately, this film is about the value of continuing to explore and create without fear. It invites viewers to consider how staying open to play can lead to meaningful and unexpected outcomes, both in art and in life.
Brejenn Allen: Mississippi Made
a short film by Mariel Sprock and Cody Stickels
Sprock and Stickels’ intention in making this documentary about the Mississippi based painter Brejenn Allen is to show how art can be a way to care for yourself while also caring for your community. Their central idea is that you can change the world through art when you take care of yourself first, and they wanted to explore how that looks in a real person’s life. Through following Brejenn’s routines, driving through Mississippi, working with kids, planning her projects, and creating her artwork, they aim to show how her creativity is shaped by the world around her and her interaction with it.
Taking a cue from Brejenn’s own artistic statement, in which she writes about “highlighting the elegance of everyday items,” they wanted to mirror that idea in their visual approach. By moving between verité scenes of her life as an artist and details of her art, they hope to connect her distinctive artistic style to her larger story and connection to Mississippi. Ultimately, their goal is to create a film that reflects the grace, talent, and care that Brejenn brings to her life and to her art, while showing that art is not just about making images; it’s spiritual, a form of healing, change, documentation, and storytelling.
Bill Beckwith: Shaped by Clay
a short film by William Harbison, Samson Oklobia, and Olivia Whittington
Mississippi sculptor Bill Beckwith reflects on techniques he gained from his late mentor Leon Koury. This film explores how living and working as an artist in Mississippi bears a unique meaning, and how community and mentorship foster the growth of each new generation.
Hayden Hall: Art of Becoming
a short film by Nelson Crawford, Aubrey Goodwin, and Tara Watts
Hayden Hall is an artist in Mississippi, specializing in landscapes of the Delta. This film dives into what led him to give up his successful career as a chef and restaurateur to pursue his passion for painting back in his home state of Mississippi. He explores how he made the transition and the influence that the Delta has on him.
Jason Bouldin: Corporeal Nature
a short film by Tanner Goodeill and Madeleine Perkins
Jere Allen
a short film by Ashish Shrestha, Abby Stewart, Leah Sumner
Jere Allen spends the majority of his time doing what he loves most, his hobby and passion: painting. Jere lives with his wife, Joe; their bond and a beautiful family are the muse to his long career as a painter in Oxford, MS.
Greta Koshenina: Sole Ciana
a short film by Emma Finlay and Max Griffith
Andi Sherrill Bedsworth : Mississippi Creates
a short film by Mimi Bishop, Ellie Kish, Athula Samarakoon.
Susan Mah: Mississippi Creates
a short film by Sela Ricketts, Chase Taylor, Peter Muvunyi
In the American South, psychotherapist and fine art photographer Susan Mah channels emotions into transformative art. This documentary explores Mah’s journey, blending phototherapy with societal critique, as she navigates loss, identity, and activism. Mah’s work transcends boundaries, offering a poignant glimpse into the intersection of life and art.
