3 Ocean Springs / Apartment Therapy Cure Week 8

This weekend I visited Ocean Springs, Mississippi, hometown of my good friend Courtney and the Peter Anderson Festival and Walter Anderson Museum. Ocean Springs is an small community on the Gulf Coast with a very strong artistic identity. Much of the cities artistic history is based on the work of the Anderson brothers, who felt that an artist should create affordable work that brought pleasure to others, and in return, the artist should be able to pursue his artistic passions. These ideas are evident throughout the city and especially the festival.

I had very gracious hosts and tour guides who took me to see many amazing points of interest in the city...One of my favorite tour sessions was an early morning pajama clad drive around town.


Our first stop was to search for the allusive elephant...an interesting family story regarding a stolen elephant that belongs to my good friend Courtney's husband...I should tell you that his lovely grandmother with whom we stayed is an accomplished writer, so they stories and history that I acquired where quite amazing...

Next stop was the Ruskin Oak...an amazingly beautiful tree that dips and curves above and below ground...perfect for climbing children and relaxing respite...

Next stop was the harbor, which I'm hardly doing justice with these images...it was so peaceful and beautiful...you can certainly understand how the artists are so inspired living here...

The best stop we made was a trip down the unpaved road into the Shearwater Pottery Compound...although the modest structures that were severely damaged by Katrina are still being rebuilt, we saw the most surprising sight...a small tent on the side of the road filled with the original screens used for screen printing...this struck me as so amazing, a testament to the nature of the community, where art is so accessible and respected that these wonderful works of art can simply be placed in a tent on the side of the road and no one bothers them...

Now on to the Peter Anderson Festival...

Highlights included: TatoNuts donuts, the most amazing donuts I have ever tasted, yes better than Krispy Kreme...Courtney's crazy kids (my "nephews")...Government Street Grocery where we had very cold and refreshing Newcastles...and a trip to the amazing Walter Anderson Museum where we saw a great Mac Anderson Introspective...

For a tiny town, this festival is huge...there are over 300 vendors and 100,000 visitors were expected. The arts and crafts go on forever...but there are some really great artists. I picked up a couple of great, affordable pieces including several silhouette works and a Walter Anderson Waterspout print...um which is why I'm counting this as my Cure project for this week.