House Concurrent Resolution 65

(As Adopted by House and Senate)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 29, 2018, AS "WALTER ANDERSON DAY" IN HONOR OF THE LATE BRILLIANT AND INFLUENTIAL MISSISSIPPI ARTIST AND ENCOURAGING THE CITIZENS OF MISSISSIPPI TO COMMEMORATE ITS OBSERVANCE ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2018.

WHEREAS, Walter Inglis Anderson was born in New Orleans on September 29, 1903, to George Walter and Annette McConnell Anderson, and in 1918, Annette McConnell Anderson purchased the tract of land in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which is today known as Shearwater; and

WHEREAS, in 1922, Walter Anderson enrolled at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, now the Parsons School of Design, and after a year there he won a scholarship to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, earned a Packard Award for his drawings, and a Cresson Scholarship to study abroad; and

WHEREAS, in 1934, Walter Anderson completed murals for Ocean Springs High School as part of a Works Progress Administration commission, and in 1948, the Brooklyn Museum held an exhibition of his large-format linoleum block prints which pre-date those of Pablo Picasso and Leonard Baskin, who are given credit for first creating large-scale block prints; and

WHEREAS, in 1951, Walter Anderson began painting the Community Center Murals in Ocean Springs, a 2,500 square foot mural spanning all four walls, and in 1991, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art opened as one of the few museums in the world dedicated to an individual artist; and

WHEREAS, in 2003, Walter Anderson's work was exhibited at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and in 2005, the murals in the Ocean Springs Community Center were declared a National Treasure; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, Walter Anderson was named as a Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame inaugural member, and he is recognized today as one of the foremost southern artists; and

WHEREAS, he is credited by many with transforming the medium of watercolor into a fine art, has become the inspiration for countless modernists, and was also before his time in many regards, his abstraction of form and use of color rivals that of well-known artists from the twentieth century, and his block prints, watercolors, and ceramics have become iconic representations of the Gulf Coast and an integral part of the American Contemporary Art Movement; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize and commend the outstanding contributions to society made by outstanding artists and firmly believe that it is fitting and proper to commemorate his monumental and positive contributions to the State of Mississippi by observing September 29, 2018, as "Walter Anderson Day":

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby acknowledge and observe September 29, 2018, as "Walter Anderson Day" and encourage the citizens of Mississippi to commemorate its observance on September 29, 2018.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.