Mod Mobilian |  Notes on Mobile Bay Art

Notes on Mobile Bay Art

Mobile-Baldwin Visual Arts

Mobile-Baldwin Art Museums

  • Mobile Museum of Art is located in Langan Park.
    • The Mobile Museum of Art was founded in 1963 by the Mobile Art Association.
    • In 2002, the museum underwent a $15 million expansion to triple its size. It was designed by The Architect’s Group.
    • The permanent collections consist of the African and Asian Collection, the Altmayer American Gallery Collection, the Katharine C. Cochrane Gallery of American Fine Art Collection, the Maisel European Gallery Collection, the Riddick Glass Collection, and the Smith Crafts Collection. Dr. J. Rhodes and Elise Haverty of Atlanta initiated a contemporary glass collection in 2001 which now consists of over 183 pieces. – Wikipedia
    • Many of the museums acquisitions are made possible through proceeds from the Annual Outdoor Arts and Crafts Fair, cosponsored by the Art Patrons League and the Mobile Museum of Art. – Wikipedia
  • Eastern Shore Art Center
  • Centre for the Living Arts

Mobile-Baldwin Art Galleries

  • Mobile Art Council’s “The Skinny Gallery”
  • GULF ArtSpace
  • Space 301 Contemporary Art Gallery is located at 301 Conti Street in the former Mobile Register building
  • Paper Wasp Gallery (306 Dauphin St), started by Wayne McNeil in 2009 
    • Took over the Chesser Gallery space, named after its late owner, William Chesser
  • Cathedral Square Gallery (260 Dauphin St)
  • Ashland Gallery (2321 Old Shell Rd)
  • Blue Velvet Gallery (Dauphin St.) 
  • The Victorian Teal Art Gallery

Mobile Baldwin Art Organizations

Mobile-Baldwin Artists – Past

  • John Gus Hines worked in Mobile, ca. 1867-1921, as a set designer for various theaters. He also designed and built floats for Mardi Gras parades and other occasions in Mobile and other cities. Examples of his drawings
  • John Roderick Dempster MacKenzie (1865-1941) was born in London, England.  MacKenzie and his family immigrated to Mobile when he was seven in 1872. Upon the death of his mother in 1880, MacKenzie’s father sent him and a sibling to Mobile’s Episcopal Church Home (Wilmer Hall). This community provided scholarship funds for training at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Returning to Mobile, MacKenzie executed portraits, landscapes, and scenes of Mardi Gras activities. He moved to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He then spent 14 years in India. In 1914, he returned to Mobile, where he executed a series of pastel drawings of steel mills. During his lifetime he was considered one of Alabama’s most important artists. Other Alabama artists, including Doris Alexander, Hannah Elliot, Carrie Hill, Genevieve Southerland, and Eugene Walter, eventually studied with him either at his A School of Art at 200½ Dauphin Street, which he established in 1917, or privately in Birmingham. During World War I, he executed some propaganda projects for the United States government. Between 1921 and 1926, he did 43 pastels of the Alabama steel industry. Between 1926 and 1931, he did eight murals for the rotunda of the State Capitol in Montgomery depicting episodes from Alabama history. During the Great Depression he executed pastels of Mobile scenes for the Public Works of Art Project. In 1939 he completed a series of pastels chronicling the construction in Mobile of the Bankhead Tunnel. Mackenzie died in 1941, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery. A large painting attributed to MacKenzie was donated to the Museum of Mobile in 2009 (Harrison, PR 6/28/09) – Sources: Paul W. Richelson, Encyclopedia of Alabama. Marlene Rikard: “Lost Treasure: The Birmingham Steel Series of Artist Roderick D. MacKenzie,” Alabama Review, October 2007.  Mobile Museum of Art: John Roderick Dempster MacKenzie (1865-1941): a retrospective (1997).  Anil Baran Ganguly: Roderick MacKenzie: life sketch (1985); Alabama Masters
  • Louise Lyons Heustis (1865-1951) was born in Mobile, the daughter of surgeon-physician James F. Heustis and Rachel Lyons. She attended a girl’s boarding school in Pass Christian, Mississipp and, while living with her grandparents in Philadelphia, attended two sessions at the Philadelphia Art Academy. She studied under Thomas Eakins in Philadelphia and William Merrit Chase in New York, as well as the Academie Julien in Paris. She lived in New York and spent her summers in Newport, Rhode Island where she painted portraits. Many of her works to be displayed in Mobile were lost in a fire. – Mobile Museum of Art: Louise Lyons Heustis (1865-1951): a retrospective (1995); Alabama Masters
  • John Augustus Walker (1901-1967), born in Mobile, was a well-known artist of the Depression era who was commissioned to undertake several art projects for the Works Progress Administration. He studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, but returned to Mobile and held shows in 1929 and 1933 and opened his North Royal Street studio. His paintings reflect a passion for bright colors, which he acquired from trips to Cuba and Key West. Walker’s preferred subject matter ranged from Mardi Gras, fantasy and historical themes to landscapes and portraiture. He is remembered for his murals in the old City Hall (now the Museum of Mobile), for the Smith Bakery murals on Dauphin Street in Mobile (now lost) and for his mural designs for the Federal Building Courtroom, and the Historical Panorama of Alabama Agriculture. Walker paintings also are displayed in numerous public schools throughout the state. Walker also earned an enduring reputation as a designer of floats, stage sets, and costumes for Mardi Gras. Many of the float designs, noted for their exquisite artwork, are still displayed in museums. He was a founder and original member of the Mobile Art Guild, which he also served as an instructor 
  • Carlos Alpha “Shiney” Moon was born in Birmingham, but joined the Dixie Artists Colony and Bayou Painters project in the 1940s. Works include Shell Road (Post Office, Coden, AL) (c. 1948-1952) and Vortices with Houses (c. 1950), both of which are in the MMOA – Alabama Masters; Lynn Barstis Williams, “Shiney Moon: From Merchant to Artist”, Alabama heritage, Winter 2003; Bhamwiki
  • William “Billy” Skipper (1921-1987) was a native Mobilian dancer, choreographer, and film maker. He spent much of his life in New York and on the West Coast, but also maintained contact with artists in the Mobile area and made several films locally. Films include “As the Grass” produced by Spottswood Studios and featuring Sally Maloney and William Skipper.
  • The Bayou Painters (a.k.a. Alabama Gulf Coast Colony, Coden Art Colony) was an art colony active in Coden and Bayou la Batre in the 1940s and 1950s. The Bayou Painters evolved from the earlier Dixie Art Colony organized by Montgomery artist J. Kelly Fitzpatrick. Genevieve Southerland is credited as the founder of the coastal branch of the Dixie Art Colony which would become known as the Bayou Painters. The Gulf colonies ended when Kelly Fitzpatrick, Genevieve Southerland, and “Shiny” Moon all died within 100 days of each other. Surviving members continued to paint the Bayou La Batre/Coden area over the decades. Members included Frances Elizabeth Harris, William Bush, George Bryant and Carlos Alpha “Shiney” Moon. Southerland served as Director, and Fitzpatrick and Moon were art instructors. Works include Carlos Alpha “Shiney” Moon’s Shell Road (Post Office, Coden, AL), The Blessing of the Fleet, William Bush’s Pirate’s Oak, Coden Bridge by J. Kelly Fitzpatrick, and works by George Bryant. – Lynn Barstis Williams, “The Dixie Art Colony”, Alabama Heritage, Summer 1996; Lynn Barstis Williams, “South Alabama’s Art Colony 1946-1953”, American Art Review, 2/06; James Nelson, Birmingham News 10/31/04. Portersville Revival Group

Mobile-Baldwin Artists – Current

  • Casey Downing Jr. was born in Tuscaloosa, the son of an attorney and state legislator, but grew up in Mobile, attending McGill and Murphy High Schools. He served in the Navy, and after training at University of Alabama – Huntsville and under sculptor Jude Johnston, he returned to Mobile. He specializes in public sculpture, including numerous sculptures outside the Mobile Museum of Art. Others include: his monument to Joseph Langan and John LeFlore installed in Unity Point, and the Small Wonder fountain sculpture in front of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind on Government Street,  the ball Vis-a-Vis at 1 Maison on Airport Boulevard; Sentinel 18 Fountain at the University of Mobile; the sign for Cathedral Square Park; two bicycle racks on Dauphin Street downtown; a large abstract at 1 St. Louis Center; the stainless steel “Departure” at the Mobile Airport; the painted steel playground at a day care center on Washington Avenue; Ahavas Chesed Synagogue; Bayside Academy; and two pieces which he designed and built in collaboration with Dentist Barry Booth: a hand holding an American flag in Daphne and a large paper clip in Spanish Fort. His thirteen-foot stainless steel Portal was installed at Cooper Riverside Park in 2002 for the Mobile Tricentennial but was damaged in Hurricane Katrina.– Alabama Masters; Thomas Harrison, PR 5/16/09; Michael Smith, Harbinger 2/20/01; Southern Artistry; Casey Downing Jr. Website. 
  • Bruce Larsen creates sculptures out of “found object” junk. He has designed special effects for films, television and rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Widespread Panic. He has created mechanical horses and other animals for feature films such as “The Patriot” and “Nomad: The Warrior.” He created a 30-foot-high butterfly for the Mobile Museum of Art and a sculpture of Russian sprinter Valery Borzov for the United States Sports Academy in Daphne.
  • Nall (Fred Nall Hollis) was born in Arab, and has resided in Fairhope. Works in MMOA include Le Chasse, 1995; Portrait of Jimmie Lee Suddeth, 1999; and Cross of Saint Francis, 2006. – Alabama Masters
  • Charles Smith is a native and resident of Mobile.  He produces African-inspired ceramic vessels – Alabama Masters

 



  



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