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Gore Galleries Features Paintings of Professor Albert Smathers


Take the amazing artistic journey of professor Albert Smathers that stretches from the Rockies to Italy and the French Quarter of New Orleans among the points in-between.

It’s a fantastic 30-year experience that’s enabled the Mississippi College educator to sketch and paint a variety of subjects reflecting a rich diversity of culture and typography.

Art lovers can experience the superb lineup of his paintings in a new exhibit at the Samuel Marshall Gore Galleries on the Clinton campus. The exhibit titled “Far and Near” runs from October 5-November 28 and gallery visitors are in for a treat this fall.

“Inspiration was drawn from places along the coast of California, the Lower Mississippi Valley, the French Quarter of New Orleans, Costa Rican homesteads, village life of Italy and the northwest Rockies,” says Smathers, a Raymond resident. “In essence, the work pays homage to the beauty of God’s creation.”

Much of the exhibition focuses on his recent paintings of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming and Bear Lake, Colorado that capture the beauty of American landscapes.

His works also spotlight Costa Rican farm houses, the land’s tropical coastline and architecture following his visit to the paradise in 2010. His art journey began in 1979 when the Mississippi College graduate started to paint beautiful scenes of the Lower Mississippi Valley, all the way from Greenville, Mississippi to Grand Island, Louisiana.

A 1984 trip to California’s Big Sur country opened his imagination to create memorable paintings and sketches. “I love the lines and textures of the earth cascading towards the Pacific Ocean, the pounding waves and gleaming sunsets.”

Some of his best art work originates in places as near as the Natchez Trace Parkway. A scenic federal highway with a 50 mph speed limit for travelers from Natchez to Nashville, the Natchez Trace becomes the source of many romantic landscapes with its winding roads, towering trees and gentle streams, he says.

Smathers received his bachelor’s degree from MC in 1980, and went on to earn a master’s degree and master’s in fine art, both from the Christian university.

Art patrons can meet Albert Smathers, at a November 15th reception from 6-8 p.m. at the gallery at 199 Monroe Street. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. Admission is free. Parking is available behind the First Baptist Church Clinton Activities Building.

For more information, contact Gore Galleries Director Randy Jolly at 601.925.7770.