Sixth Crawl Showcases Creativity

Melissa Parsons Vincent’s ‘new generation’ iPhone art will be among the many art pieces on display at the Art Crawl.

WATER VALLEY – There will be a lot of familiar faces at the Art Crawl this Saturday evening. But, there will also be a few not-so-familiar folks bringing their creativity to town for the 6th annual event.
At 302 Wagner Street, one of the 14 stops along the artsy trail, you’ll find a whole houseful of temporary Water Vallians including J-Man (aka Jason Heavner) and his paintings; his wife, Amanda (13 Chicks Mercantile), and her fabric art; and their daughter, Lyric, a burgeoning watercolorist.
Also there will be Micha Foster of Foster Luminosity, reclaimed lamps and handmade leather sandals; Debi Jenkins of Debi J. Designs, recycled copper jewelry; Keith Stewart Pottery; Vicki Lanier, pencil sketches; Shaundi Wall, photography; Jeremy Rushing, handmade banjos and pinstripe art; and Lee Ann Thompson, watercolors. On the porch will be music by The Kites.
And, if you stick around until 9 p.m., there’ll be a special performance by fire dancer Jay Callison at D&D House of BBQ on Main Street. Callison, who recently relocated to Water Valley from Nashville, has performed on stages and at festivals throughout the country, according to Ramona Bernard, head honcho of the crawl for the Water Valley Arts Council.
“You’ll see him earlier in the evening at the Pavilion in Railroad Park,” said Bernard. “His concrete sculptures will be displayed there along with those of Daniel Uncapher and Phillip Lewis, two of the other concrete artists whose work will be on display during the crawl.”
Art will be on display from 5:30 until 9 p.m. at the 14 stops, all within an easy-to-walk half-mile radius.
“The Crawl will give you a peek into the private world of working artists, taking you into studios, galleries, and some of the loveliest old homes in Water Valley,” Bernard said and emphasized that children are welcome.
Along with the art there will also be plenty of free refreshments and live music at many of the stops, she added.
Featured will be current work by Abraxas Art, Elsie Booker, Addie Burandt, Pati D’Amico, Jay Callison, Coulter Fussell, John Forsyth, Cinnamon Foster, Mari Foster, Micha Foster, Hanne Gaycken, Katrina Geenen, Amanda, Lyric, and Jason Heavner.
Along with Peyton Hill, Patsy and Bella Humphreys, Deborah Johnson, Libby and Maggie Kate Kuchta, Phillip Lewis, Leslie Love, Jennifer McGavock, Rebecca McGavock, Judy Joy Nocifora, Jennifer Pace, Joel Person, Natalie Rodgers, Jonathan Smith, Daniel Uncapher, Melissa Vincent, Kathy Ward, Bill Warren, Emily-Jo Wiggins and Brian Williams.
Galleries participating in The Crawl are Bozarts, J. Clayton’s Eclectic Arts, and Yalo Studio. Musicians participating include Susannah Furr, Jesse McCraw, Steve Thompson, Grant Thompson, and Jacob King. The Zidecker Brothers live music will highlight the after-party at D and D House of Barbecue at 111 N. Main St.
Crawl Maps can be picked up the day of the event from Yalo Studio at 303 N. Main Street or Bozarts Gallery at 403 N. Main Street. Sponsors for the event are: Eddie Foster and The Caryl Company, Turnage Drug Store, Yalobusha Brewing, L. Hart, Inc., and Radiosondemu seum.org.
For more information call Bernard at 473-9851.

Ever notice how people either born in Water Valley or raised partly here, always seem to come home.  Either come back to live as did Cortney Par-sons Warren or come back to visit as Melissa Parsons Vincent will for this year’s Art Crawl.
The event, in its sixth year, will be this Saturday evening from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
First cousins, Vincent and Warren are the daughters of Randy Parsons and Robby Parsons respectively.
“I remember coming to Water Valley to visit my grandparents as a child and have many fond memories,” said Vincent. “My uncle Robby taught me to water ski on Enid Lake,” she added. “I also remember eating mint growing around my grandparent’s, Oscar and Kaki Parsons, pool.”
Vincent has gained some notoriety as an iPhone photographer on Instagram.  She worked for Nat Geo Wild (part of the National Geographic family) as a photographer when they sent her to Botswana, Africa to shoot the lions in the Okavango Delta. They also sent her to Hawaii to shoot the volcanos for “Wild Hawaii.”  
Her work has been exhibited in galleries in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and others in the U.S. and Canada. She has garnered critical acclaim in multiple media outlets such as USA Today, The Huffington Post, Time Magazine’s first annual wireless issue and countless others.  Vincent was named as a top ten finalist for the 2012 Mobile Photo Awards for photographer/artist of the year.
Living in Water Valley until 1999 and moving back this year, Warren said,  “Water Valley has definitely grown since I left. There have been a lot of individuals who have poured a huge amount of time and effort into our town and it really shows up and down Main Street.”
“My husband Tim and I moved into my Great Grandfather’s old house on South Main, a hundred-year-old house that has been in my family for four generations,” she said. “It’s great to sit on the front porch during the long summer nights.”
Warren stated that she and her husband decided to host one of the Art Crawl stops at the family home at 200 South Main because “I really wanted people to see all the work my dad has done on this house and, as an event planner by vocation, I always look for an opportunity to throw a party.”
Describing Vin-cent’s photos as “colorful, calming, hip, creative and surreal”, Warren said, “Melissa is pricing all of her work but will bring a limited number of pieces.”  
“Her pieces all very unique and I’m sure all who see her work will recognize her passion for her ‘new generation’ iPhone art,” she said. “Melissa is very talented and I love how she captures ordinary scenes in an extraordinary way.”
“I’m really looking forward to coming back to Water Valley,” Vincent said.  “I remember going to visit Grandy and Polly in the house on South Main and I can’t wait to see how everything has changed. I’ve heard great things about the progress Water Valley has made and I am glad that the small town feel is being kept alive.”
“I hope everybody comes to visit and view Melissa’s work and see the old house,” Warren said.    
A guitarist/singer, Jesse McCraw will be performing and Warren stated that she felt the music would enhance the art.
Whether you’ve lived here all your life, moved back or just coming for a visit, whether you drove in on highway 315, 32 or 7, no matter how or why, coming to Water Valley just feels like coming home.