Escapes
O C TO B E R 2 0 2 1
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THE
ATTIC GALLERY IN VICKSBURG
CELEBRATES
ITS GOLDEN
G A L L E RY H O P P I N G
ANNIVERSARY
W
Images courtesy of Visit Vicksburg.
ART EXCURSIONS
Treasures in the Attic
FOR FIFTY YEARS, THE ATTIC GALLERY HAS REIGNED AS A BELOVED ARTS HAVEN IN VICKSBURG
“I
t all started when someone from Los Angeles started asking us about Mississippi,” said Lesley Silver, the fifty-year owner of the sechond oldest independent art gallery in the Magnolia State (the oldest is Brown’s Framing in Jackson). “People have ideas about the state. But there are so many layers to Mississippi.” It was 1971. Silver and her then-husband were in Los Angeles for his business, a jewelry store and bridal gift shop at 1406 Washington Street in the heart of downtown Vicksburg. Friends were watching their children back home so Silver visited city galleries looking for a gift to bring back as thanks. Cynthia Comsky, owner of Comsky Gallery, was especially intrigued with Mississippi, and invited the Silvers to dinner. That evening, speaking of West Coast traditions, she explained that when people get married in California, guests often gift art rather than more traditional items like sterling silver or antique china. Comsky invited the Silvers to bring some of her gallery’s artwork back to Mississippi to sell in the gift shop. 58
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By Cheré Coen A selection of artwork, including pieces by Marvin Spohn and Gary Chafee, arrived at the Silvers’ home weeks later while they were hosting their daughter’s fifth birthday party, where other parents fawned over it and purchased pieces for their homes. “Many of those parents didn’t know what an original print was,” explained Silver, whose mother taught art at the Pratt Institute in New York. “I was always surrounded by art. I grew up breathing art, and it has always been really important to me.” Silver saw an opportunity to share original artwork with the community and started acquiring more pieces to sell. When the she ran out of room, Silver cleared the attic above her husband’s store. In October 1971, the Attic Gallery was born.
Art That Resonates
Over the last fifty years, Silver has remained committed to selling only original artwork in her gallery, choosing pieces not because of an impressive artist bio or following—though many of her artists boast
either or both—but because she connects to the work on a personal level. In the beginning, most of her gallery’s art came from professional artists, including Dale Rayburn, a Carriere, Mississippi native, Ole Miss graduate, and professor of art at several universities, including Ole Miss and LSU. Silver noticed his etching in a gallery window of Underground Atlanta in 1972 and wrote him about selling his art in the Attic. “The rest is history,” Rayburn said. He’s been there ever since. Besides The Attic, Rayburn’s art can be found in the permanent collections of the High Museum in Atlanta, the Mississippi Museum of Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art, to name only a few. His wife, abstract artist Mamie Joe, is equally accomplished, with work featured in many of the same institutions and more. But, he credits Silver for much of their sales over the years. “My wife and I are pretty much represented all over,” Rayburn said. “Lesley has consistently outperformed all as far as sales. She has an uncanny ability to connect with collectors and has placed our work with collectors
