From Trash to Treasure: A Coastwide Collection of Art

Alice Moseley Folk Art & Antique Museum partnered with the Mississippi Coast National Heritage Area (MSCNHA) grants program to fund their grant proposal, “Painting the Coast.” This partnership would fund the project’s transition of 40 recycled Coca-Cola syrup containers into artful trash receptacles. Students and artists from along the Mississippi Gulf Coast were invited to commission their designs in this recycle, renew, reuse project. Each barrel represents and honors the Coastwide cities and their legacies through artwork.

The barrels are as unique to the artist as they are to the city they represent. Many artists’ designs were specifically conceived around the culture and heritage of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One trash barrel by artist Nikki Main depicts three oysters, a play on the Holy Trinity. Artist Jessica Salaun’s barrel depicts three of our main seafood species - crabs, oysters and shrimp.

This civic-inspired grant was hugely successful, not only with the artisans, but also the recipients. The movement has business owners, municipalities, churches and neighborhoods enjoying the beautification that ‘litter’ly gave a new lease in the pollution game. One such barrel that was highly appreciated was St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis. Father Thomas was delighted to showcase the commissioned piece outside the sanctuary. Another was the City of Bay St. Louis’ former Mayor, Eddie Favre. Favre, working in public service for 42 years, served as mayor for 20 of those. The receptacle shows Favre as a caricature adorned with Mardi Gras beads, holding a glass of champagne and a coastwide smile.

This project was not only an opportunity for community organizations to be more cognizant in the reduction of litter flow, but the grant was also used to engage community partnerships and help turn public spaces into a conversation of change. The MSCNHA recognized the opportunity Alice Moseley Folk Art & Antique Museum pitched to socially engage litter control and pollution awareness through art. The belief is that art has the ability to empower people, stimulate a more responsible, pollutioncontrolled dialogue and focus on public art preservation that will continue to align with the mission of the MS Coast National Heritage Area.

As you visit local cities and mixed-use properties along the Gulf Coast, you may see one of these recycled barrels. Perhaps it is a pop of color, a historic landmark, the Holy Trinity in many forms, a sweeping oak that reaches out from the city of Long Beach or even the simplicity of the magical sunsets that catch your eye. It is the hope you will pause for a moment to admire the message.

If you would like to know more about this project, please contact Katrina Niolet, Operations Director at the Alice Moseley Folk Art & Antique Museum, by calling 228-4679223 or visiting the museum at 1928 Depot Way, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520.