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An exhibition of portraits by late Starkville artist Carole McReynolds Davis are on display Sept. 6-Nov. 18 at Mississippi State’s Visual Arts Center Gallery. Titled “Figures and Faces Not Far From Home,” the collection features selections from an estimated 1,000 original works by the local icon who died in June 2014. (Photos submitted by Lori Neuenfeldt)

A exhibition spanning the 60-year career of artist Carole McReynolds Davis will be open Sept. 6-Nov. 18 at Mississippi State’s Visual Arts Center Gallery.

Titled “Figures and Faces Not Far From Home,” the special university event features selections from an estimated 1,000 original works created by the local icon who died in 2014.

Free to all, an opening reception will be held 5-6 p.m. Thursday [Sept. 8] in the gallery at 808 University Drive. Refreshments will be served.

Representing the artist’s style from 1970-2008, the collection was brought together by Davis’ daughter, Elizabeth Williams, and Lori Neuenfeldt, gallery director of the sponsoring �鶹��ý Department of Art.

“Carole’s love of people gave her the ultimate inspiration, and she created uniquely beautiful works of art that capture the beauty of Southern life,” Neuenfeldt said. “Many of the portraits are of faces familiar to the Starkville and �鶹��ý communities.”

Neuenfeldt said Davis had planned to produce a book titled “Not Far From Home.” It would have included images of flowers and landscapes, as well as portraits and still lifes produced over the course of her seven-decade life. To help honor Davis’ dream, the proposed title was incorporated into the exhibition’s title, she added.

She also said students enrolled in her spring-semester introductory art course had studied Davis’ comments inscribed on the back of each painting. The products of their class research is found on panels accompanying the displayed pieces.

“Figures and Faces Not Far from Home” and related exhibition programs are made possible with support from �鶹��ý’s �鶹��ý, home to the Magnolia State’s largest undergraduate studio art program.

Visual Arts Center Gallery hours are 12:30-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday, as well as by appointment.

Neuenfeldt may be contacted at 662-325-2973 or LNeuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu.

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