Columbus Decorative Arts Forum

The Columbus Historic Foundation announces the 10th annual Decorative Arts and Preservation Forum and the 30th annual Antiques Show and Sale  to be held November 1-4, 2001, in Columbus, Mississippi. The weekend features a concert, scholarly lectures, gala entertainments in historic Columbus homes, and retail sales. More than 19 dealers have already reserved space for the Antiques Show, which will be held at the Trotter Convention Center.

   “The Turbulent ‘60s” is the theme of the forum, which is funded through a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council and will include a concert and four public lectures. Renowned singer Lester Senter will offer a concert of Civil War music on Friday, November 2, at 8:00 p.m. in Poindexter Hall on the campus of the Mississippi University for Women. Public lectures featuring prominent speakers will be presented at the Trotter Convention Center on Saturday, November 3. 

   John Keefe, Curator of Decorative Arts, New Orleans Museum of Art, will open the forum with a lecture titled “Decorative Arts of the 1860s: Renaissance Revival and the Influence of Empress Eugenie.” Paul Grootkerk, professor of Art History at Mississippi State University, will present “The Art of the 1860s: Painting, Sculpture, Print, and Photography.” Ken P'Pool, director of the Historic Preservation Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, will address “Architecture of the 1860s: Italianate and Second Empire in Columbus.” Finally, George C. Rable, who holds the Charles G. Summersell Chair in Southern History at the University of Alabama, will conclude the series with his presentation “Reconstruction in Mississippi.”

   The forum acknowledges support of the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Mississippi Humanities Council. Joining the Columbus Historic Foundations as forum sponsors are Mississippi State University, Mississippi University for Women, Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau.