New Works Coming to Yokna Sculpture Trail

Click on the image above to view Meek Hall art in 360. Created by Alexandria Paton.
If you haven’t seen the sculptures in front of Meek Hall on the University of Mississippi campus, make time to take a look. The students within the Ole Miss sculpture department will help install new works of art this spring.
“The installation gives the students hands on experience with the artist, and they also get to work with the Art Council to create these public sculptures,” said Durant Thompson, associate professor of art sculpture at Ole Miss.
The effort is part of a plan to refresh the Yokna Sculpture Trail, which is a partnership between the City of Oxford, The University of Mississippi, and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council.
Selections for the sculptures are made by a committee following an open call. In the past, pieces have been selected from varying artists from across the U.S. and abroad.
While the sculptures originally began popping up around the Ole Miss campus, there are now four locations in Oxford currently displaying public sculptures.

Lamar Park, Meek Hall, The Powerhouse and The University Museum have each played a role in bringing outdoor sculptures to Oxford.
“I hope the public likes them. The upper management seems to like them; they have helped us out with giving us funds, and the city also saw fit to do the same several years ago,” said Thompson. “They have helped put major funding into adding public sculptures to Lamar Park as well.”
The outdoor sculpture program began three years ago and is the first of its kind in North Mississippi.
The sculptures will be changed out in early April and a Double Decker Bus tour celebrating the Yokna Sculpture Trail Installation is set for April 25.
Story contributed by Meek School of Journalism & New Media student Alexandria Paton (ajpaton@go.olemiss.edu).