​According to Dismuke, "My compositions are influenced by things I am experiencing in my current season of life, such as goals, relationships, joys, fears, family, and faith. My work tells my story, but I like to leave enough ambiguity in the work that the audience can make their own interpretations. By inviting the viewer to interpret what the work means or what the artist was thinking, the viewer is forced to bring something of themselves into the work. I believe this binds the artist and the viewer."

Dismuke's interest in art began at an early age. He was always creating, searching for new things and ways to entertain himself. He later attended the University of Mississippi, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture. On a trip to Chicago, Illinois he was inspired by the public art placed around the city. "Growing up in rural Mississippi, I had never been exposed to public art on that scale. I returned home inspired to transform my home state of Mississippi into an art destination." From that inspiration, Dismuke co-founded the Yokna Sculpture Trail, a bi-annual rotating outdoor sculpture exhibition of 18-20 large scale pieces of work from artists all over the nation.

Dismuke's work has been included in several international and national exhibitions, including the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition, New Orleans, LA, The Walter Anderson Museum, Ocean Springs, MS, The Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, Scope Basel in Basel, Switzerland, Lima, Peru, several gallery and museum shows, and private collections.

Dismuke will talk about his work and lead a walk-through of the exhibit in the Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery on Thursday, February 17 at 1:00 p.m. Later that day, a public reception is planned for 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.

The Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery is located on the second floor of the Cullis Wade Depot next to Barnes and Noble Bookstore on MSU's main campus. Hours of operation are Mondays–Fridays, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., closed university holidays.

This exhibition and its programming are made possible in part from a community grant awarded by the Starkville Area Arts Council and sponsorship from the Starkville Visitors & Convention Council. Thank you!

If you have ever worked with a good gallery, you will know they are worth every penny of the (up to) 50% commission from the work they sell. They seriously make long-term commitments with their artists, cultivating and connecting them to a carefully curated group of collectors who believe in the gallerists' point of view. They have taken a lifetime building trusted relationships to share and grow the artists they work with careers.

I have tremendous respect for what a gallery can be, so when defining what we are, I couldn't call in any good conscience call TLYB a gallery. The closest terminology I could come up with to describe TLYB is a visual arts production house. Production House is used primarily in audio and film media, but the definition resonates.

Wikipedia Production House Explanation:
"A production company, production house, production studio, or production team is a business that provides the physical basis for works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video. Production teams consist of technical staff to produce the media. Generally, the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating a particular product. For example, in a theatrical performance, the production team has not only the running crew but also the theatrical producer, designers, and theatrical direction.
The production company may be directly responsible for fundraising the production or may accomplish this through a parent company, partner, or private investor. It handles budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent and resources, the organization of staff, the production itself, post-production, distribution, and marketing."

It sounds like us, right?

We create, promote, and document fleeting moments in Mississippis' visual arts history. I feel we can best serve and play our role in Mississippis' art scene by focusing on building free opportunities for exposure and documentation for our artists. That means we create temporary virtual and physical exhibits with a separate independent publication, documenting Mississippi artists' lives and experiences through the MSA2A podcast, presenting Mississippi with artists to find places to go with TLYB ART MAG, and working with our local community to build programs like #PictureOleBrook. We strive to provide education, entertainment, opportunity, and community to the best of our ability, and that's our promise to you. 

How it all works:

When I started TLYB, it was with the intent of being a studio to create in and a venue to teach (I prefer coach) art. Up until now, the revenue from students has been the primary funding for everything that we do. As we grow in these new directions, we will be shifting to bringing on event sponsors and advertisers to alleviate and balance out the financial side of things. We have chosen to form as an LLC rather than a non-profit so that we can move faster, pivot quickly, and maintain creative freedom.  

This structure also allows us to offer free opportunities for artists with a ZERO COMMISSION take on our end. The majority of the work sold in any exhibit is purchased directly from the artist. We take pride in connecting artists with patrons and hope to supply that bridge for our new friends. 

Thank you for taking the time to read!
Much Love,
Derek

​​-SUBMITTED WORK AND STATEMENTS BY MISSISSIPPI ARTISTS

​Would you like to be featured? Find out More HERE

"I am 21 years old and a current college student majoring in art. I graduated from East Union Attendance Center in Blue Springs, Mississippi in 2018. I now attend the University of North Alabama and am majoring in Visual Arts Education P-12."

​Olivia Brekelle Hodgson was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi. This was where she was raised, being homeschooled from first grade through twelfth grade. While being homeschooled during this time, she attended art classes from a local artist, who taught her painting, drawing, and other mediums of art. At the age of eleven, she expressed in interest in learning how to crochet. Her mother hired an instructor for her to teach Olivia the core lessons of crochet. Later on in life, Olivia attended Copiah Lincoln Community College, where she obtained her Associate’s degree in visual arts in 2018. She later moved to Hammond, Louisiana, where she studied Fine Arts at South Eastern Louisiana University. In the fall off 2020, she obtained her Bachelors degree in the Fine Arts, with a concentration in sculpture. She is currently a working artist, further exploring her craft in textiles and soft sculpture.

​-SUBMITTED WORK AND STATEMENTS BY MISSISSIPPI ARTISTS

Would you like to be featured? Find out More HERE

https://www.instagram.com/dotcoursonart/ 
​ ​https://www.dotcourson.com/

​Dot Courson was born at home on a small working rural farm near Corinth in the hills of north Mississippi almost on the TN line. She grew up in the fields, streams, and woods around her home as her parents worked the land, milked cows, farmed and picked cotton. Her talented deaf father taught her to draw. Her grandparents were sharecroppers and lived over in the flat, windy, Mississippi delta and she would go to spent many summers there in the heat and dust in the shotgun house where her grandmother cooked on a wood stove. Cotton grew up almost to the doorsteps and the blistering hot wind blew across the flat delta fields as Dot took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the land and place she loved.

​     Now, she paints from the fullness of the loving memories of her heart as a full-time artist from North Mississippi in her private art school and studio/gallery located on Hidden Creek in Pontotoc, MS. Painting delta memories and cotton are favorite subject matter for her. Several members of her family are artists and art teachers including her daughter, the portrait artist Susan Patton of Bruce, MS Dot is involved in the arts throughout the south. She is honored to have her painting and bio on permanent exhibit at the new Arts and Entertainment Experience Museum in Meridian, MS, a new museum that opened in 2018. She judged the Women Painter’s of the Southeast (WPSE) in 2015 and is a juried member of the Oil Painter’s of America and the American Impressionist’s Society (AIS) where she served on the 2012 and 2015 National Show Committees. She served two years on the board of the Plein Air South – a convention of artists in Apalachicola, FL. She was honored to included in this year’s Oil Painters of America 30th Annual National Juried show of Traditional oils. The exhibition at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum April 9- May 16th. A lifelong, self-learner, painter, and avid reader, Dot attended college after only completing the 8th grade. She has been an art student through private study and the art atelier system with master artists and has been a professional full-time for almost 20 years. Before that, she was a Healthcare Administrator and a graduate of Mississippi University for Women and received a Master's from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Nursing with a Certificate in Health Systems Administration. Dot has had many solo art shows in recent years and won numerous regional and national awards for her plein air and studio paintings. Two of her works are featured in art books, Creative Freedom, a book published by North Light Publishers, and were also in magazines such as Outdoor Painter online and in a feature article published in Plein Air Magazine. Her works are frequently shown on HGTV’s Hometown – a home design reality show. In 2014 when she was invited to teach a workshop and to be a featured painter in Art in the Open in Wexford, Ireland - Europe’s largest open plein air event! The event drew art students from all over the world. With plans to write her memoir soon, she lives in Pontotoc, MS, and is married to Dr. Jackie Courson who is retired from MSU Extension Service Administration in Starkville, MS. Her work is in public and private collections in the United States and abroad. Her studio/gallery is open by appointment.