STARKVILLE PUBLIC ART
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Hi! Welcome to Starkville, MS.

We're hardly stark, though. In fact, there's a lot of art here. Public art, even. Just scroll down... 

Works are listed most recent first. For a map of all the murals on this list and more information, please see our about page. 
about

TBD

Artists: Daborah Mansfield, Marion Sansing
Sponsors/Donors: Brown, Langston & Taylor, PLLC
​Location: Brown, Langston & Taylor, PLLC, 124 E Main St, Starkville, MS 39759
Date Completed: In-Progress

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2021 National Champions

Artists: Marcus Williams
Sponsors/Donors: Shipley's Donuts
​Location: Shipley's Donuts
, 418 MS-12, Starkville, MS 39759
Date Completed: August 2022

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Celestial Spirals

Artists: Marcus Williams
Sponsors/Donors: Starkville Area Arts Council
​Location: Wall between Starkville Community Theater and 929 Coffee & Bar on Main Street
Date Completed: June 2022

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Moncrief Park Mural

Artists: Marcus Williams
Sponsors/Donors: Starkville Area Arts Council
​Location: Moncrief Park Swimming Pool
Date Completed: Spring 2022

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Greetings from Starkville

Artists: Unknown
Sponsors/Donors: Restaurant Tyler, 100 E Main St, Starkville, MS, United States, Mississippi
​Location: Restaurant Tyler
Date Completed: January 2022

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"Cadence Celebrates Starkville"

Artists: Unknown
Sponsors/Donors:
Cadence Bank
​Location: Cadence Bank, Russell Street
Date Completed: Summer 2021

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From City Hall to Lee Hall: We're in this Together

This 300 ft. mural, based on the theme "From City Hall to Lee Hall: We're in this Together," is located along the North Jackson Street retaining wall, a main entry point into downtown from Highway 182/Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 

Artists: MSU Mural Class
Sponsors/Donors: SAAC, MSU Department of Art, Modern Woodmen - Barbara Coats, ServiceMaster Clean Starkville, and anonymous donors. 

​Location: N. Jackson St. Retaining Wall
Date Completed: May 2021

Commercial Dispatch article 
​MSU State Spotlight

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Full Design Proposal designed by MSU Mural Class
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by One Call

Cotton District Street Mural (2021)

Artists:
Sponsors/Donors: 
​Location: 
Intersection of University Dr. and Maxwell St. Starkville, MS
Date Completed: Spring 2021

University Dr. Bridge

Artists: Robert Brzuszek, Joseph MacGown, and  Anstacia Doughty.
Sponsors: SAAC, Glo,  and an anonymous donor
Location: University Drive Bridge downtown Starkville 
Date Completed: October 2020

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Never Stop Dreaming

Artists: Anstacia Doughty
Sponsors/Donors: SAAC, Anonymous
Special Thanks: East MS Lumber Company
Date Completed: ​October 2020
Location: S. Lafayette St. & E. Main Street, Starkville, MS
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Main Street Planters

Artists: Graham Carraway, Starkville High School, Starkville Academy, Henderson Ward Stewart, MSU Department of Art, SAAC, and community members
Volunteer Artists:
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Bonnie V. Renfroe
Ms. Ashia Gandy
Ada Fulgham
Nyah Horsley
Abigayle Green
Bella Bingham
Vyusti Yadav
Nick Bell
Morgan Javorsky
Cassie Javorsky
Miranda James
Kelley Kohler
Elijah Maiers
Angelica Maiers
Patrick Cross
Lexus Giles
April Wallace
Lori Neuenfeldt
Ms. Allison Julien
Jaylon Ashford
Dianna Janus
Annabelle Carraway
Ryann Hawkins

Sponsors/Donors: SAAC, Main Street Association, Glo
Special Thanks: Main Street Association; City of Starkville
Date Completed: Summer 2020
Location: Main Street, Starkville, MS
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Untitled

Artist: Michael Roy (aka "Birdcap")
Sponsors/Donors: Two Brothers Smoked Meats, Camp Family 
Date Completed: September 2019
Location: Two Brothers Smoked Meats, 103c Rue Due Grand Fromage Starkville, Mississippi
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Belle's Nail Bair Interactive Mural

Artists: 
Sponsors/Donors: 
Special Thanks: 
Date Completed: September 2019
Location: Belle's Nail Bar, 500 Russell St Suite 35
Starkville, Mississippi
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Untitled

Artists: Joseph  and Joe MacGown
Sponsors/Donors: SAAC, Anonymous
Special Thanks: First United Methodist Church; Main Street Association
Date Completed: Spring 2019
Location: 100 Block W. Lampkin Street, Starkville, MS
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Untitled

Artists: Oktibbeha County Young Leaders Class of 2019
Supporting Artist: April Wallace
Sponsors/Donors: Anonymous; Starkville Area Arts Council; Service Master (Starkville).
Special Thanks: First United Methodist Church; Greater Starkville Development Partnership; Rotary Club of Starkville; Bell Building Supply; Lori Neuenfeldt.
Date Completed: ​April 2019
Location: 100 Block W. Lampkin Street, Starkville, MS


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Fractured Color Wheel

Artists: Students of Henderson Ward Stewart
​Elementary School
Lead Artist: April Wallace
Supporting Artist: Ryann Hawkins
Sponsors/Donors: Modern Woodmen of America
Special Thanks:
Mugshots Bar & Grill; First United Methodist Church; Main Street Association; Lori Neuenfeldt.
Date Completed: ​Nov 2018

Location: 100 Block W. Lampkin Street, Starkville, MS
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Fish Out of Water

Artist: Allison Julien
Sponsors/Donors: Bell Building Supply; Anonymous
Special Thanks: First United Methodist Church; Main Street Association; Allison Julien; Lori Neuenfeldt.

Date Completed: August 2018
Location: 100 Block W. Lampkin Street, Starkville, MS
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​Starkvegas

Artist: Deborah Mansfield
Sponsors/Donors: Lisa and Mark Castleberry
Date Completed: March 2018
Location: 550 Russell Street (at The Mill), Starkville, MS
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Untitled

Artist: Joseph MacGown
Sponsors/Donors: SAAC, Bell Building Supply; Del Rendon Foundation; Anonymous
Special Thanks: First United Methodist Church; Main Street Association; Lori Neuenfeldt.
Date Completed: March 2018
Location: 100 Block W. Lampkin Street, Starkville, MS
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​Indian Heritage

Artist: Deborah Mansfield
Sponsors/Donors: Spruill Property Management
Date Completed: February 2018
Location: 1016 Louisville Street, Starkville, MS
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Cotton District Office Mural

Artist: Michael Roy (aka "Birdcap")
Sponsors/Donors: Cotton District/Dan Camp Family Realty
Date Completed:
Location: 104 1/2 Maxwell St, Starkville, MS 39759

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Untitled

Artist: Michael Roy (aka "Birdcap")
Sponsors/Donors: Stromboli's
Special Thanks: Artist-In-Residence Program at Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee Wildlife Refuge
Date Completed: Spring 2014
Former Location: 408 University Drive, Starkville, MS

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Cotton District Street Mural (2007)

Artists: 
Sponsors/Donors: 
Special Thanks: 
Date Completed: 2007
Former Location: Intersection of University Dr. and Maxwell St. Starkville, MS

Oby's Coca-Cola Mural

Artist: Unknown
Sponsors/Donors: Oby's Starkville
Date Completed: Unknown
Location:
504 Academy Rd, Starkville, MS 39759
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Coca-Cola Mural

Artist: Unknown
Sponsors/Donors: Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Date Completed:
1950s or 40s. Recently touched up but mostly original
Location: The Grocery, Louisville St, Starkville, MS

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More about the Grocery and this Mural

Written by Hagan Walker for Starkville Daily News

101 years ago, this little store (which I’ve deemed the Grocery) sat mostly alone here on the corners of Louisville (old Highway 25) and Greensboro streets. It was a popular spot, where the Livingston family would be sure to greet you on your way into and out of town. There was a hitching post to the right of the store, and a painted sign above the awning. The awning has since been taken down, the sign faded away, but parts of the hitching post still remain - a century later.

In 1928, Bishop and Bertha Buckley arrived in Starkville by way of Louisville street. Their first stop in the city limits was at the Grocery to wash dust off of their children before going into town. Four years later, the Buckley’s bought the Grocery from the Livingston’s, and it soon became a Starkville staple. See, the old Starkville High School just across the street was erected in the late 1920’s without a cafeteria, which Mrs. Buckley soon capitalized on. She started making hamburgers daily and would combine the burgers with a coke for a dime. Every day at the sound of the lunch bell, hundreds of students would literally race across the street to be first in line for lunch.

At that time, just about four blocks away was the original location of Starkville’s first Coca-Cola bottling plant (now T.E. Lott). It is rumored that because of the proximity, the Grocery was always one of the first to receive fresh bottles of coke almost daily. It also became one of the first buildings in town to receive a Coca-Cola mural – believed to be painted first in the early 1940’s, and then again, with a slightly different design, in 1950 – which is the mural that’s been preserved on the building to this day. In fact, because of age, if you look closely, you can see bits of the original mural underneath.

In the mid-1940’s, a cafeteria was finally incorporated into Starkville High School. When the cafeteria was completed, the administration made a rule that students had to stay on campus for lunch. The students got around this by simply designating one student a day to slip out of class and run across the street to pick up lunch for the rest of their classmates. In 1951, Mr. Buckley passed away, and in 1952, Mrs. Buckley closed the Jr. High Grocery after 20 years of being known as the Hamburger Queen.
For the next few decades, the building was everything from a TV repair shop to a dance studio to a florist. In fact, the florist partially painted over the Coca Cola mural on the left side of the building in the 1970’s. When I first purchased the property, the mural simply said “JR. HIGH GROCERY Phone: ” and the spot that had the number was covered up by the florist’s mural. It became a personal mystery of mine to find the original phone number and restore the mural. I made friends with a kind librarian in the Starkville library, who helped me with days of research until we finally found it – a Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph book from 1938. It was less than 25 pages total, and one of the first businesses with a phone in town was the Jr. High Grocery. Phone: 495-J.

I never really saw myself as a history buff, however, when it intersects with architecture, I immediately become interested. There is a way in which things used to be that we lost somewhere over the years, and although small, it is the reason I keep putting work into this little building. Today, the outside of the building remains identical to the day Mrs. Buckley closed shop in 1952, however, the inside was converted by the previous owner, JW Bruce, into a residence before I purchased the property. It's now my home.
Although hamburgers are not on the menu any longer, a period-correct coke machine does sit in the alley next to the original mural, and just like the Buckley days, kids from Armstrong Middle School swing by every day after class to pick up a coke on their walk home. They’re a little more expensive now – 50 cents instead of five – but I’d like to think that if Mrs. Buckley came by to check on her building, she’d be happy with how things have changed – and how they’ve stayed the same.

To read the original article from Starkville Daily News, see here: http://haganwalker.com/2021/01/04/thegrocery/

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