Hattiesburg is aiming to become “The City of a Hundred Murals” and it recently got one mural and artist closer to that goal.
A new mural at the downtown Duncan Lake Park was unveiled in early February, becoming the 31st mural to be completed as a part of Hattiesburg’s Public Arts Trail, a metaphorical trail consisting of sculptures, painted utility boxes and murals scattered across the city’s limits.
Each mural on the trail represents Hattiesburg’s various artists and its lively art scene. Gabby Smith, a Pensacola, Florida native, became the latest artist to join the collective display after the completion of her new mural.
Each of the city’s murals has a story behind it and how the artists came to the project.
The 500-square-foot mural on the bathroom facility at Duncan Lake park was an obvious choice for Smith.
Smith, who often paints wildlife and flora subjects, felt at home painting the wildlife representative of Duncan Lake Park and the Pine Belt area.
Named “Duck Duck Goose”, the mural features the park’s iconic amounts of duck and geese, as well as surrounding wildlife such as the Northern cardinal, butterflies, a squirrel, raccoon, as well as local fungi.
But the mural’s story extends beyond its subject material and into the background of the artist itself.
Smith, who usually paints with oil, acrylic and watercolor on canvas, had never attempted a project at such a scale. It marked a transitional point in her art career.
Not only had Smith never painted a mural, but she was also 27 weeks pregnant when she started the mural.
“I had never done anything that large scale before,” Smith said. “It was a little intimidating and it was really hot outside.”
Smith was no stranger to motherhood, though. Her art journey started as she was expecting her first child, shortly after she moved to Hattiesburg and decided to pursue a full-time art career.
“It was terrifying. I was so scared,” Smith said. “Still, it just feels like a really big leap of faith to be able to try to paint and hope that my work sells, but we’re doing it.”
Smith adjusted to trying to paint full-time after having her first-born Opal and taking care of her step-daughter.
“Trying to paint while also watching my kiddos is a little stressful sometimes. A lot of nights, we’ve been staying up pretty late,” Smith said. “My husband and I will just be at the studio and the kids will be asleep on the little couch and I’ll be painting just kind of doing whatever I have to do to get it done.”
Still, Smith prefers the challenge compared to the grind of a nine to five job and got more comfortable this time around with her newborn, Ozzy as she often has him wrapped to her while she paints.
On top of juggling motherhood, Smith faced roadblocks in painting the mural.
She worked tirelessly on it for ten weeks every day for three to six hours, but at times felt like she was behind pace.
But the reward was sweeter than any other project she had done.
“I think this has honestly just given me a lot more confidence about my painting. I feel like I can push myself a little more and I’m not scared to apply for bigger projects like future murals…and just to really try anything different with my art,” Smith said.
Now that Smith has her art publicly displayed, she says she has become “plugged” into the local art community, which she describes as an “incredible” scene.
Smith’s journey through art reflects the individual experience of each artist, the inclusion that the Art Trail provides to the city’s art community and the unique opportunity it gives for artists in the city to publicly display their talents.
Smith hopes to paint another mural and has the chance to do it as the city has 69 more to go to their ultimate goal.
The Hattiesburg Alliance for Public Art recently ended its applications for its next mural, which will be painted at the Hawkins Elementary School, according to a report by WDAM’s Will Polston.
To read more about the Hattiesburg Public Art Trail, visit hburgart.com or visithburg.org. You can view Gabby Smith’s artwork at “gabbysmithart” on Instagram.
