Join us Saturday, November 22nd, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, for a lively discussion and painting demonstration from Mary Louise Porter, one of the artists include in our All Around Mississippi exhibit, showing now through November 29, 2025. The event is free for members, and $60 for non-members.

Mary Louise Porter is a contemporary landscape painter whose work draws inspiration from the rich landscapes of Louisiana, Arkansas, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She holds a BFA and MFA in Painting from Louisiana State University and has participated in residencies across the U.S. and Costa Rica. Her work is featured in Expression of Place: The Contemporary Louisiana Landscape by John R. Kemp and in Louisiana Life magazine. Porter's paintings are represented in galleries and collections nationwide.

Porter creates abstracted landscapes that explore color, line, and texture to capture both the beauty and emotion of place. Working primarily in acrylics and mixed media, she layers surfaces to evoke the movement of clouds, reflections on water, and the rhythms of nature. Her work represents a journey of memory and imagination—an ongoing dialogue between land, sky, and spirit.

"The beginning of a painting is always mysterious to me. A painting develops, unraveling its composition as colors, lines, shapes, and textures gradually emerge on the canvas.”