Bill Text: MS SC583 | 2017 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognize Sammy Britt as recipient of the 2017 Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Visual Art.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-02-14 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC583 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-SC583-Enrolled.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Horhn, Burton, Carmichael, Simmons (13th), Jackson (11th), Barnett, Blackwell, Chassaniol, Dearing, Jackson (32nd), McMahan
Senate Concurrent Resolution 583
(As Adopted by Senate and House)
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE TO RULEVILLE NATIVE SAMMY BRITT AS A RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 GOVERNOR'S ARTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN VISUAL ART.
WHEREAS, the Governor's Arts Awards Program has announced its 2017 recipients which includes Sammy Britt for Excellence in Visual Art; and
WHEREAS, in the compendium Art in Mississippi: 1720-1980, Patti Carr Black wrote, "Landscape found its champion in the Delta. Sam Glenn Britt...has been a major catalyst in pleinair landscape painting in Mississippi." It has been two decades since those words were first published, but they still ring true today; and
WHEREAS, Ruleville native Sammy Britt is considered one of the state's leading art educators and painters. Focusing primarily on light and nature, his work reflects a deep passion for his home, the Mississippi Delta. While a student at the Memphis Academy of the Arts, Britt was invited to train with Henry Hensche at the Cape Cod School of Art. Mr. Hensche, the German-born Painter credited with revolutionizing the teaching of still-life and landscape painting through the use of color blocks and light keys, mentored Mr. Britt periodically from 1963-1988. The painting style Sammy Britt developed through this training is strongly influenced by the Impressionists. Though the reliance on landscapes and nature for subject matter was out of step with the popular movements of the time, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, Mr. Britt continued to hone his skills at what he calls the Color Visualist style; and
WHEREAS, a graduate of Memphis Academy of the Arts and the University of Mississippi, Mr. Britt began teaching at Delta State University in 1966. Mr. Britt has spent his long career studying light and color and passed this knowledge on to countless students during his 35 years at Delta State. His approach to seeing color through the language of limitless 'light keys' and 'color notes' in nature was introduced to him by Mr. Hensche. Britt and his work are well-known throughout the state and region, but his education work is an equally important part of his legacy. He has taught generations of artists, some who are leisure painters and many who are acclaimed artists in their own right. Students who have gone on to work as artists or art educators include Richard Kelso, George Thurmond, Gerald DeLoach, Sharon Richardson, Melanie Atkinson, Susan Russell, and Robin Whitfield. Since retiring from Delta State University in 2002, Mr. Britt teaches workshops around the state to beginning and experienced painters; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Britt has a long list of artistic accomplishments, winning many prizes and awards in competitive shows. The Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters presented Mr. Britt with the Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we pay tribute and express appreciation for the talent of a Mississippi Artist who has made Mississippi a better place and exemplifies the artistic traditions of our great state:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby extend the recognition of the Mississippi Legislature to Ruleville native Sammy Britt as recipient of the 2017 Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Visual Art, and extend our congratulations on this auspicious occasion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Sammy Britt as part of the Governor's Arts Awards presentation on Thursday, February 16, 2017, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.
