Page 12 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2020

COAST NOTE
UPCYCLING FIT FOR A
Coastal Mississippi Mardi Gras Museum Reveals New Mural
story by Victoria Snyder photo courtesy of Teri Strauss Gandour
A rt is something that brings us all together and can be made out of anything you put your mind to.
So, what better way to use old, damaged Mardi Gras costumes than to make them into something new and beautiful? When you visit the Coastal Mississippi Mardi Gras Museum, make sure to keep an eye out for the latest mural done by artist Teri Strauss Gandour made up entirely of Mardi Gras costumes.
Gandour discloses that the piece is meant to represent Mardi Gras and the Gulf Coast in all their splendor. “My vision for the mural started with background colors for the sky, Gulf waters, sand, a sunrise and a sunset to represent our coastal landscape,” she says. Along with her initial concept for the mural, she wanted to make sure to incorporate speci c images: the Biloxi
Lighthouse, a penguin for Mississippi Aquarium, an old ship for D’Iberville and a kite as a nod to Long Beach, as well as a large gold eur-de-lis which is ambiguously used in the sun/king image.
However, she did not want it to only represent the Coast, but also Mardi Gras as a whole. To do that, she used some
of the iconic Mardi Gras imagery we all know and love like the Queens and Maids in their traditional nery, masks, scepters, beads, and doubloons.
How did Gandour become involved in such an ambitious and unique project? She explains, “The inspiration originated from a trip our Board of Directors President, Andi Oustalet, took to California where she came across a large, circular abstract art piece made from elaborately decorated fabrics hanging
on a winery wall. She recognized this
might be the answer on what to do with the many beautiful but damaged and/ or of unknown origin costumes that the museum housed: upcycle them!”
Gandour says that ideally, when people visit the museum they will leave with a better understanding and appreciation
of Coastal Mississippi and Mardi Gras, its diversity and all it has to o er. Her goal for what people take away from the mural? “I hope the mural is conceptually viewed as colorful in content, that it makes one smile and feel happy, maybe instills a sense of fun and is full of lots of bling. Basically, a good representation of Mardi Gras in Coastal Mississippi.”
Coastal Mississippi Mardi Gras Museum
792 Howard Avenue, Biloxi 228.314.4747
12 | August 2020
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