This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

Community focus on life in HancocklCounty
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003
Artist Moseley still a treasure in Hancock County community
BY LORI GORDON Special to Hancock Focus
The spring flowers blooming in Alice Moseley?s garden burst forth with as much vivacity and vigor as does the persona of the artist herself. Dressed in her trademark crimson beret and vest, the 93 year old greets me at the door with a smile and one of her famous one-liners. As I comment on the parallel between the vivid colors of her tulips and her outgoing personality, she quips that she has a nephew who describes her as ?a combination of Grandma Moses and Phyllis Diller.?
So begins my visit with the woman who has become a community treasure for Bay St. Louis. Regarded by many residents here as being almost a public property, Ms. Moseley admits to a mutual feeling of warm regard for her adopted home. She laughs as she describes how she ended up living in the bright blue cottage on Bookter Street. ?In May of 1988,1 was invited to do shows in five different places. I could only do one, so I asked the girl who was helping me to close her eyes and pick up one of the invitations from the pile.? The invitation she randomly chose was from Serenity Gallery, and that?s how Bay St. Louis became her home. ?I don?t think that I could have gone to any of those other places?, Moseley continues, ?and do what I have done here. I wouldn?t have had what I have here.?
What Alice Moseley has here is a home that she loves. Living with her in the cottage is her canine companion Herman, and together they spend their days receiving visitors and entertaining them with Moseley?s art and her stories. Her home, which
a week. When I ask her to describe a typical day, she responds with one word: hectic. Rarely, she says, does she have a day without someone-or perhaps busloads- stopping by.
For the past few months, she has had the added experience of being the subject of an educational video that is being shot about her. Produced by Destination and Education Videos, the video?s purpose is to showcase her art and stories, to honor her first career as a teacher, and to preserve Mississippi?s heritage of storytelling and folk art. Free copies will be distributed to every high school, college and library system in Mississippi. ?I?m very proud of this project?, says Moseley, ?not only because of my art, but because I consider teaching to be my true success in life.?
The video project is being partially funded through the sale of a new limited edition print of a Moseley original which has never before been offered. ?If Only The Past Had Been So Bright? is an idyllic depiction of rural life in the South, typical of the Moseley style. As the artist shows me the painting, I notice that the bright red bam in the foreground echoes the vivid color of the artist?s attire and the flowers blooming just outside her window. ?I never was one for earth tones,? Ms. Moseley says, ?bright colors just seem to suit me.
?For a minimum donation of $55 to Destination and Education Videos, donors will receive a numbered and signed print. The print may be purchased through the DEV website at www.destina-tion-videos.com or by writing to PO Box 4002, Biloxi, Mississippi 39535.	_______________
Alice Moseley pictured with her canine companion Herman. Below on left is her painting titled ?The House Is Blue But The iOld Lady Ain?t?. The print below is titled ?All Day Singin? And pinner On The Grounds.?
VOLUME 1, NO. 1
Upcoming/
Ongoing^
Green Project on display,^ ?-* "The ^ Hancock County
*	Green Community4 Project' I will display maps and photos
? of special places and recreational areas' in Hancock*
< * ^County at the Bay St. Louis-"*
*	Hancock County Library and the Kiln Public Library. T^e Bay Library will host the
^exhibit March 17>31, and the Kiln Public Library April 8-f
j, ?>- -A -	-	?,	**	*	I-	x	V	V
J;
Xu rnL f	-	J??
jpf?The project us sponsored ,?by^the? Hancock > County*
v v, ^
^ Board, of Supervisors, fthe | Hancock, County ^ Chamber^ | of <5 Commerce 'and Coastal
I#?**	\	Ji'
| Impact Assistance Funds L ?Green spaces are?places
*	to connect* with nature pro-5 viding routes through natural
*	areas "and access to special I views, or^resources, said Allison ,, , "'Anderson of
^Unabridged Architecture. J^Along 'with 'the displays / will be' a community survey^ for the public t6 rank the five % most impc^nt goals for the
*	plan and suggest ^additional recreational spaces. ~
J' More ? information v on* the ? display and the ^project is ^ available by contacting the f Hancock County* Chamber ^fof Commerce Community^ Development Committee at