This week’s journey is a search for the soul of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, guided by the ghost of one of the South’s most visionary artists, Walter Anderson. The episode uses his mantra, “In order to realize the beauty of humanity, we must realize our relation to nature,” as a map, leading from the galleries of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art into the very landscape that fueled his prolific work.
The search for beauty and truth is not merely a metaphor. The team heads out onto the water to pull fresh oysters off Eagle Point, connecting directly with the coastal environment that permeates Anderson’s art. In a surprising turn, the path then leads to Wat Buddhametta Mahabaramee, a local Thai temple, where the welcome is as warm as the cashew chicken wok-fried by saffron-robed monks. The episode connects these seemingly disparate elements, asking how a singular artist, a fresh oyster, and a Buddhist temple all tell the same profound story about life on the Mississippi coast.
TrueSouth airs Tuesday October 14, at 8/7c on SEC Network.
