Renowned Mississippi artist William Dunlap uses paint andbrushes to convey images of meaning on canvas, but Thursday he willuse his voice and knowledge to educate and inspire the future ofart when he speaks to students at the Mississippi School of theArts.

Dunlap, a native of Houston, Miss., will talk about his artduring a presentation Thursday at 1 p.m. in Mary Jane LamptonAuditorium.

The public is invited, but seating is limited and students andthe Mississippi State Board of Education will have priority, saidDr. Vicki Bodenhammer, executive director of the school. Noreservations will be accepted and guests must check in at theJohnson Institute lobby to receive passes before they will beadmitted to the auditorium.

“He’s one of Mississippi’s premier contemporary artists,”Bodenhammer said. “It’s a prime opportunity for all of our studentsto, one, see that you can make a living as an artist and, two, seethat Mississippi is at the top of the chain when it comes toartistic excellence.”

Dunlap’s monoprints, paintings, and multi-media installationsdepict different ideas of the American landscape. He has been therecipient of such prestigious awards as the Danforth Award in theVisual Arts, The Rockefeller Foundation International Fellowship,and a grant from the Warhol Foundation.

He maintains studios in Virginia, Florida and Mathison, Miss.,where he was raised.

Dunlap has exhibited and is included in the permanentcollections of such museums as The Corcoran Gallery of Art, TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, and The Mississippi Museum of Art.

“He had donated four works to us that are on display in thelibrary as part of our permanent collection,” Bodenhammer said.

Dunlap presently has an exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Artentitled “What Dogs Dream: Paintings and Works on Paper by WilliamDunlap.” The exhibit will remain on display until Dec. 3.

In mid-October, approximately 45 MSA visual arts students got apreview of what they may see Thursday during a tour of the statemuseum.

“He was wonderful,” said Anne O’Hara, a visual arts instructor.”He toured them through his exhibit, and would stop at certainpieces and tell them about the details leading to it.”

Katelyn Wasden, a visual arts senior who was on the trip, saidDunlap was a good speaker.

“It was more interesting than I actually thought it would be,”she said. “It’s amazing what an artist can do. He lets people gettheir own idea about his work rather than saying this means this.He was interesting to listen to.”

O’Hara agreed.

“He could relate to the students very well, and would talk tothem in a way that held their interest,” she said. “He’s veryenergetic. His energy kind of transfers to the kids.”