Starkville and Oxford’s art councils are getting in on the rivalry between the two cities with the first Scrambled Art Bowl to be hosted in November.
The Scrambled Art Bowl is a competition and collaborative fundraiser between the Starkville Area Arts Council and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council in Oxford. SAAC Director John Bateman said the idea came while talking to YAC Director Wayne Andrews.
“He and I both believe that collaboration is really the way to strengthen programs, especially in the arts world, where the sum is greater than the parts,” Bateman said. “… I went to Ole Miss but I grew up in Starkville, and my parents taught at Mississippi State. Chatting with Wayne, we’ve got this great history between the two schools of the Egg Bowl and the rivalry and I thought, why not?”
Bateman said Starkville and Oxford share more than some intense fans of the MSU-Ole Miss rivalry might care to admit. Both communities, he said, are flagships in the state for art and for quality of life issues, such as walkability.
“The director of the Starkville Area Arts Council, John Bateman, challenged the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, as both communities are cultural training grounds in Mississippi,” Andrews said in a press release.
The Scrambled Arts Bowl will be held in Oxford this year, as will the Egg Bowl football game between the two schools, which is set for Thanksgiving. The art contest will feature 11 artists each from Starkville and Oxford — to match the number of players on the field at one time for each football team — and kick off on Nov. 5 at Uptown Coffee.
The arts bowl will last through Black Friday, on Nov. 23, and each art sale will be treated as a “touchdown.” Organizers will tally the final score once the competition is complete and the winning team will take home the “Golden Paintbrush.”
“Both towns, during the Egg Bowl, have a market,” Bateman said. “So we thought what better way to promote our communities and the other aspects of talent in both towns than some sort of Egg Bowl playoff competition?”
Bateman said the arts bowl is a joint fundraiser for the two arts councils and as such, proceeds will be split evenly.
He also said the competition, while a fun part of the arts bowl, is secondary to helping artists gain more exposure.
“The benefit to our communities and artists is it promotes our artists in other cities,” Bateman said. “A Starkville artist can’t make a living just here, by selling work here. The same with Oxford — artists have to be well known across the state. Both of our communities have some amazing artists, of all backgrounds.”
SAAC is accepting submissions for artists to compete in the Scrambled Arts Bowl. Submissions can be turned in under the “Submit” tab at https://www.starkvillearts.net.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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