Bess Phipps Dawson (1916 - April 15, 1994) was an American painter and gallerist. She was a member of the "Summit Trio" in

Summit, Mississippi Summit is a town in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,705 at the 2010 census. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town originated as a railroad town and was named Summit because it ...

, in the 1960s, and she later owned an art gallery in

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statis ...

Early life

Bess Phipps Dawson was born in 1916 in

Tchula, Mississippi Tchula is a town in Holmes County, Mississippi, Holmes County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 2,332 in 2000. A 2015 article in ''The Guardian'' described it as the poo ...

. She graduated from Belhaven College in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

. By 1951, she studied at the Southwest Mississippi Junior College in

, alongside Halcyone Barnes and Ruth Atkinson Holmes.

Career

Dawson was an abstract painter. In the 1960s, she co-founded the "Summit Trio" alongside Barnes and Atkinson in Summit, Mississippi. The three painters exhibited their work at the

High Museum of Art The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, the

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is an art museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The Brooks Museum, which was founded in 1916, is the oldest and largest art museum in the state of Tennessee. The museum is a privately funded nonprofit institution located in ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, the

Delgado Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and the

Mississippi Museum of Art The Mississippi Museum of Art is a public museum in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the largest museum in Mississippi. Location It is located at the corner of 380 South Lamar Street and 201 East Pascagoula Street in Jackson, Mississippi.Lee Ellis, '' ...

. By 1971, Dawson moved to

, where she was the co-owner of the Gulf/South Gallery alongside Norman Gillis, Jr. She was also the director of the Mainstream Mall in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

, where she opened another art gallery in 1972. The dedication of the Greenville gallery included an exhibit of paintings by Marie Hull of Jackson, Mississippi and Marshall Bouldin III of the Lauramar Plantation in

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...

. Dawson served as the president of the Mississippi Art Colony from 1976 to 1989. She was a proponent of art education for schoolchildren.

Death

Dawson died of cancer on April 15, 1994, in

, at age 79, and she was buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Bess Phipps 1916 births 1994 deaths People from Tchula, Mississippi People from Summit, Mississippi People from McComb, Mississippi Belhaven University alumni Painters from Mississippi Deaths from cancer in Mississippi 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters