Hattiesburg, Mississippi – On Friday, December 20, last-minute Christmas shoppers will have an opportunity to purchase a piece of Hattiesburg history by local artist Glenda Grubbs. Between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Grubbs will be at the Hattiesburg Visitors Center (Five Convention Center Plaza) to sign Midnight on Front Street posters, the official event poster for Hattiesburg’s New Year’s Eve Celebration.
Grubbs’ entry “Happy New Year Hub City” was recently unveiled as the winning entry at a behind-the-scenes press event for Hattiesburg’s New Year’s Eve Celebration.
Her entry was a part of a local call for artists that was issued by VisitHATTIESBURG, Hattiesburg Arts Council, Downtown Hattiesburg and the City of Hattiesburg as an effort to promote Midnight on Front Street, which includes a Hub Sign drop and a dual fireworks show.
Grubbs’ artwork vividly depicts a meshing of the 1912 Hub Sign Illumination and the Inaugural New Year’s Eve event that took place in 2018.
Inspired by both, Grubbs stated, “It was my biggest inspiration to learn that the leaders of Hattiesburg at the time had a vision to proclaim Hattiesburg as the Hub City. Now more than 100 years later, it is such a great idea to recreate the sign and continue that vision.”
While the original artwork will find its home in City Hall as a new collection of traditions and stories that will grow for years to come, a limited quantity of event posters are available for purchase at the Visitors Center. They can be purchased in person or online at http://bit.ly/hburgstore.
The Visitors Center also has many great gift baskets and locally crafted items available for any last-minute gifting needs. Hot cocoa and cookies will be available to all shoppers at the signing event.
For more information about Midnight on Front Street and a list of New Year’s Eve events, visit hburgnye.com.
About Glenda Grubbs:
A Mississippi-born artist who favors an Impressionistic style, Glenda Grubbs uses both oils and acrylics to paint life into her playful works. Her subjects range from boats and barns to cows and roosters, from flowers to figures dancing and singing (which is a nod to her first love, music). A former Miss Mississippi and music teacher, Grubbs is formally trained in music and has a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. However, she has had a lifelong interest in all of the arts.
Glenda and her husband, Gary Grubbs, who’s an actor, lived in Los Angeles for 25 years before returning to their home state of Mississippi. Today, they make their home in Hattiesburg, where Glenda and Gary are members of Temple Baptist Church and she sings in Temple’s choir. Her art can be found in Oddfellows Gallery in downtown Hattiesburg, in J. Parker’s in downtown Laurel, as well as at Bloom’s West in Oak Grove.
About Midnight on Front Street:
Midnight on Front Street is a premier destination event for New Year’s Eve, hosted by the City of Hattiesburg, VisitHATTIESBURG and the Hattiesburg Downtown Association. The inaugural event occurred in 2018, when Mayor Barker initiated the city’s first-ever New Year’s Eve “drop” with the iconic Hub Sign at the intersection of Main and Front Streets. The sign is a replica of the original sign that was illuminated in 1912 on Thanksgiving Day. Outfitted with hundreds of LED lights and suspended approximately 100-feet in the air at the intersection of Front and Main Streets, the drop serves as a visual countdown as the clock strikes Midnight, which will promptly be followed by a dual fireworks display. For all details regarding the event and its partners, visit hburgnye.com.
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