Voice & Vision: Recipe for Southern Culture

5:45PM cash bar; 6PM program  The Anderson artists were connected to nature in many ways, including through fishing and food. In partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance, this interdisciplinary public program explores the diverse culture of the Mississippi Gulf Coast through its famed seafood industry, which has been strengthened by more than a century of global migration. Special guest Francis Lam (The Splendid Table, The New York Times Magazine, Bravo’s Top Chef Masters) moderates an illuminating discussion with community members – from oyster farmer to chef – about how food contributes to individual and cultural identity. The program includes a tasting menu that allows participants to connect to these stories through their palates. Cost: Free to the public.  

Francis Lam is the host of The Splendid Table, produced by American Public Media. Lam is the former Eat columnist for The New York Times Magazine and is Editor-at-Large at Clarkson Potter, a division within Penguin Random House that is a leader in cookbook publishing. For two seasons, Lam was a regular judge on Bravo’s hit show, Top Chef Masters. An award-winning writer, Lam has written for numerous publications, including Gourmet, Bon Appetít, Food & Wine, Lucky Peach, Saveur, Salon, Men’s Journal, and the Financial Times. He graduated first in his class at the Culinary Institute of America and holds a bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. He lives with his family in New York City.  

This program is part of the Museum’s Voice & Vision initiative that stages dialogues between the works of Walter Anderson and artifacts from other collections, along with voices across time and place. Voice and Vision includes four in-gallery installations composed of artworks, objects, scholarship, and documentary fieldwork, representing a diversity of stories and experiences rooted in the Southern land. Voice and Vision and its programs are financially assisted by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Mississippi Humanities Council. Also supported by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.