We had the good fortune of connecting with Milly Moorhead West and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Milly Moorhead West, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
I know that without the wonderful staff I had, my gallery would not have been a success! I made the decision, once I was sole owner, to hire great people to help me with sales, marketing, and book keeping. We had fun, too. The icing on the cake we were baking was that we liked each other, liked coming to work, and we all wanted the gallery to succeed. I believe that the artists we represented knew we cared about their success as well as ours.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

My high school Algebra teacher wrote on the board on the first day of class: “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” I think of this now because I know it applies to me and every other person who feels lucky. I was lucky to have a mom who encouraged me in just about everything I did. Once I began to feel the magic with my photography, I never doubted that my work was important.

My photos are colorful, often spontaneous, and lean strongly toward documentary. My first serious work was done in the Mississippi Delta, mostly around Clarksdale. It was there I met people who found me strange, opened up to me as we talked, and were gracious and generous when I asked if I could take a picture. I believe they felt my sincerity.

One day, I met Paulette. I was invited into her tiny room in her rooming house where I took many photos of her. She was truly beautiful. One photo that came from that day jump-started my career. That was 38 years ago. That year, 1984, I won two prestigious awards. One in Memphis at the first Art in the Park, and the other at the Meridian, Mississippi, Museum of Art. A second notable photo I won with that year was titled Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman, Slain Civil Rights Workers. It is a moving photo of the FBI posters that hung over the fountain in Aaron Henry’s drug store in Clarksdale as a tribute and reminder of the tragedy those three young men suffered for justice and voting rights.

I have worked dozens of Craft and Art Fairs around the state of Mississippi selling my former husband’s pottery. I worked for Mississippi Blood Services as a blood donor recruiter, I taught photography at The University of Mississippi for one year, I taught beginning art at Tulsa Community College while working on my MFA at The University of Tulsa. Back in Mississippi, I taught writing for 5 years. And I never stopped taking pictures.

Lessons learned…or maybe it was something I just know. We women are easily intimidated. I had never doubted myself until I went to graduate school. It was 2003, and my new husband and I had just moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was admitted to Graduate School in Photography. There, I allowed my male photography professor to treat me as if I had nothing of worth to offer or share. I would never have completed my MFA had it not been for my wonderful ceramics professor, my art history professors, and my fellow students. I was the oldest student, and my awkwardness with Photoshop along with that teacher’s lack of interest in my work, made me doubt myself. I began to try too hard, so nothing in my life went right for a while. My best friend at school was a Palestinian man who was there on a prestigious scholarship. My husband and I became very close to him. It was through him and his commitment to his university back home, his wife and four children, and the stories he shared with us about the challenges of living in an occupied country, that I was able to put things in perspective for myself.

You asked me to express something I would want the world to know about my “brand” and “story.”
My brand implies that I am of a special group. I am in a group of artistic women, living a full life as a 73-year-old artist, wife, mother. I am a person familiar with art, especially photography, building projects, cooking, and yoga, I am proud that my words and actions toward others speak for me, that my photographs tell the world that I care about beauty and sometimes making others feel special.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I live in two places now. Half of the time we are in Oxford, Mississippi, the other half, we are in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In Oxford, we must first walk around the famous Oxford Square. We would visit my old gallery, now called Southside Art Gallery (we called it Southside Gallery). We would look at the art, talk about the art scene. We would then move on to Square Books and visit the folks who work there, or likely we would know some customers! We would look at the books, magazines, and go upstairs to the Mississippi collection and also get a latte at the coffee bar. We could then sit on the balcony and watch everyone go by and around our beautiful courthouse. Our Square is gorgeous. For dinner, I would take her to Proud Larry’s. If we were not too tired, we would stay for music.

The next day, we would walk to Avent’s Park after coffee, and I would take her out to another great gallery, Oxford Treehouse Gallery! If time permitted, we would drive to the Delta (Clarksdale) for Blues music. She loves the Juke Joint Festival there in April or the Sunflower Festival there in August. Cathead Records is the backbone of the Blues community there year-round. We would spend the night at the Shack Up Inn and go out for late night music first at Ground Zero (Morgan Freeman’s place) and then to Red’s Blues Lounge. There is Blues music 365 days a year in Clarksdale.

Then we would drive on to Hot Springs, where we’d go to the thermal baths in the historic Bath House Row downtown and take a long hike in the National Park surrounding the city or spend the day at the crystal clear water of Lake Ouachita!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I have already mentioned my wonderful hard-working mother, Her early encouragement in everything I tried, gave me some deep roots of confidence. Since my father died when I was two, she chose to be strong as she reared my brother and me. Now I mention my older daughter Jasmine. She knows me probably better than anyone else, and she wants my work to be recognized. She designed my book, Cuba for Keeps, in 2013, and another book I did with a friend, David Rae Morris titled Clarksdale 1985, a few years later. She is a beautiful and brilliant woman and I am very grateful for her support. My husband Rest West is the love of my life. We fit and work together very well. We recognize each other’s needs and strengths. He is fun and loves life and lives it to the fullest. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful life partner.

Website: millywestart.com

Other: https://issuu.com/krowswork/docs/cubaforkeeps_krowsworkbooks

Image Credits
Milly West in Santa Fe, with Cuban painter, Roberto Gil Esteban of Cienfuegos, and his grandson. Milly represents Julio Barbon Davis each year at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Due to visa restrictions, Barbon has not been able to attend for the past three years, so Milly and Rest went to Cuba in May to pick up the paintings! Milly also sells Roberto Gil’s work Photo by Rest West, July 2022

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