Self-proclaimed as “The Unusual Artist,” Ms. L.V. Hull (1942–2008) merged artmaking and the Southern art of “visiting” to transform her Kosciusko, Mississippi, home into a wonderland that attracted pilgrims from around the world. She spent decades crafting vibrant works of art and transforming her home into a kaleidoscopic art environment where she welcomed visitors from around the world.
The L.V. Hull Home &Studio of Kosciusko, MS, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is the first home-studio of an African American woman visual artist to be listed at the level of National Significance and the first home of an African American art environment creator (male or female) to be listed on the National Register. A public arts campus called the L.V. Hull Legacy Center will open in her Kosciusko neighborhood in 2025 to share her artful approach to life and honor her spirit of generosity. The Legacy Center campus will be anchored by L.V.’s home, the L.V. Hull Home & Studio.
Ms. Hull was born L.V. Bentley on August 6, 1942, in McAdams, Mississippi, to Joe Callie Bentley and Lue Willie Bentley, a cotton farmer and midwife, respectively. Married and divorced, Hull purchased her own home in an African American neighborhood on Allen Street in Kosciusko shortly after her 32nd birthday in 1974. She immediately adopted the property as her sanctuary, studio, and primary canvas, curating her space with a dense collection of found, purchased, and gifted objects that spoke to her aesthetic sensibilities. Her home-studio was a site of experimentation where she explored painting, assemblage, installation, and her ever-evolving yard environment. Her creativity also extended to household fixtures, domestic objects, and clothing painted with her signature dots. As one guest described, “It’s hard to tell where the art stops and L.V. begins.”
Credit: Overview from museum website