Page 59 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2025

“And a visit to The Traveler to get coffee or breakfast or lunch supports our educational programming,” adds Julian Rankin, Executive Director of WAMA. “It’s part of sustaining the museum.”
The Traveler’s hours are 8 a.m.
until 5 p.m. Monday through
Saturday with daily breakfast and lunch items. Highlights include biscuits from The Greenhouse, freshly baked bread for sandwiches, and a Gulf Coast favorite, Smoked Tuna Dip.
“We are spotlighting a lot of purveyors and talented culinary professionals around the region because the Anderson brand is about locally sourced,” he said adding there will also be special evening events with cocktails as well as local and traveling chefs in the kitchen.
Inspired by Anderson’s art and escapades across the
world and within his own backyard, The Traveler opened
last month as a living travelogue of this renowned human locomotion’s journeys. And although he was an unblinking artisan excursionist, drawn to worldly adventures, Anderson always returned home to Ocean Springs leaving his artworks, thoughts, and ideas behind for generations to discover at the namesake museum. His story is told by artists and crafters who painted murals, designed furniture, and created tiles to add
to his legacy. The Traveler is the newest addition to the City
of Discovery’s downtown Arts & Entertainment District and will give visitors a relaxed chance to sip coffee among various artworks or take a stroll and explore the wondrous flower and herb gardens.
“We have about a dozen different contemporary artists SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
who are represented both inside The Traveler and in the landscape,” Rankin said. “So, walking over there is not just about getting food and drink but it's an extension of the museum experience because there is art all around you.”
Some of the featured artists include Anderson’s daughter Leif Anderson, his niece Adele Anderson Lawton, his granddaughter Caroline MaSue Muneoka, Nancy Grace, Luba Zygarewicz, Shane Sekul, Julia Reyes, Adrienne Domnick, Erica and Mitchell Gaudet, and Scott Allen.
The museum campus is ever-growing and developing
into an Art Block, nestled underneath live oak canopies on Washington Avenue. The creation of The Traveler was a key element of WAMA’s long-term campus expansion, which will also include the upcoming Creative Complex, a center for interdisciplinary and STEM education. As the weather warms, several new events are slated for the outdoor performance stage.
“We are planning concerts, movie nights, and star gazing,” Rankin said. “People can expect to see a lot of activity beyond our normal hours. We will have evening and weekend events and people visiting The Traveler can expect to not only get coffee for their daily routine but find a ton of new cultural and community programs they can utilize.”
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