Artful Magic Under the Flower Moon May 2

Nature Notes - April 2026

On Saturday, May 2, The Arts Hancock County invites the community to experience an evening of art, nature, and discovery at the eighth annual Under the Flower Moon, the organization’s signature spring fundraiser and one of its most anticipated events of the year. ​

- by James Inabinet

Hosted by James and Margaret Inabinet, Under the Flower Moon will feature upwards of twenty artists at La Terre Art Studios [not La Terre Farms, our wonderful, flower-growing neighbors on Bayou La Terre] doing what artists do – creating! By 5 pm on that Saturday, the art produced by the artists will be scattered along the forest edge, waiting to be seen.

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This isn’t your ordinary art exhibit, typically hung on walls, inside a gallery, impervious to the demands of nature. The gallery for this exhibition is under the sky and clouds, under forest trees, among singing birds and croaking frogs, in spring-laden air, at the interface between artifice and nature, between what nature grows and humans build, in a living space lovingly situated among trees and bushes, buildings that peek out from the trees, a kitchen garden – it’s difficult to say where the built world ends and nature begins. Instead of walls, the art will be laid out onto leaf litter or hung from bushes and trees to become part of nature herself.
 

 
This art is unique in that each installation is actually two exhibits at once, one for the day and one for night. During the day, each exhibit can be experienced fully, in all its nuance. At night, though, that very same art, obscured by darkness and shadow, becomes something else entirely. At night the exhibits disappear into the forest and become magical, part of the dance of fireflies, part of the chorus of croaking frogs and the cries of Chuck-will’s-widows.
 

 
Past events have featured painted gourds hanging in an arbor, jellyfish apparitions dangling from yaupon bushes, white guitar sculptures standing among wax myrtles, copper birds drooping from maple trees, painted fabric dancers hanging among water oaks, an orb dangling from a tree huckleberry, a series of porcelain flowers scattered among leaves, a community of king cake babies caught in the act of living out their lives in a thicket, a totem pole festooned with clay masks, an extraordinary beaded picnic, and colorful displays of hanging fabric. I don’t know what art this year will bring. Indeed, who can know such a thing? Several artists have told me they’ve yet to completely decide what they will create. But that’s how it’s supposed to work when one follows one’s heart. Though such a process usually produces the best art, it’s hard to squeeze into a rigid deadline.
 

 
To me, the best thing about Under the Flower Moon is the way it inspires. The art, by virtue of the way it’s produced and becomes part of the forest, provides meaning – significance –even as the world we’ve made seems to squeeze all of that out of our lives. Who has time for that? Art and nature can do this by helping us to return, if even for a moment, to the magical world of a child that sees beauty and meaning everywhere. That’s what this event means to me; it helps me to put on the eyes and mind of a child, if even for an afternoon, so I might become inspired.
 

 
Throughout the evening, visitors will also encounter live music, food offerings, and other creative expressions woven into the setting, with a few unexpected moments along the way. Designed to be welcoming for all ages, Under the Flower Moon offers a distinctive way to spend a spring evening while supporting The Arts Hancock County’s exhibitions, educational programming, and community arts initiatives.
 

Admission is by donation of $15 or more, and tickets are available in advance online or at the gate on the day of the event. The event takes place at 22591 Rue La Terre in Kiln, Mississippi, on Saturday, May 2 from 5 to 9 pm. The rain date will be the following day, Sunday, May 3.
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