Image: Jeffie Brewer, “Squirrel on a Nut, 2026,” University of Mississippi Museum, University, Mississippi
The University of Mississippi Museum has acquired Jeffie Brewer’s public sculpture ‘Squirrel on a Nut, 2026’, adding a new outdoor work to its program in University, Mississippi. The purchase was funded by the Friends of the Museum, according to an announcement from the University Museum and Historic Houses.
The museum is inviting visitors to see the sculpture and will mark the acquisition with an artist talk and ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 25. Brewer is scheduled to meet visitors and discuss his work during the event, which will take place at the University of Mississippi Museum from 5 to 7 p.m.
The announcement describes the work as a public sculpture and encourages visitors to stop by the museum to see it. No further details about its materials, dimensions or precise location were provided in the published notice.
The acquisition arrives as the museum begins its fall program for the academic year. In a letter accompanying the announcement, the University Museum and Historic Houses said it aims to inspire “learning, discourse, curiosity, and imagination” as students return to campus and the institution resumes its seasonal schedule of exhibitions and programs.
The University Museum’s institutional history is closely tied to Oxford, Mississippi, and to the collecting activities of half-sisters Mary Carter Skipwith Buie and Kate Anderson Skipwith. The sisters shared an interest in history, art and travel and built the collection that would become the University of Mississippi Museum. A current exhibition, ‘Buie & Skipwith: Sisters, Artists, Collectors’, presents their stories and the history of the museum; it is scheduled to remain on view through September 18, 2027.
Other exhibitions listed in the museum’s fall program include ‘Theora Hamblett’s Children’s Games’, on view through March 20, 2027, and ‘Caribbean Art of the Lewisohn Collection’. The museum also announced the upcoming exhibitions ‘24 Hours of Wonder’, scheduled for September 22, 2026, through March 17, 2027, and ‘Event Horizon Ad Infinitum’, scheduled for October 13, 2026, through April 3, 2027. These programs are separate from the Brewer sculpture and its September celebration.
The September 25 event will therefore serve both as a public introduction to ‘Squirrel on a Nut, 2026’ and as an opportunity to hear Brewer speak about his practice. The University of Mississippi Museum has listed the artist talk and ribbon-cutting for Friday, September 25, from 5 to 7 p.m.
