Mississippi State University alumni Brad James Jr. and Donovan Weathers gathered buckets of paint, several bags of brushes and every tool they felt necessary and made their way to Starkville’s Walmart Supercenter last this summer. They were not there to add another coat to the bright blue paint on the outside bricks or to touch up the “fresh produce” sign above the fruits and vegetables. The two MSU graduates were preparing to transform a section of the store into a Mississippi State haven.
James graduated from Mississippi State in 2023 and Weathers just a year later, each with a degree in fine arts. But from a very young age, the two loved expressing themselves artistically, and now they are striving to use their passions to give back to the Starkville community.
James reflected on his childhood days when he would sit in front of a television, pausing on the perfect frame of his favorite cartoons to sit and draw exactly what he saw. This became his favorite pastime and his first introduction to his passion for art. But as he grew older, his priorities began to change.
“I took a hiatus, you know, when I got to high school. I started doing athletics and just seemed to grow out of it. But by the time I got to community college, I was fed up with my major and actually really enjoyed my art appreciation class,” James said. “My professor asked if I had ever thought about going into the field. At the time, I told her I hadn’t, but it did not take very much convincing.”
Weathers’ love for art was born on a refrigerator. He loved creating random drawings that his parents would proudly display in the kitchen, but it was not until several years later that he began thinking of art as a potential career path.
“It wasn’t until high school when I had a very special teacher, Mrs. Hamilton, actually knock some sense into me to start taking art more seriously,” Weathers said. “Since then, since my last year of high school and before getting into college, I had started actually trying to get a platform going and start taking art a lot more professionally.”
James’ and Weathers’ paths crossed during a drawing class taught by Mississippi State Professor Jingshuo Yang, and their friendship and professional partnership has flourished ever since.
Yang reminisced on the semester she spent with them and said even though the two had very different approaches to art, their finished works always impressed her. According to Yang, James has creative ideas but a less organized creation process, while Weathers likes to plan his art process perfectly.
Yang highlighted how their opposite artistic styles and friendly relationship allowed them to balance each other out.
“They are good friends. They have a different art theory, but they have so many things in common,” Yang said.
However, even after the two crossed the stage with their diplomas and had a chance to leave Starkville, James and Weathers chose to stay and form an unlikely dream team.
They have been working as freelance artists in the Starkville area, but in early September, James and Weathers tackled their first dual project — a Mississippi State-themed mural for the Walmart Supercenter in Starkville.
The artists were given creative freedom to transform two walls and a portion of the store’s floor into a maroon and white masterpiece.
Over several weeks, Weathers and James painted their visions into reality, providing Walmart Supercenter with an original and unique addition to its new Mississippi State store. And now, instead of just shopping, community members stop and stare at the larger-than-life bulldog holding the iconic cowbell between its rugged teeth, set against a vibrant rendition of Davis Wade Stadium — the young artists’ lasting impression on one of Starkville’s most popular retailers.
“My favorite part about doing public murals is the public opinion,” Weathers said as James nodded in agreement. “I love the idea of using artists to communicate what people want to see in their city.”
Instead of dull, gray floors at the entrance of Walmart Supercenter, several Bulldogs-themed pawprints now cover the walkway and lead customers into the MSU merchandise section of the store.
James and Weathers said that while living and working in Starkville may not be many people’s first choice, with more meaningful and personal projects like the mural and more people giving back to the community, Starkville can become an ideal place to call home.
“My hope is that when I’m not making work here anymore, there will be more artists contributing and adding to places they’ve lived in,” Weathers said as he acknowledged that his career may take him to other places in the future. “It would make happiest if more people, more students, started creatively adding to the city.”
Yang has visited Walmart Supercenter several times to see her former students’ work and said having local artists display their talent throughout the community is not only impactful to the artist but also to the town’s identity.
“The community is able to personally understand this ‘fan’ art,” Yang said, referencing the mural filled with Starkville and Mississippi State staples. “Many people won’t understand the ‘fan’ art, they’ll think of it as far away. But for this community, this art is really in their life, inside their daily life.”
In a similar breath, Weathers and James agreed that they hope to make their art feel welcoming and familiar to the Starkville community.
“I’ve always been of the mind that actually using local artists and not, you know, vinyl work off of like Etsy, is always, even in the long run, more culturally innovative and sound for giving Starkville its own kind of identity,” Weathers said.
