JACKSON — The Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson hosted “Natchez Day” Saturday, giving Natchez residents a chance to view pieces of art created from artists in Natchez.

Museum Director Betsy Bradley, said she was glad to have a day honoring all of the great art inspired by Natchez.

“Our mission in to engage all of Mississippi in art,” she said. “Mississippi art, and our rich cultural heritage, would not be the same without the City of Natchez.”

Bradley also said there is something special about Natchez that brings people to the city.

“People not from Natchez are drawn to it and amused by the rich history the town has,” she said. “We are just grateful that the city has kept the culture and heritage in tact.”

Bradley said Natchez’s location on the Mississippi River has helped keep a love for the city’s culture and heritage.

“One of the oldest and most beautiful pieces we have in the museum is of the Mississippi river from Natchez,” she said. “More than anything else, the beauty of the river sticks out.”

Natchez native Joanna Biglane McNeel gave a presentation on a brief history of art in Natchez and said the Mississippi River has been the one unchanging form of inspiration for artists living in Natchez.

“There have been many changes over the past 300 years, but the one constant has been the river,” she said. “The river winds its way through many states and is the lifeblood to those area, and as the oldest city on the river, Natchez was the first to reap its benefits.”

McNeel said the Natchez Indians were the first to leave their mark on Natchez art through pottery.

“The pottery from the art was influenced by the river, as it took on a grey color due to the clay being affected by the river,” she said.

McNeel said before 1840, most of the artwork from Natchez was done by artist who were just visiting the city.

“Alexander Wilson came to the town to study birds, and due to its location on the river, Natchez has over 326 species of birds to study,” she said. “You can imagine he had a field day when he arrived.”

McNeel said it was Wilson who inspired the famous artist John James Audubon to paint.

“Audubon was a great admirer of Wilson,” she said. “He came down to study with him, and work on some of his own paintings.”

McNeel also said it was in Natchez were Audubon first started his work painting with oil paints.

“He did his first oil landscape painting of the city of Natchez,” she said. “There is a lot of detail in the painting, including the beginning brickwork of Rosaline, and Trinity Episcopal Church.”

While there were many landscape artists and bird painters, McNeel said portrait photography also took off in Natchez during the 1800s with early photos of places like Zion Chapel on Martin Luther King Street and many of the plantations in the town.

“A portraitist by the name of Henry Gurney had a studio in Natchez that many people visited,” she said. “It was said that a trip to Gurney’s studio was as crucial as visiting Niagra Falls in the North.”

McNeel said the great history of art in Natchez continues to this day through artists like Rolland Golden, who also uses the river as a source of inspiration for his work.

Chairman of the museum board Roy Campbell said he wanted to commend Natchez for preserving the city’s culture, and continuing to bring new artists into the world.

“Natchez could be the most culturally significant city in the state,” he said. “We hope you continue to teach new generations to preserve Natchez history and you continue to build the history of art in Mississippi.”