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NATCHEZ — Renowned Mississippi watercolorist Wyatt Waters on Thursday celebrated the grand opening and ribbon cutting of a new art gallery nestled in the middle of the arts district of Downtown Natchez at the corner of Main and Commerce Street.

The gallery features many large and small prints of scenes that accurately depict historic Natchez in bright watercolor as well as souvenir merchandise like coffee cups, wine bags and stoppers, hats, totes and more bearing Waters’ name and art.

Safe to say Waters has many Natchez fans, as the gallery opening was packed Thursday with people standing shoulder to shoulder and more lined up outside. Many stopped to greet the artist and take selfies with him.

“Many years ago, I became a big fan of this Mississippi legend named Wyatt Waters,” Mayor Dan Gibson said. “If you had told me back then that we’d be standing here, I never would have believed you.”

Waters and his wife Kristi reside in Clinton, less than a two-hour drive from Natchez.

When asked of his decision to locate a gallery in Natchez, Waters said, “Natchez was where we’d spent our honeymoon. It’s both far away and close and we’ve been coming back here over and over again in the six years we’ve been married. We love it here.”

Waters said there is so much to paint in Natchez, from the beautiful historic homes to the natural scenes along the river.

“It’s like a mosquito in a nudist colony,” he said — his analogy met with an eruption of laughs from the crowd. “There are so many choices.”

Kristi Waters said they’d been discussing opening a Natchez gallery over the past few years, but the timing wasn’t right until last fall.

“We ran into Chesney Doyle at Halleluiah wine shop, which carries our wine (Waters to Wine), and we told her and she said, ‘Follow me, I’ve got the perfect location.’”

Mark and Chesney Doyle’s building at 101 N. Commerce Street provided the perfect space for the gallery, and within two months it was ready to open, Kristi Waters said.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and by appointment by calling 601-925-8115. Learn more about the artist at wyattwaters.com.