The portrait Nick King painted honoring Chancellor Dan Jones. DM Photo | Clara Turnage
King presents the finished work to Jones Tuesday in his office in the Lyceum. DM Photo | Clara Turnage
Around 7:30 Sunday night, Nick King decided it was time.
After reading about the state College Board’s decision to oust University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones and the subsequent events, King knew he had to do something.
“I’m not good with words. I’m not good with math. I have paint and I have a brush,” King said. “I can put those images from my mind on the canvas and that will speak way louder than me shouting. That’s my way of expressing myself – through art.”
This kind of student involvement is important, said King, a senior art major from Independence, Mississippi. Not every person can give speeches and lead rallies, he said, but every person can show support in some way.
After working fewer than 10 hours, King finished the 16-by-20 oil painting. Instead of keeping it, he said he decided to donate it to Jones as a token of appreciation for all he has done and overcome in his time here. King said, though this painting was primarily created for Jones to keep, he wished it could serve as a commemoration to the chancellor.
“I want there to be something here because he doesn’t have anything,” King said. “There’s no Dan Jones building, there are no paintings.”
On Tuesday morning, before the paint had fully dried, King presented the painting to Jones.
“This is a great explanation (of) the emotion that we’ve experienced on campus and the passion that people have put into this,” the chancellor said. “I won’t look at this – at this painting – without thinking about that expression.”
King changed his major from Chinese to art as a junior and has only completed one course in painting. That inexperience, however, isn’t evident in his work. In the painting, Jones stands looking to the right of the canvas, neither smiling nor frowning. King said this stance signifies how Jones has always received problems calmly and with dignity. Even Jones’ hands, which are in his pockets, connote something to the viewer, King said.
“When I took speech, they said to put the audience at ease, put your hands in your pockets,” King said. “So (in the painting) I put his hands in his pockets.”
This pose, he said, not only represents the strength Jones has shown, but also that which he has always imparted to others.
“I have been here since 2010,” King said. “A lot of messed up things have happened since then. I made him calm because I’ve always admired what he did.”
King said the painting portrays how chancellor looked when they first met, just one week before Jones was diagnosed with lymphoma. This image, King said, represents how the university should remember him – not the misfortune that has happened since he returned, but the vibrant leader that he has been in his six years here.
“To me, that’s how I came into the university,” King said. “That’s how I remember him. I don’t think he’d want to be remembered here, right at the end.”
Behind Jones, there is an explosion of red and blue. King said this blast denotes the outcry of the students and the support that Jones has received since March 20.
“My best relationships while I’ve been at the university have been with the students, and this will be a great reminder of the value of those relationships,” Jones said. “And beautifully expressed.”
In the painting, the hues to the left of Jones are darker. King said it represents the darkness of the past and all that Jones has experienced. To the right, white streaks through the darkened blast. This light represents the future.
“I have him looking to the right because it’s his future now and it’s brighter,” King said. “We always like to think the future is going to be brighter. It might not be, but this is my way of saying I hope that it is for him.”
