Mississippi
Portrait of former MS Speaker Philip Gunn added to House gallery
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- A portrait of former Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn was unveiled at the state Capitol.
- Gunn was the first Republican Speaker in Mississippi in over 130 years, serving from 2012 to 2023.
- The portrait, painted by Jason Bouldin, includes details like the new state flag, which Gunn championed.
Another portrait of a Mississippi Speaker of the House is set to grace the walls of the chamber.
More than 200 family members, legislators and Capitol staff came together March 25 to see the new portrait of former Speaker Philip Gunn. Gunn, who became the first Republican to occupy the position in more than 130 years when he was elected in 2012, served five terms in the body before opting not to seek re-election in 2023.
Gunn’s portrait is the sixth of the speaker series, and it was painted by Oxford-based artist Jason Bouldin, who also contributed the portrait of Gunn’s predecessor, former Speaker Billy McCoy. Bouldin and his father, Marshall Bouldin III, painted all six of the Speaker of the House portraits hanging in the Capitol.
“Painting contains an inherent challenge for us as the viewer,” Bouldin said at the portrait unveiling ceremony. “By its very nature, it lacks words. That doesn’t mean that paintings are necessarily silent.”
Bouldin brought viewers’ eyes to details in the painting, like the new Mississippi state flag, which Gunn led efforts to change in 2020, emblazoned in the corner. He placed Gunn on a simple, armless chair, he pointed out, the same chair that House junior pages use.
“I wanted this portrait to capture him as more of a person than as a speaker,” Bouldin said. “The goal for any portrait is not simply to look like somebody… That’s a relatively easy thing to do. It’s more important to get the feelings of a person.”
Gunn, he said, was surprised when Bouldin requested a day and a half to paint his portrait.
“I said, ‘My God, what are we going to do for a day and a half? Just take a picture and go paint,’” Gunn recounted at the ceremony. “But no, he wanted to get to know me and Lisa (Gunn’s wife). He wanted to find out what our values are and who I am as a person.”
Gunn thanked countless people in his speech, including his family, former colleagues in the House and Gov. Tate Reeves, who sat alongside him during the ceremony. He singled out the members of the Senate in attendance, emphasizing the importance of cooperation between the chambers to turn bills into laws.
He also touted what he considered the biggest successes of his tenure as speaker, including the change of the state flag and the legislation that led to the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
“Brighter days are ahead for Mississippi, but that bright future is not guaranteed,” he told the audience. “It took leadership for us to get here, and it’s going to take leadership for us to get there. I want to be a part of that.”
Bea Anhuci is the state government reporter for the Clarion Ledger. She has covered the Mississippi state legislature, and the people who make it run, since the start of the session. Email her at banhuci@usatodayco.com.