An internationally celebrated artist and Founding Father of the Mississippi College Art Department in the 1950s, Samuel M. Gore passed away April 24. The beloved 91-year-old Clintonian leaves a legacy of compelling Christian sculptures underscoring his deep faith and compassion.
His parents were the Rev. and Mrs. John Ellis Gore Sr. His mother was the former Mary Letha Pepper of the Hohenlinden community in Webster County. The Gore family lived here at one time when he was a child.
A beloved Mississippian, longtime mentor and friend to many, Gore died of cardiac arrest at a Jackson hospital. Services were Monday at First Baptist Church of Clinton with burial in Clinton Cemetery.
President Blake Thompson led the sea of admirers expressing their deep admiration for the man who meant so much to Mississippi College and the art world beyond.
“No one in the modern era has served Mississippi College as faithfully and with as much impact as Sam Gore,” Thompson said. “In my short time here, like all of you, I grew to love him and his family, to revere his great work and to marvel at his many artistic contributions to MC. His life was simply a masterpiece.”
What’s so amazing to Gore’s admirers was his hard work at an advanced age crafting pieces of extraordinary art.
After the March 29 unveiling of his bronze sculpture “Christ in Gethsemane” in the Rhoda Royce Prayer Garden, the 1952 MC graduate clearly wasn’t finished. He crafted two disciples to add to the sculpture. He completed half of the third disciple.
Barbara Gauntt’s book “Samuel M. Gore Blessed with Tired Hands” is filled with herphotographs showcasing his art during a career spanning more than six decades.
It took Gore nearly a year to craft the 450-pound “Christ in Gethsemane.” Its location is a short walk to Provine Chapel near his sculpture of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.
Outside the School of Education sits his sculpture “Jesus and the Children.” Mounted on exterior walls of MC Law School in Jackson are Gore’s enormous bronze sculptures “Moses, Deliverer of the Law” and its companion piece “Christ, Fulfillment of the Law.”
Throughout his career, Gore noted he was inspired by his late wife, Margie. He said he was never finished learning. Until recently, Gore taught a sculpting class to a much younger generation.
In a forward to Gauntt’s book, one of his former students, artist Wyatt Waters, praised his mentor. “When he paints, draws or sculpts, it becomes an act of worship that makes one want to participate in a celebration of creation.” He admired Gore’s persistence. “He does not quit,” Waters said. “He transforms lives through his art and his teaching.”
Thousands of people at churches across Mississippi know Gore as the artist shaping the head of Jesus out of pieces of clay in less than an hour. During the demonstrations, the sculptor worked while accompanied by the sacred music of his faith.
“For more than half a century, Dr. Gore was Mr. Art at Mississippi College,” said Wayne VanHorn, dean of the School of Christian Studies and the Arts. “His artwork and sculptures are ubiquitously spread across the Mississippi landscape.”
Drawing art lovers of all ages, the Samuel M. Gore Art Gallery is named in his honor at Mississippi College.
