News
Supporting a Cultural Destination
Lewises Commit Gift to Greenfield Farm Writers Residency
FEBRUARY 10, 2025 BY TINA H. HAHN
OXFORD, Miss. – Oxford champions Patty and Will Lewis are giving to the Greenfield Farm Writers Residency project, the nonprofit stipend-supported writers residency being developed by the University of Mississippi. Their $100,000 gift will help build Greenfield Farm on a 20.4-acre site between Oxford and New Albany, Mississippi, once owned by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner and now by the university.
The two leaders are excited about what Greenfield Farm will mean to Ole Miss, Oxford and beyond.
“Oxford and Ole Miss are working partners in many projects, and this collaboration will sustain our long and prosperous relationship. The growth and international acclaim we enjoy occur when dreamers’ dreams come true. We hope others in our community will donate to this worthy cause,” Patty Lewis said.
W. Ralph Eubanks — photo by Ethan Payne
Support Tops $4 Million
Donors, state legislature provide resources for Greenfield Farm Writers Residency at UM
OCTOBER 22, 2024 BY TINA H. HAHN
OXFORD, Miss. – Support for the University of Mississippi’s plans to develop Greenfield Farm Writers Residency — the state’s first significant infrastructure investment in contemporary writers — now tops $4 million thanks to two new private gifts and the Mississippi Legislature.
The Gertrude C. Ford Foundation of Jackson, Mississippi, has committed $500,000 to the project, and Ouida and Wayne Drinkwater of Oxford, Mississippi, have made a $250,000 gift. The Mississippi Legislature has appropriated $750,000 for the retreat-style writers’ compound.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said of the state support for Greenfield Farm, “This is a creative way to continue sharing our long literary history with the rest of the world and cultivate new authors who will carry on this Mississippi tradition. I cannot think of a more perfect setting for a writers’ residency than on land formerly owned by William Faulkner.
“We are proud to support this important project and expand the opportunities and reputation of the university.”
Ouida and Wayne Drinkwater
Photo by Bill Dabney/UMF
Love of Visual, Literary Art Combine at Greenfield Farm Invitational
Mississippi Lab hosts second annual Plein Air Invitational painting competition
MAY 28, 2024 BY TINA H. HAHN
OXFORD, Miss. – Lovers of visual and literary art alike are welcome at the second annual Plein Air Invitational, where artists from across the state will gather at William Faulkner's former mule farm to share their talent.
The Plein Air Invitational at Greenfield Farm will be open to the public at 4 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 29) at Greenfield Farm, a 20-acre parcel of land east of Oxford once owned by the famous author about 13 miles east of Oxford off Highway 30. Signs will mark the turn. Local eatery Tarasque Cucina will provide food, and Joe Stinchcomb, of Bar Muse, will pour drinks. Admission is free.
Greenfield Farm Writers Residency Moves Forward
MAY 28, 2024 BY TINA H. HAHN
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi has selected the award-winning firm Marlon Blackwell Architects, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, to design its Greenfield Farm Writers Residency. The Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation also has provided a $2 million grant to launch the effort.
Greenfield Farm will be a retreat-style writers compound built on a 20.4-acre farm between Oxford and New Albany, once owned by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Faulkner. With the $2 million grant, a total of $4.6 million is in place for the project through private support and university-committed funds.
Foundation Gift Pays Tribute to Julia Reed
SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 BY TINA H. HAHN AND UM DEVELOPMENT STAFF
OXFORD, Miss. – The Greenfield Farm Writers Residency, being developed by the University of Mississippi on a mule farm once owned by author William Faulkner, would have been a haven for the late Julia Reed, an author, columnist and speaker known for explaining Mississippi both to the world and to itself.
Greenfield Farm, the first full-time nonprofit writers residency in Mississippi, will be a retreat-style compound built on a 20.4-acre farm between Oxford and New Albany owned by the university.
Mississippi Artists to Paint Faulkners Mule Farm During Sept 17 Competition
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 BY KEVIN BAIN (UM)
Nine artists from across Mississippi will soon converge on what was once William Faulkner's mule farm to depict the landscape in a "plein air" painting competition.
The Sept. 17 event will be held at Greenfield Farm, a 20-acre parcel of land east of Oxford previously owned by the famous author. The University of Mississippi, which owns the property, plans to convert it into a one-of-a-kind writer's residency that will attract writers from Mississippi and those who make Mississippi their subject.
University Plans to Breathe New Life Into Faulkners Mule Farm
APRIL 24, 2023 BY ERIN GARRETT
A new University of Mississippi project aims to create a retreat-style writer’s residency that will afford 50-plus writers a year the time and space to imagine and execute big projects.
The location? A 20-acre plot of land with a storied history involving one of the nation’s most treasured literary giants. Now owned by the university, Greenfield Farm was once Nobel prize-winning author William Faulkner’s mule farm.
