Dr. Rick Cary, professor emeritus of art and former dean of fine arts at Mars Hill University, led a gallery talk Monday, Oct. 6, at ETSU’s Reece Museum, examining the art and ministry of the late Rev. Jimmy Morrow, a self-taught Appalachian artist and pastor from Del Rio, Tennessee.

The lecture, part of a series of public programs accompanying the museum’s current exhibition The Place Speaks, explored the intersection of faith, art and Southern Appalachian culture through Morrow’s work.

Cary, of Asheville, North Carolina, described Morrow as “a sign-following preacher,” whose ministry was grounded in the New Testament passage Mark 16:17-18 — verses often cited by Pentecostal Holiness congregations known for practices such as serpent handling and healing by touch.

“He began his ministry as a young man, and it basically was preaching,” Cary said. “He built his own church in a very small community near here in Del Rio, Tennessee. He didn’t start out doing art right away. He considered that his goal as a minister was to preach to a million people.”

Realizing that Del Rio, with its population of fewer than 2,000 residents, could not provide that audience, Morrow turned to art to reach beyond the pulpit. His paintings and sculptures, filled with vivid religious imagery, became both testimony and outreach.

The exhibit in one of the galleries of the Reece Museum, titled “The Place Speaks”. (Alex Holbrooks/East Tennessean)

“His artwork was very much an extension not only of his religion, but also his culture — the Southern Appalachian culture of the mountains,” Cary said. “Both faith and creativity involve a vision that one originates from experience in the world but transforms in the mind and in the heart.”

Cary, who photographed Morrow’s services and documented his work for more than two decades, said his approach as an artist and scholar was grounded in qualitative research methods — focusing on lived human experience rather than statistical analysis.

“Be prepared to stay with it for a long time,” Cary told attendees, reflecting on his 24-year engagement with the project. “Find a theoretical basis for your research, but don’t be too doctrinaire. Maintain curiosity and openness. And above all, let the people tell the story. Don’t try to tell the story for them.”

He noted that while serpent handling and similar practices are “socially on the fringes,” Morrow and his congregation deserved understanding and respect.

“They’re associated with the lower socioeconomic groups in society, but they nevertheless are practitioners of a religion that scares some people,” Cary said. “Some people don’t like it, but their sincerity — and the ones that I’ve met — are genuine. Just because they come from a low socioeconomic background doesn’t discount the religious value they experience.”

Through Morrow’s art and Cary’s documentation, The Place Speaks invites viewers to consider how faith and place shape creative expression in Appalachia — and how the stories of even the most marginalized believers can reveal deeper truths about culture, conviction, and community.

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