Marion's History

One Woman Shows Include
Str. Delta Queen: Arkansas And Mississippi Rivers
Str. Delta King: Sacramento, Ca.
ICB Gallery: New Orleans, Louisiana
The Forum: Jonesboro, Arkansas, Lionel Hampton Concert
The Forum: Jonesboro, Ark. Titles: “Water Where The Fish Swim Smiling” & “Jazzin on the River.”
Arkansas Governors Mansion
Arkansas State Capitol: Governor’s Office, “They were on display Four Months in the Reception Room.”
Helena River Festival: Helena, Ark.
Phillips County Museum: Helena, Ark.
The Ritz: Blytheville, Ark.
Different Strokes: West Memphis: Ark.
Jonesboro Sun Gallery: Jonesboro, Ark.
Mercantile Bank: Jonesboro, Ark.
Jonesboro Public Library: Jonesboro, Ark.
The Frame House: Paragould, Ark.
Security Bank: Paragould, Ark.
Mississippi County Library: Osceola, Ark.
Gibson’s Landing: Port Gibson, Ms.
Laclede Hotel: Hickman, Ky.
The Waterways Journal: St. Louis, Mo.
West Tennessee Regional Arts Center: Humboldt, Tn.
Bruce International Gallery: Memphis, Tn.
Sycamore Shop Overton Square: Memphis, Tn
Civic Center: Millington, Tn.
Hungry Fisherman Restaurants: Nine States in The Southeastern United States
Longworth Building: Washington D.C.

Group Exhibits
Arkansas Arts Center: Little Rock, Ark.
Arkansas Registry Gallery: Little Rock, Ark
Arkansas Repertory Theatre: Little Rock, Ark..
Cantrell Gallery: Little Rock, Ark.
Sarah Howell Studio and Gallery: Jonesboro, Ark.
Jonesboro Sun Gallery: Jonesboro, Ark.
Pentacle Studio:  Clinton, Ark.
Mid-Southern Watercolor Inc:  Little Rock, Ark.
Sesquicentennial Art Show:  U of A at Pine Bluff, Ark
Arkansas State Festival of Arts: Little Rock, Ark.
Eastern Arkansas Arts Festival:  West Memphis, Ark.
Northeast Arkansas Art Guild’s Manifest:  Paragould, Ark.
Prints & Drawing Center:  Little Rock, Ark.
Traveling Small Works on Paper:  Arkansas Traveling Arts Exhibit
7th & 8th Grand Prix International de Peinture la Cote d Azure:  Cannes, France
12th Grand Prix International de Peinture de:  Deauville, France (Grand Finalist)
Schering-Plough Art Show:  Memphis, Tn.
Azalea Festival:  Charleston, Mo.
Brooks Memorial Art Gallery:  Memphis, Tn.
Mid-South Fair:  Memphis, Tn.
J. Raymond Samuel, LTD:  New Orleans, La
Memphis Germantown Art League:  Memphis, Tn.
Southern Watercolor Society:  Memphis, Tn.
Blue & Gray Museum:  Vicksburg, Ms.

Permanent Collections
USS Arkansas Nuclear Cruiser: U S Navy
United States Coast Guard: Juried by the Salmagundi Club in NYC
Two Paintings, both Juried in 1996 & 1999 and were Exhibited onboard the USS Intrepid in Manhattan, N. Y.

United States Coast Guard Museum:  Miami, Fl.
Howard Steamboat Museum: Jeffersonville, In.
Ohio River Museum:  Marietta, Oh.
Inland Rivers Library: Cincinnati, Oh.
Clifton Steamboat Museum: Beaumont, Tx
Lepanto Museum: Lepanto, Ark.
School for the Deaf & Blind: Little Rock, Ark.
Memphis State University: Memphis, Tn.
Mid-South Fair: Memphis, Tn.
Blue and Gray Museum: Vicksburg, Ms.
Vicksburg Battlefield Museum:  Vicksburg, Ms.

Goals
Marion Sue Bradford Thompson in her own words about what she hoped to achieve:

“Develop respect for our rich culturally divergent heritage--nurture reverence for all forms of art. Share in the responsibility of passing on to future generations the ability to create family and ethnic arts and crafts thus asserting the endurance of customs --involving the youth and the elderly, challenging their creative abilities--encouraging creativity, appreciation, and participation in the arts to enhance the quality of life.”

House of Representatives
March 28, 1973
Proceedings and Debates of the 93rd Congress, First Session
Volume 119

HON. BILL ALEXANDER of Arkansas:  Mr. ALEXANDER:   Mr. Speaker, we in the delta country in Arkansas have long been aware and proud of our history and of the contributions the people of the Mississippi River region have made to the development of our Nation. I am afraid, however, that all to often there are certain things we take for granted and which may be forgotten over the passing of time. That is why as the tricentennial celebration of the Mississippi River approaches, I would bring to your attention a woman with an unusual talent.

Mrs. Marion S. Bradford of Harrisburg, Ark., paints steamboats--those colorful and infamous boats which toted cargo, gamblers, and riverboat queens and which meant so much to the growth and success of many of the towns up and down the river as well as to the economy of the entire country. Mrs. Bradford recognizes the importance of art in preserving local history, culture, and customs of a region and her paintings are not just for aesthetic value. Working with a researcher, she records on canvas accurate and detailed descriptions of the steamboats.

Misc.
Marion Sue’s painting, “Burning of the Sultana” is the cover art for the book titled, “The Sultana Tragedy" by author Jerry O. Potter. Her painting was also used on the History Channel’s “In Search Of History” program about the Sultana.

Marion’s watercolor titled “White Water” was the cover art of the Arkansas Medical Society in the May 1997 issue.

Marion Sue's steamboat paintings have docked in Switzerland, Tokyo, France, Germany, Washington D. C., Memphis, New Orleans, California, Atlanta, NYC, and all along Ole Man River.

The artist knew many notable people in the steamboat world including Captains, Journalists, Historians, and Authors.

Several Arkansas Senators and Congressman were private collectors. Marion Sue’s paintings are in Executive, Industrial, and Private collections.

Many of her paintings included passengers and the crew working. She didn‘t want to just paint a steamboat without the people on board. She wanted to paint the boats with them being under working conditions. Marion Sue would picture herself in her paintings in the time period of which these great steamboats helped build our nation.

This website has been carefully made and everything is documented.