This week on the Arts Hour, Lauren talks with artist Noah Saterstrom, whose exhibition What Became of Dr. Smith is currently on display at the Mississippi Museum of Art. What Became of Dr. Smith envisions the life of Saterstrom’s great-grandfather, a traveling optometrist who, according to family lore, disappeared in 1924. Through a years-long search in state, local, and private archives, Saterstrom discovered that his great-grandfather spent the final four decades of his life at the Mississippi State Insane Hospital (also known as the “Old Asylum”) in Jackson, and later at the Mississippi State Hospital in nearby Whitfield. Presented as an immersive narrative painting of 183 canvases that together span 122 feet, What Became of Dr. Smith is the visual culmination of the story that emerged one century after it was erased from his family’s record.

The episode airs on MPB Think Radio this Sunday at 5 p.m. CT. You can also listen on your favorite podcasting app.