Picked Up in the Pick Up Study

Allen captures a fleeting yet familiar Southern ritual: the stillness of a red light, the hum of late afternoon air, and the quiet anticipation of movement. Inspired by a moment on 5th Street and Highway 19 in Meridian, Mississippi, the painting transforms an ordinary intersection into a site of collective memory. This work is accompanied by a short story Allen wrote that captures the importance of old trucks to families in Mississippi. It is available on Substack.