As the spring is ebbing and summer is rising out of the quickly growing grass, Oxford will go from being a bustling student metropolis to a quieter slower town as it lazily slinks through the summer.

With that being said, the fun is not over and you will find that summer brings out a different side in Oxford. The relaxed pace and casual atmosphere invites visitors and residents alike to savor the season and all of its offerings.

Farmers’ markets are back in swing where people congregate to buy the freshest produce and catch up on the latest news.  Concerts in the Grove on Sundays in June entertain people of all ages. Oxford Maker’s Market will provide arts and crafts to the public each month on the Square, and many galleries also are hosting new inventive shows. I urge you to enjoy the more leisurely pace and use it to check out the wonderful cultural offerings Oxford has to offer.

Tonight at Southside Gallery, you can attend the artist reception from 6-8 p.m. for Younok Jung to view her mixed media works, which will be on display at the gallery until June 4. 

A Korean native, Jung has lived in Mississippi for 20 years. She creates multi-layer renderings of cows using Korean ink that she makes herself by grinding charcoal stone into water.

Over at the University Museum, you can see their newest installation, “Gods and Men: Iconography and Identity in the Ancient World,” which will be up through Aug 24.

This exhibit, which is spread between the Lawrence Fortune and Hattie Mae Edmonds galleries, features some of the many pieces that can be found in the museum’s world-class collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, some of which were excavated by legendary 20th century archaeologist Dr. David M. Robinson.

Melanie Munns, antiquities collections manager, is curating the show and has been working on the Greek and Roman Antiquities Reinstallation Project for over two years.

Highlights of the show include a major selection of rare coins and Roman medical instruments donated by university medical alumni, and never before exhibited.

In addition to this show, the museum is continuing to raise funds for the reinstallation of the collection in the neoclassical galleries of the original 1939 building. Plans for this larger project include new display cases, touch-table interactive technology, children’s discovery station, an ancient world timeline and map among other first-class elements.

For more information, visit www.museum.olemiss.edu.

ANDI BEDSWORTH is owner of Art To Go, which brings free art opportunities to children in the community.