LAUREL, MISSISSIPPI.- The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art presents "Laurel Collects X: Billy Ford," on view through February 23, 2003. The 10th annual Laurel Collects exhibition, organized by the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art and the Laurel Arts League, will honor an artist whose presence and accomplishments were an inspiration to scores of local and regional artists. William C. (Billy) Ford Jr. (1934-1995) had work featured in numerous regional exhibitions, including the Delta Annual Exhibition in Little Rock, Ark., and the 55th National Oil Painting Exhibition in Jackson. Ford’s artistic training included a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Memphis Academy of Arts and a master of arts degree from the University of Alabama. Ford taught at Jones County Junior College, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Alabama. His abstract and painterly style is represented in various media, such as oils, watercolors and woodblock prints.