Skip navigation

Send this site to a friend

Arts Commission News

Creative Community Recognized as Small Business

DATE:             June 18, 2007

CONTACT:     Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                                       601-359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

JACKSON— In an unprecedented partnership following Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) collaborated in a unique merging between arts and government to aid an important segment of business – the creative community - in the lower six counties on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  MAC was contracted by the Twin Districts Workforce Area to administer the Business Recovery Grant Program to support self-employed artists and craftsmen affected by the storm.  These funds, totaling $500,000 from the National Emergency Grant, were awarded to the State of Mississippi in September 2005 by the U.S. Department of Labor.  When these federal funds were received by Mississippi; this innovative decision was made to assist in the rebuilding of Mississippi Gulf Coast arts businesses.

 

The compelling story coming from this ground-breaking collaboration is that the creative community is now being recognized as a vital and necessary presence in the business sector. “The Mississippi Gulf Coast has long been considered a thriving artistic area and is acknowledged as an important niche in the region’s economy,” said Malcolm White, Executive Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission. “To have government recognize the significance of re-establishing this segment of the coast’s business community is truly unparalleled.  The realization by government that arts businesses have economic impact in a community is a powerful position and will affect artists all over the state.”

 

The Mississippi Arts Commission adjudicated over 150 Business Recovery Grant applications for individual artists and craftsmen from these lower six counties. Presently, 92 applicants have been funded $5,000 each in financial support for replacement of necessary equipment and supplies, and all applicants were given the opportunity to benefit from a four to six hour entrepreneurial training workshop in an effort to further help them in reclaiming their livelihoods.  Although the funds were certainly significant, the opportunity for artists and craftsmen to be further educated on all aspects of small business ownership and management proved to be one of the most valuable outcomes of this partnership.  Planning is now underway to make these successful workshops, offered by the Mississippi Arts Commission in partnership with the Mississippi Development Authority and the Small Business Development Center, available to artists of all disciplines across the state.

 

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Wallace Foundation and other private sources.  MAC is the official grants making and service agency for the arts in Mississippi. The agency serves as an active supporter and promoter of arts in community life and in arts education.

###

 

« Back to headlines