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Arts Commission Headlines

Mississippi Arts Commission to Host 2012 Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts

Date:                January 20, 2012

Contact:               Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                         601.359.6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

MISSISSIPPI ARTS COMMISSION TO HOST 2012

GOVERNOR’S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS

 

Jackson, Miss — The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) is delighted to host the 24th annual Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts.  This exciting event spotlights Mississippi’s outstanding cultural resources and honors those who contribute to the state through their vision and creativity.  The 2012 recipients will be honored at a public ceremony at 1:00pm on Thursday, February 16, 2012 at Wells Memorial United Methodist Church, one of the six recipients selected for their production of the annual WellsFest festival held in Jackson.  The six recipients to be honored are:

Arts in Education          Althea Jerome                                                                 Hattiesburg, MS

Arts in Community         WellsFest                                                                  Jackson, MS

 

Excellence in Visual Art   McCarty Pottery                           

                                 Jackson, MS

Excellence in Music   Carl Jackson

                             of Louisville, MS, now resides in Gallatin, TN

 

Excellence in Literature  Howard Bahr

                                Jackson, MS

 

Lifetime Achievement  Mose Allison

                            of Tippo, MS, now resides in Hilton Head, SC

           

              The awards are presented to individuals and organizations for outstanding work in visual, literary, and performing arts, community development through the arts, and arts patronage. (Recipients do not have to currently reside in Mississippi, but they must have significant ties to the state through some years of residency.)

             The emcee for the ceremony will be 2011 Governor’s Awards recipient and acclaimed singer/songwriter, Mac McAnally.  Music was the most obvious road for McAnally to take from his Belmont, Mississippi hometown. He was a guitar and piano prodigy who performed in clubs at 13, wrote his first song at 15 and landed as a Muscle Shoals studio musician at 18. Mac signed his first record deal at 20 and launched two successful singles that were on the Billboard Hot 100.   In 2007, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the following year the Country Music Association named him Musician of the Year.  The Country Music Association has named McAnally Musician of the Year for the last four years in a row. 

             Each year the poster for the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts honors the new award recipients and celebrates the artistic heritage of Mississippi.  Majestic herons and ducks in flight are a detail from the celebrated 3,000-square-foot mural painted by acclaimed artist Walter Anderson (1903-1965) in the Community Center in Ocean Springs. Part of the mural celebrates the natural environment of Anderson’s beloved Gulf Coast and was created by Anderson for a fee of one dollar—an illustration of his belief in the obligation that the artist and society have to each other.  The poster design is by Vidal Blankenstein, and the photograph was taken by Tom Joynt, both of Jackson.   

              The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency, funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Riley Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson 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.

              The Governor’s Awards ceremony will be free and open to the public on Thursday, February 16th at 1:00pm at Wells Memorial United Methodist Church, in Jackson.

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