Mississippi Arts Commission: Who We Are

Winter 2011

The human brain is an amazing instrument.  It can play, it can create and it can confound on a daily basis.  In one moment, we can recall with exact detail; a smell, an image, a memory from our childhood.  And then in the next night’s sleep, we randomly dream of searching to locate the classroom from our college or high school days where the final exam is underway.  Education and learning, it seems to me, is the tuning of the instrument, and I have long been fascinated by how we learn, how we tune.  Research tells us there are many styles of learning and many different kinds of learners.  I am an experiential learner, which means that I make meaning from direct experience and learn through reflection on doing.  I learn by going to a concert and observing and interacting with the performance environment, as opposed to reading about music from a book. Aristotle once said, "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." As I understand the human brain, learning occurs by practicing and by participating. Some people have extraordinary memory skills and excel at rote memory and testing, while others, like me, learn best by experience and “doing”.

Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation, writes “There is a paradox. As children, most of us think we are highly creative; as adults, many of us think we are not.” And of course, Picasso let us know that, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up.” But no matter who says it or how it is said, it is agreed that we have a problem retaining our youthful knack for being artistic or learning to be creative thinkers, creative learners. Being creative or artistic doesn’t mean you know how to draw or play an instrument. Being creative is a way of thinking, a way of viewing the world.

Another understanding I have about the amazing human brain is that it has two sides where very different activities and tasks take place. Two personalities in one head, so to speak.  The right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language and analytical thinking. So when we talk about how to learn, we must keep these understandings in mind as they relate to teaching our children. Not every child is starting in the same place, and not every child is headed toward the same place. Some need freedom in order to learn. Some need structure. Some need a mix. But all need respect for their individuality, trust in their abilities to succeed, and adults who have the foresight to design experience to bring out individual greatness. When a student finds the way they learn, it can produce a dramatic change in grades, attitude, and self-image. Let’s consider this as we move forward in the 21st century classroom. The school day of the future will be unpredictable, inconsistent, and designed to be wildly relevant for the learner, their engagement, and their development.

One parent recently wrote to MAC about our Whole School Arts Education Initiative, “Children need champions outside the home to prepare them for kindergarten, especially when parents are working and struggling to teach skills at home. As a working mother of a preschooler, I am constantly looking for creative ways to get my son’s attention. The arts have provided a vehicle for him to recognize letters through visual and theatrical arts, slow down his speech patterns through music and movement, and observe the world around him through literature and storytelling. The prospect of being able to receive early education that “teaches the whole child” excites us.”

Beyond the return of the arts and play to the school day, we need to consider integrated learning as a strategy to reach more students that “teaching to the test” simply overlooks or ignores all together. Our teachers and schools need the arts as a teaching tool and need to know and understand that integrating subjects like math and music makes good sense. Ever wonder why you remember the lyrics to your favorite songs and forget the Declaration of Independence? The same way the old joke goes about the New York cab driver and the tourist looking for Carnegie Hall, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” asked the tourist. “Practice, practice, practice”, replied the cabbie. 

 

Fall 2011

August in Mississippi brings to mind many things: heat, humidity, another year of SEC rivalries, high school football Friday nights, the last of the season’s blueberries hanging on the bush and this year, creativity, innovation and opportunity.  August 10th brought us the Creative Economy Summit at the Jackson Convention Complex.  The event was held to celebrate and present the study of Mississippi’s creative economy, brought to fruition by an unprecedented partnership between the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Mississippi Development  Authority  (www.mscreativeeconomy.com).   For the first time in state history, Mississippi's creative and economic development agencies have partnered in an informative and cohesive study that takes a pioneering look at the state’s non-profit organizations side-by-side with for-profit entities to assess the potential of our creative assets. The study outlines and explores what the creative economy is, what portion of Mississippi's overall economy is in the creative sector, and how we can support, encourage and grow this emerging culture. 

 The study revealed that nearly 61,000 Mississippians are employed in the creative sector, representing about 3% of the state’s economy. The crossroads of our people, places and products have already made an important mark on our state that is showing us an even bigger opportunity for the future. The snapshot of the creative economy shown in the study is totally organic. Can you imagine the results if we watered, tended and fertilized it? 

This new economy is evergreen, authentic and local. New ideas, not money or machinery, are the source of success today.  Every Mississippi community has a story, and we think it is time we tell those stories, invite the guests to visit, and build civic pride around the process. Creativity and innovation are the new currency in this global economy, and Mississippi has a rich and diverse inventory of assets, entrepreneurs and storytellers. Every day we write the book: through music, literature, architecture, food, the Civil War, Civil Rights, our sacred spaces and the arts. The creative economy is revitalizing manufacturing, service, retailing and entertainment industries.  It is changing where people want to live, work and learn; and where they think, invent and produce. 

To quote John Howkins, “Creativity is not new, and neither is economics, but what is new is the nature and extent of the relationship between them, and how they combine to create extraordinary value and wealth.”  Communities of every size can take part and benefit from nurturing this aspect of economic development. The creative landscape and its abundant opportunities are available to any city, town or crossroad that wishes to tap into its unique character and creativity.

Our creative economy gives us the opportunity to tell our story through our people, places and products. It is ours alone and will never be able to be outsourced. We have allowed others, for far too long, to define who we are; we now have an artful and thoughtful opportunity to set that story straight.  The crossroad is before us, and we can choose to take a bold and innovative direction that will lead us into a new era of creativity and prosperity.

Summer 2011

Mississippi is the most artful, soulful, southern place on earth.  Paradoxically, our people are diverse and democratic, yet fiercely fundamental and conservative.  My good ole friend, Willie Morris, liked to say we are a “strange and beguiling place”.

We are lush and wild, bountiful and rich in voice, place and story; complicated, as my New York friends like to say.  Our history, both human and natural, like our culture, is unparalleled.  We are native to America, we are Appalachian, African, Caribbean, Latin, European and redneck.  We are jazz, up from belly of the blues.  We are dance, southern fiction, food, gospel and ole time music, architecture and the visual arts. I don’t need to name names.  We wrote the book.

Former Governor Bill Waller likes to talk about water, one of our greatest natural resources.  He says we will have water when the rest of the country runs dry.  We are surrounded by rivers, creeks, bayous, slews, marsh, oxbows, lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.  When I was a child growing up in rural south Mississippi, I saw a map that connected my playground of Red Creek to the remarkable Pascagoula River system, which flowed to the Gulf and then out to the world.  It was a “eureka moment” at an early age.  Through a geography lesson, as a visual and experiential learner, I suddenly saw my place in the world and knew that my canoe stashed in the willows along the bank of Red Creek could, theoretically, take me to China.  I later learned that my neighbor and world-renowned artist, Walter Anderson from Ocean Springs, was rowing his skiff to Horn Island and riding his bike to China.

There are many things I love about Mississippi.  One is that we often ponder what we will cook for supper over lunch.  We routinely reference the Civil War and Civil Rights in the same sentence.  We have an abundance of dappled light.  We are urban soul, gulf south, New Orleans and Memphis-centric, hillbilly and delta planter.

We are hunter-gatherers, sports enthusiasts, free thinkers, artists and church-goers.  We are philanthropic and philosophical, open minded and part closed society.

I love the smell of salt air, autumn on the Natchez Trace, sunset over the delta, and any time spent on a porch.  We have an abundance of farmer’s markets, we grow some of the best tomatoes and watermelons on the planet, and we know how to fry chicken and catfish. We continually confront and survive floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes and have fought off invaders and the boll weevil.  We are resilient

rascals, rebels and roustabouts, tenacious and quirky in our loyalty to family, the homeland, and our way of life.  Why be normal? I’m simply crazy about this place; this place called Mississippi, the father of waters and a people of paradox and poetry.

Spring 2011

Mississippi’s artistic heritage has grown strong and vibrant from the culturally rich soil of our great state.  The music genres of the blues, bluegrass, gospel, country and rock and roll were all cultivated right here in Mississippi.   In 2009, Governor Haley Barbour embraced the mantra that our great state is the “Birthplace of America’s Music.”  When visitors cruise into Mississippi from one of our neighboring states, they are greeted by big, green signs denoting the land ahead as the home of magnolias and music. 

The Mississippi Blues Trail, and now the Country Music Trail, are helping put Mississippi on the national map of cultural and heritage tourism, and any visitor, or local for that matter, would be remiss to think that the only art form Mississippi mothers is music. 

She’s also mother to the Rev. H.D. Dennis, who until recent years lived with his wife, Margaret, on Old Highway 61 outside of Vicksburg in a modest home turned “castle,” known to most as Margaret’s Grocery.  Passersby might see him building a tower from cinderblocks and Styrofoam or catch a glimpse of Miss Margaret in her housecoat, painting posts pink and freshening plastic flowers planted in the yard.  If they stopped, they’d be welcomed, “both Jews and gentiles,” into the school bus turned sanctuary, where the overwhelming beauty of Rev. Dennis’ folk art creation, as well as the conviction in his impromptu oration, might move them to visit again. Or in today’s case, provoke them to get involved in the effort to save this one-of-a-kind cultural gem. 

Mississippi is mother to Elayne Goodman, a self-taught folk artist from Columbus who has a passion for pop culture. Her meticulously beaded, painted and quilted creations transform ordinary objects into highly sought after artwork.  Hollywood stars like Nicolas Cage and Julia Roberts are collectors of her work, and if you dig up the November 1990 issue of Rolling Stone, you’ll find Elayne’s “Altar to Elvis” emblazoned in its pages.  While Elayne has an international fan base, she is perfectly, happily at home in Lowndes County where she traverses yard sales and junk stores on the weekends, in search of the next perfect piece to transform.   

Mississippi is mother to kibbie and cornbread, sitting side by side on the same menu at the Resthaven Restaurant in Clarksdale.  The Chamoun family shares recipes, stories, tall tales and history with the customers, family and friends who pass through the doors at this highway side cafe.  In the kitchen, three generations have learned and perfected the art of rolling grape leaves, whipping meringue and seasoning tabouli.  In the front of the house, locals help themselves to coffee while the out-of-towners contemplate whether to order cabbage rolls or catfish. 

There is something in the water and soil here in Mississippi that nourishes the creative spirit of the people.  While we might not always identify our friends and neighbors as artists, I’m certain that we all have someone in our life who cooks the perfect cheese grits, smocks baby clothes for the newborns, carves decoys for the mantle or weaves the bottoms of chairs.  These talents are not taught in school (but perhaps they should be); they are passed on from the generations before and conjured by the sheer need for beauty in our everyday lives. 

Be sure to celebrate the folk and traditional artists in your family or community to ensure that Mississippi remains mother to many native art forms and expressions. 

Fall 2010

As I celebrated my fifth anniversary as Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission recently, collectively we look back on Hurricane Katrina’s rudeness and disruption of the community and serene coastal life we once knew.  While the literal and figurative remnants of the storm still linger five years later, joined by the sting of the recent oil travesty, we can continue to look at the strength and resilience of our creative selves and the enduring determination of our creative communities. As we know, the artist typically lives in a place of transition and change, feast or famine, thus our coastal kin continue to carry on and are a very real source of inspiration as we reflect on these past years of recovery and restoration.  

In my own reflection, I’m reminded that the art, culture, and sense of place in a community are irreplaceable sources of replenishment for the human spirit. Even though the sands were tossed and the waves hurled our possessions, culture’s colorful and deep presence still remains the lifeblood of the coast.  Compassion and caring still have very real meaning to our survival, and hope is still an essential beacon. The oil tragedy ushered in the fifth year anniversary of Katrina with a bold underlining of the significance of our cultural offerings and the importance these offerings bring to this rich region.  A region so rich in arts and culture and producing such world-class visual artists as Walter Anderson, George Ohr, Richmond Barthe’, and Dusti Bonge, must continue to celebrate the unique heritage and traditions indigenous to this area. My constant mantra, “the arts are the hope that cannot be lost or blown away,” still resonates in August of 2010, and I remain committed and dedicated to the reality that the arts and culture are a significant part of a comprehensive recovery. 

The revitalization of arts-based businesses has been a steadfast focus of the Mississippi Arts Commission in these past five years of redevelopment and rebuilding. Their place as viable engines of local and coastal economies is proven, and we will continue to support the notion that the arts give us the communities we want to live in. The creative community, through expression and diversity, has been constantly documented as a key economic indicator of revitalization across the globe. Non-traditional assets are becoming increasingly important in the development of a community. The Mississippi Arts Commission has partnered and collaborated with numerous cultural entities since August of 2005 to assist the creative economy of the coast in remaining a massive and diverse fabric of arts, music, food, festivals and celebration. With the passing of the fifth anniversary of Katrina, we commit once again to a future that passionately validates the respect that the cultural component of this area deserves. Together, and in sober remembrance, let’s hold fast to the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”

My best,

Malcolm

Spring 2010

Change is in the air.  Flowering Quince and Japanese Magnolias are radiant and in full bloom.  Mississippi is entering her rites of spring. 

The Legislature is in session pondering our FY2011 budget while we just received our 5th state budget cut for FY2010.  Health care is on everyone’s mind from Washington County to Washington D.C.  The recession has finally made its way to Mississippi and our tender state economy has reported 18 straight months of downward tax collections, manifesting itself today to the tune of $500M in shortfall.  It is a time of great reflection and careful consideration of budgeting and planning.  Five years after Katrina and two years into this weakened state economy, we do have much to be thankful for and much to digest as we move forward. 

We are grateful to have a full staff and anticipated level funding for 2011.  The arts have not taken any cuts beyond what every other agency of state government in Mississippi has taken.  We continue to make great strides toward inclusion in conversations about education, economic development and workforce training THROUGH the arts and in concert with heritage tourism and cultural institutions.  We are rolling out a comprehensive creative economy study in April, in partnership with the Mississippi Development Authority, and are researching a statewide arts education survey to follow that.  We are granting record-high amounts of money to the field and developing multiple private sector underwriters for research and special initiatives from health and wellness to the-arts-mean-business strategies. 

We just selected our new statewide Poetry Out Loud winner, John Uzodinma, a freshman at Rosa Scott High School, and will honor the International Ballet Competition and the life of Thalia Mara as our 2010 American Masterpiece project.  Our 2010-13 Whole School Summer Institutes will be held in Meridian at the MSU Riley Center for the Performing Arts and Education Center, and we have grand plans for those three summers in east Mississippi.  Together with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, we are progressing with our statewide goal to take LinkUP!, a symphonic arts education outreach program, to all communities and orchestras in Mississippi. 

If the weather wasn't so majestic and the outlook for delivering the arts to our much-deserving, beloved citizens and constituents, one could almost get discouraged….but not us creative types!

My best,

Malcolm

Summer 2008

As the summer of 2008 sits upon us like a wet blanket at a barbeque, the Legislature struggles in special session, the nation views presidential politics with keen eyes and the Arts Commission wraps up another historic round of grants and prepares to close the books on the state's Fiscal Year 2008.   

Yesterday I drove the dappled light of the Natchez Trace to attend a picnic and business planning session on the campus of historic Wood College in Mathison.  The setting was inspired by the bucolic outdoor chapel at the center of the handsome campus where a group of local arts supporters, business leaders, state historians and designers gathered to discuss the notion of arts being in the next chapter of the historic Wood College history.  There was time for a brief visit and catch up with Bill Andrews, our statewide coordinator of the third American Masterpieces initiative, Mississippi Gulf Coast Visual Masters, while in the Mississippi State University area.  Returning on the Trace, I had time for a driving tour of French Camp and visited the home of late “outsider” artist L.V. Hull in Kosciusko before arriving back in Jackson.  Finally, I had an early dinner at Basil’s in Belhaven before attending a fine performance of The Fantasticks at New Stage Theatre.  I describe this day to simply point out what rich and diverse arts culture we have here in Mississippi and to share what a day-in-the-life I am so blessed to have as your Director of MAC.

My best,

Malcolm

Summer 2007

First let me say thank you for taking the time to explore our website. If you have reached this space, you are one of 1.7 million visitors we proudly welcomed this year to our cyber world. I hope you find what you are looking for and much, much more. Please contact us if we have omitted or overlooked what information or answers you seek.

We are very excited to have this handsome and informative vehicle to further tell our story and help the user "drill" deeper into the Mississippi Arts Commissions mission, guidelines, programs, procedures and philosophy. It is easy to rely solely on this contemporary medium to state one's case and we work very hard to present a quality website for those who enjoy and are comfortable with this experience. However, we are also aware that not all seekers of information find the internet their sole source, and we too often fall prey to expecting all our constituents to be technologically savvy, properly outfitted and well versed in the navigation skills.

Being reminded of this possibility, I encourage the staff to never assume that everyone needing information should automatically be sent to our website. It is our honor to have you call, make an appointment for a visit or consultation, or just drop by our offices on the eleventh floor of the Woolfolk State Office Building in Jackson to say "hello."  I personally find this old fashioned form of fellowship refreshing, sobering and a tangible reminder that we are here to serve the citizens of Mississippi. With that said, while we are very proud of this website, we hope you never stop calling, writing, making an appointment or just stopping by to visit your arts commission.

Picasso said that all children are born artists, and that our problem is how to remain artistic as adults. And while it is not the goal of the Mississippi Arts Commission to return every adult to their artistic childhood, we are interested in creating an environment for presenting the arts to every Mississippian regardless of their age. We seek to offer a wide variety of programs and funding vehicles to reach the maximum number of our citizens. The cost of doing arts business, like the entire service sector, is going up. The number of people we could reach in the year 2000 cost much more today and our budget has dwindled steadily since that time. We need more resources to reach more people, but money isn't the panacea, but rather a facilitator of possibilities. As we approach the 2008 Legislative season, we will seek increased funding for the arts, we will lobby for more arts in education, more public dollars for public art, money to fund Mississippi's creative spirit and we promise transparent, accountable management of those valued funds.

School started this week and this is a good time to remind ourselves of the role of the arts in education. We at the Mississippi Arts Commission believe that teaching through the arts is an effective and lasting learning experience. We invite you to vist our Whole Schools Initiative website or come by personally and explore what we offer in Arts in Education programming and granting opportunities. We are fully focused on training teaching artist in collaboration with the Mississippi Alliance for Art Educators, The Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network and the Mississippi State Department of Education. Learn more about this innovative and exciting trend in teaching and learning.

As we trudge through these 100-106 degree dog days of summer, let's be very mindful of the opportunities before us, knowing that this too shall pass. Cooler days lie ahead and a brighter future through the arts is our goal.

My best,

Malcolm

Fall 2006

Time has played its tricks, and once again it is early autumn in Mississippi; somewhere between hot and not, baseball and football, the Whole Schools Summer Institute and the first day of school.  And much more than time has passed since the spring.  We have bobbled between joy and discombobulating over Katrina, cried over the loss of Sam Myers, rejoiced at the grace of the Andy Warhol Foundation, laughed at the sight of puppets dancing across Lee Ann’s desk, seen world class dancers parade across the stage at the IBC and witnessed the rising of the MSU Riley Center and the Grand Opera House.  And yes, we do get a lot of work done somewhere in between.

With our Recovery Staff member, Sallye Killebrew, we have raised and processed a half of million dollars in funds toward recovery and reinvigoration of the arts and cultural communities of the coast.  But more important than the money, we sincerely offer hope and a helping hand to our coast constituency, with the message that someday they will know normalcy once more.  We continue in concert with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Twin Districts in Hattiesburg to set forth the Business Recovery Grant program that is historic in its scope and definition of identifying artists as small businesses. 

Governor Haley Barbour has appointed two new MAC board members this month and we are happy to welcome Donna Kennedy Barksdale and David Trigiani to the MAC family.  Also, Governor Barbour has reappoined Barbara Brunini to a full five year board term.  We are fortunate to have these gifted and committed Mississippians join the ranks of our already stellar board lead very ably by Dianne Walton of Meridian.  We welcome Donna and David as arts advocates and thank them for serving as board members at the Mississippi Arts Commission.  We have much work ahead of us as we prepare for a new five-year strategic plan and begin the process of fully funding our grants programs into the future.

We have logged thousand of miles traveling across the state and have recently seen good work in Greenwood, Winona, Natchez, Starkville, Ocean Springs, Hattiesburg and Booneville, to name but a few.  I hope to see you somewhere along the line and encourage artists and arts patrons to invite us to your town, county or crossroads.  Where there is art and culture, the MAC has hopes to be.  I hope you will join us in celebrating our heritage, our hope and our future.

My best,
Malcolm

Spring 2006

Another beautiful Mississippi Spring is upon us and with it comes my 6-month anniversary as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission.  I am still constantly inspired by the work done by this agency.  This has been a very rewarding time for me; learning, promoting and embracing something that I am personally so passionate about. 

Now fully staffed, we are busier than ever focusing on the task of promoting the arts and we continue to assist artists from our hurricane ravaged Gulf-Coast.   With assistance from the Department of Labor, we have been able to hire a temporary Arts Recovery Coordinator to focus on the needs of the artists and arts organizations on the Coast.  Sallye Killebrew, a displaced Gulf Coast resident, will be working closely with the Coast arts community to provide enhanced assistance in a variety of areas.   

With the Legislature in session, our annual budgeting process is in full swing.  With over 60% if our annual budget appropriated by the State, it is more important than ever for you to contact your Senator and Representative to encourage them to fully fund this organization and its mission.  Your voice does make a difference! 

With the tremendous success of this year’s Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts held on Friday, February 17th, we are all reminded of the incredible talent that comes from our State.   Mississippian’s should be proud of the rich heritage our state possesses in the arts and the Governor’s Awards highlight this, “embarrassment of riches” to quote the extremely humorous, Bill Dunlap, a very gifted artist and Master of Ceremonies for the awards since 1992.  I would like to extend a special thanks to everyone who worked hard to make this event a tremendous success.  If you missed the ceremony, you can watch it on Mississippi Public Broadcasting on April 14th at 7:00p.m. 

March 1st was the grant submission deadline for fiscal year 2007.  In mid April, panels are scheduled to review the submitted grants.  This is a very important time for us because it is our mission to support as many individual artists and arts organizations as possible.

Thank you for your support and encouragement during my first few months.  I am delighted to be here and please know it is my mission to spread the word about Mississippi’s most enduring, cultural contributions….the ARTS!!

My best,

Malcolm

Winter 2006

Greetings and good tidings from your new Director. I am very happy to say that the business of promoting and funding the arts in Mississippi is alive, robust and inspired. While Katrina has taken her toll on our arts community in south Mississippi and especially along our beloved coast, the support continues to pour in from near and far. Our message should be simple and succinct in the renewal and rebuilding process: the arts are not something extra, they are essential! All programs, plans and models of rebuilding should include arts participation on the front end; as landmark, not as an afterthought or "lagniappe" as our cousins in Louisiana are fond of saying. This message should be spoken by all the arts community to anyone who will listen, and especially to those who are not accustomed to the sound of our voice. Like a great choir, let our voices rise up as one and deliver this critical message.

Much work has gone on in the brief time I have been at MAC. It has been my great pleasure to engage and interact with the talented, enthusiastic staff and be a part of the richness of the MAC scope of work. We have devoted much time and energy to Katrina relief and support, conducted a retreat for the Whole Schools Initiative, participated in the public dialogue regarding the aftermath of Katrina, conducted our Mini Grants process, overseen the selection of the 2006 Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts, completed our NEA grant application, hosted our annual board retreat, managed to reshuffle the office space AND hired two new staffers who will be coming on board the first of the year. We will highlight and profile those individuals in the next EBLAST and welcome them to the MAC family. Be sure to mark your calendars for February 16 & 17, 2006 for the Governor's Awards to be held here in Jackson.

I sincerely look forward to serving as your Director and welcome your input, observations, phone calls, emails and visits. Also, I encourage you to invite us to your neighborhood for a visit. I have enjoyed visiting Greenville, Grenada, Gulfport, Oxford, Cleveland, Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Ocean Springs, Laurel, Hattiesburg, Taylor, Tippo, Bolton, Vicksburg, Pass Christian, Wiggins, Canton and White's Crossing in the past 5 weeks.

My best,

Malcolm

Photo of Malcolm courtesy of The Clarion-Ledger

Copyright 2006–2011 Mississippi Arts Commission