During the first few days of November 2023, NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD and NEH Chair Shelly Lowe (Navajo) traveled to Mississippi for an opportunity to explore arts and cultural organizations, as well as educational institutions throughout the capital city of Jackson and in central, rural Mississippi. The state arts and humanities agencies, Mississippi Arts Commission and Mississippi Humanities Council, welcomed the two chairs, as well as other arts and culture leaders at the federal, regional, and local levels. Visits like this help the NEA to understand the needs, challenges, and aspirations facing the arts in local communities. These experiences and conversations will help inform and advance the NEA’s work at the federal level.

"The NEA trip to Mississippi included several extraordinary experiences that underscored how essential the arts and humanities are to building healthy communities where all people can thrive." 
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Video by KobeVee Media, LLC

"The NEA trip to Mississippi included several extraordinary experiences that underscored how essential the arts and humanities are to building healthy communities where all people can thrive. In Utica, we visited the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production or ‘Sipp Culture’ and learned about a community revitalization strategy anchored in honoring the history of a place, advancing the work of artists and reconnecting to the town's agrarian roots. Throughout our visit in the Jackson area, we witnessed the power and legacy of historically Black colleges and universities, including Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and Hinds Community College, and arrived at a better understanding of how they are engines for creativity and innovation in Mississippi and for the nation. Jackson museums, including Two Mississippi Museums, the Mississippi Museum of Art, and the Smith Robertson Museum, illustrated the power of multiple narratives and creative modalities and the importance of interrogating our history to learn from it. The Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival at Jackson State was a historic and inspiring event celebrating Black women writers across the generations and their contributions as stewards and makers of history, heritage, and our humanity. We left Mississippi nourished and enlightened, with admiration for its gracious and dedicated cultural leaders and certain of Mississippi's centrality to our history and our future."  -- NEA Chair Jackson 

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