Marcus Bottom Marker Unveiling

 

 

 

Harlem Inn and Henry Townsend

 

Thanksgiving Blues Party featuring Nellie Travis

 

Mickey Rogers Benefit at Club Ebony this Sunday

Mickey Rogers was recently the victim of a terrible crime.

 

A Benefit for Bluesman, Mickey Rogers, is happening at Indianola’s Club Ebony on Sunday, November 22.  It will start at 5 pm.  His musician friends are invited from all over the Delta down to Jackson, MS.  A sample of what’s in store-----It’s the Delta’s one and only Mississippi Slim and Jackson’s famous King Edward!  It’s going to be a happy time and lots of music.  Also, represented…Mississippi Blues Commission, Mississippi Blues Foundation Board, Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola, Central Mississippi Blues Society, Crossroads Blues Society and more….Hope to see ya there!  Contact:  Betty 662.207.7498

 

2009 Challenge Band Judges

Judges from left to right  

John Magnusson, from Clarksdale, is the Studio Manager of The Clarksdale Sound Stage.  He previously worked as an assistant at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City.  Ronnie Eldridge is from Yazoo City.  He is a Blues Festival Organizer and Event Producer.  Ronnie is involved with the Mississippi Film Office and works as a set designer and blues historian in films and documentaries.  Carol Vincent is from Clarksdale and has been involved in international song catalog administration for over 25 years.  Gary Vincent is a record producer, musician, engineer, and song writer.  His songs have been recorded by Leon Redbone, Mickey Gilley, John Anderson, and many more.  Gary is currently President of Ground Zero Blues Club Music, a co-venture film company with Morgan Freeman.  Gary is the owner of The Clarksdale Sound Stage, a recording studio and soundstage in Clarksdale.

Past Photos from an Indianola Blues Challenge!

 

The JUDGES, the musicians, and the crowd have fun when the Annual Mississippi Delta Regional Blues Challenge happens at Club Ebony.  Congrats to this year’s winners.  The solo winner was Alan Jones from Inverness.  The band winner was Grady Champion from Canton.

Delta State takes Mississippi Center for Justice on heritage tour

The Mississippi Center for Justice brought their staff, members of their advisory board, and representatives of various foundations that fund their programs to the Delta last weekend.  Many of the 60 participants were lawyers, and came from as far as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.  They were escorted on a two-day tour by Dr. Luther Brown of the Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning.  The group visited Indianola, Cleveland, Merigold, Mound Bayou, Ruleville, Greenwood, and Greenville.  The tour include stops at the B. B. King Museum, the Delta State campus, Po’ Monkey’s Lounge, the Taborian Hospital, Fannie Lou Hamer’s grave, Warfield Park, Greenville’s Hebrew Union Temple, and the Flood Museum, among other places.  On Saturday night, the group tasted several varieties of Delta tamales at the Turnrow Book Store in Greenwood and listened to musician Duff Dorrough play the blues at Robert Johnson’s grave at midnight. 

 

 

 

 

Gold Coast

www.msbluestrail.org

Wilson and Pinson

Leigh Portwood

Heritage Trails

 

 

 

6th Annual Mississippi Delta Regional Blues Challenge

The Grady Champion Band from Canton, MS won on Saturday, October 24th at Club Ebony in Indianola. Grady's band members are from left to right - Caleb Armstrong, Grady, Xavres Good, and Marquis Champion. They will represent MDBSI, Inc. at the IBC in Memphis, TN.

6th Annual Mississippi Delta Regional Blues Challenge

Alan Jones - Inverness, MS
Solo Winner
Alan will represent MDBSI, Inc. at the 26th Annual International Blues Challenge in January 2010. More info on the IBC can be found at www.blues.org/ibc.

Elder Roma Wilson and Rev.Leon Pinson Marker Unveiling

 

Cat Head Mini Blues Festival Returns To Clarksdale This Sunday

Clarksdale, Mississippi -- As thousands of international blues fans descend on nearby Helena this week for the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival, Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art in Clarksdale prepares for its biggest Sunday of the year.  The music at Cat Head spans three days, starting Friday at noon, but the premiere event is clearly 2009's last of three Cat Head Mini Blues Fests this Sunday from 9am till.  "We started doing these mini fests seven years ago and now do them three times a year," according to Stolle. "They are always free and held 'rain or shine' under tents out front of the store."  Barbecue will be for sale on the sidewalk nearby. "This Sunday's mini fest will showcase the 'new generation' of bluesman with performers like Big A, who's in his twenties, as well as the 'older generation' with guys like Big George Brock, who's 77 years old," said Stolle. "Lucious Spiller is also one to watch. He's middle-aged and coming in from across the river in Arkansas to perform."  Other Cat Head events this week include live music on Friday by LA LA (12 noon) and KM Williams & Washboard Jackson (2pm) as well as Saturday by Sean "Bad" Apple (12 noon). All of the live blues shows are free at Cat Head and held out front -- regardless of the weather. After the Cat Head festival on Sunday, Hopson Commissary will host the Pinetop Perkins Homecoming, and Red's Lounge will host an evening blues jam. Ground Zero Blues Club and Tricia's also have Sunday events. CONTACT: Roger Stolle Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art 252 Delta Avenue Clarksdale, MS 38614 roger@cathead.biz 662-624-5992, 662-902-6796

 

Ace Records - Jackson, MS

Leigh Portwood

Heritage Trails

Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism

P.O. Box 849

Jackson, MS 39205

Phone: 601.359.3061

Fax: 601.359.5048 

lportwood@mississippi.org

Follow us on: web | twitter | myspace | youtube | facebook | flickr

 

 

 

Sam Chatmon MBT Marker Unveiling

 

Charles Evers & The Marker Unveiling

Leigh Portwood

Heritage Trails

Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism

P.O. Box 849

Jackson, MS 39205

Phone: 601.359.3061

Fax: 601.359.5048

lportwood@mississippi.org

 

ORDER NOW!

The Mississippi Blues Foundation Board needs everyone who wants a MBT
License Plate in their name on January 1, 2010 to sign up now! The deadline
is this October. Application forms are available on the website:
www.msbluestrail.org.

Roger Stolle at Cat Head has invited you to an Upcoming event

Roger Stolle at Cat Head wrote:
Hi folks, FYI... we have a public screening of the blues travelogue
documentary "M for Mississippi: A Road Trip through the Birthplace of the
Blues" down in Ocean Springs, MS, later this month. Please help us spread
the word if you can. Thanks so much. Best regards, Roger Stolle at Cat
Head....
Event Details:
(http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/4410115/?invitation=c8c922e460)

Tommy Johnson Celebration

Club Ebony MBT Marker Unveiling

B.B. King Museum - Invitation to Learning Center Opening

Please join us on Labor Day for the opening of our new AT&T Learning center. B.B. King will be here to cut the ribbon, along with Mayo Flynt, President of AT&T Mississippi, and other dignitaries, students and museum supporters. Live music begins at 10:15, then a drumming workshop for students after the opening of the building. Club Ebony will be serving lunch, and we’ll unveil the latest Blues Trail marker there at 1:30 with more live music.

And more to come on the following Saturday, September 12^th! Live music all day and into the evening as we celebrate our first year anniversary and B.B.’s birthday. The day at the Museum will culminate with a special screening of Austin City Limits, the 1983 show featuring B.B., and commentary by the show’s founder, Terry Lickona. Plenty of good food and music all over town that night!

Lora Bingham

Membership & Development Coordinator

B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center

400 Second Street

Indianola, MS 38751

662-887-9539 ext. 224

lbingham@bbkingmuseum.org

Marker Unveiling in Natchez

 

Dorothy Moore Sings Tribute at Lincoln Center

 

Dorothy Moore Honors Wardell Quezergue in New York City Lincoln Center will feature music from Dorothy Moore, Dr. John, Jean Knight and a host of others in a tribute to arranger/conductor Wardell Quezergue on Sunday, July 19, 2009.  Quezergue arranged the music of Misty Blue and many songs Moore recorded in her early years.  The event is co-sponsored by New Orleans Ponderosa Stomp. Last year Moore performed a similar tribute at the House of Blues in New Orleans.  The event presented by Ponderosa Stomp joins Lincoln Center to bring this Southern feature to NYC in July. Quezergue will conduct a ten piece band for the two hour event at Alice Tully Hall, 8pm. Moore released this statement.  "I'm pleased to help to celebrate the work of a musical genius. Wardell presented me with arrangements that never got old." More information is available on line at http://www.lincolncenter.org/show_events_list.asp?eventcode=20745 www.farishstreetrecords.com

 

Delta State hosts second Gear Up camp

CLEVELAND―The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University is currently hosting its second Gear Up camp of the summer, focusing attention on the Blues, and preparing rising eighth graders for an eventual college career. 

Participants can come from any Gear Up school in the state, and campers in this session have come from Morton, Grenada, Magee, Tupelo, Ripley, and Inverness.

The next and last Gear Up camp will begin on Sunday, June 28.  For more information about the Gear Up camps or the Delta Center call LeKendra Jones at (662) 846-4311. 

 

Workshop participants tour heritage sites in the Delta

CLEVELAND―Participants in last week’s workshop entitled “The Most Southern Place on Earth:  Music, History and Culture of the Mississippi Delta” came from 23 different states from across the nation. 

Delta State University’s Delta Center for Culture and Learning received funding for the workshop from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Tour highlights included stops in Scott, where the levee broke in the 1927 flood, the B.B. King Museum in  Indianola, Dockery Farms, the Sumner Court House, the Chinese graveyard and Jewish temple in Greenville  and Po’ Monkey’s Lounge in Merigold. The group also spent a day in Memphis. 

Another version of the workshop will be presented in July, and participants in the combined workshops will have come from 43 states and two foreign countries to visit the Delta. 

Many of the participants testified that the workshop changed their views of the Delta for the better.

 

Mississippi to Chicago Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

 

 

 

 

Delta Music Institute director and students participate at the third annual Mississippi Grammy Gala

CLEVELAND - Grammy U students from the Delta Music Institute (DMI) at Delta State University recently served as production assistants at the third annual Mississippi Grammy Gala, featuring the Peavey Awards, given to Mississippi artists and musicians who have won Grammy awards.

Tricia Walker, DMI director, also participated in the show by providing vocals for legendary country artist Charley Pride, a native of the Mississippi Delta town of Sledge.

Photo: From left to right, Bryson Greer of Jackson, Josh Langston of Como, Tricia Walker, Mary Peavey of Peavey Electronics, and Vickie Jackson of Clarksdale.

 

 

 

Po' Monkey's Jook Party!

Friday, June 5

Terry “Harmonica” Bean and his Blues Band, starting at 8pm

$5 at the door

Merigold, Mississippi

Luther Brown, Director

DSU Delta Center for Culture and Learning

Box 3152        Cleveland, MS 38733

662-846-4311 (phone)

www.blueshighway.org

www.birthplaceoftheblues.com

Norway to visit Indianola, MS

The Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola, The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, and the Indianola Chamber of Commerce welcome the Norway delegation coming for the 20^th Annual B.B. King Homecoming.  The homecoming festival will be in Indianola on Friday, June 5, 2009.  More information about the festival can be found at www.indianolams.org.

 

Son Thomas Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

Please mark your calendars for the upcoming Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony that will take place on Friday, June 5, 2009.

At 2:00 p.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission, and the Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, will honor Son Thomas.

 

 

 

 

DSU has Permanent Blues Exhibit

CLEVELAND ―Delta State University and the Charles Capps Archives and Museum are the recent recipients of a generous gift of a new blues exhibit entitled “A Cast of Blues” by sculptor Sharon McConnell of Como, and formerly Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This outstanding exhibit is in the North lobby alcove of Ewing Hall on the campus and will remain on permanent display at the same location.

This donation includes almost 60 life masks of bluesmen, each cast directly from the face of the living person.  Blues fans who have long lamented of the lack of photographs of early bluesmen, will rejoice that McConnell has used her talent to preserve the likenesses of bluesmen in these three-dimensional sculptures, each of which captures the minutest details of a performer’s face. 

Blind since her late 20’s from a degenerative eye disease, McConnell expresses her connection to her subjects as a “mapping of their emotional surfaces.”   She says, “I have lost sight, but I have gained vision, and sculpture is a vehicle through which I can access my lost sense.”   McConnell goes on to say about her work, “It’s very intimate in the sense that you’re touching someone’s face and they can feel your intention and your care.  They’re giving me their joy and pain in their portrait, and I’m just kind of mapping it out as my hands go across their face.”

Included in this remarkable gift are the images of Bo Diddley, Bobby Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Pinetop Perkins, Robert Lockwood, Little Milton, Bobby Blue Bland, Koko Taylor, and a host of others. 

For more information on the exhibit call the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at (662) 846-4311.
                                                          

Photo: Life masks of bluesmen by sculptor Sharon McConnell

 

 

 

Hernando Musicians Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

 

This upcoming Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 27, 2009.

At 10:30 a.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission, and the DeSoto County Tourism Association, will honor Hernando musicians.

Leigh Portwood

Heritage Trails

Mississippi Development Authority/Division of Tourism

P.O. Box 849

Jackson, MS 39205

Phone: 601.359.3061

Fax: 601.359.5048

lportwood@mississippi.org

 

 

---

Confidentiality Note: The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) is committed to ensuring complete confidentiality of information for our customers. To this end, the information contained in this e-mail and/or document(s) attached is for the exclusive use by the individual named above and/or their organization and may contain confidential, privileged and non-disclosable information. If you are not the intended recipient, please refrain from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this e-mail or its contents in any way. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify me immediately. {MDA-2009}

Y'allFest 09

May 30 Event – Carroll County Market News

It is indeed wonderful having so many things for folks to do and visitors to enjoy in our area. 

On Saturday, May 30 in Carrollton (at a nearby farm…) there is a benefit festival for the Carroll Society for the Preservation of Antiquities, to repair an historic building on the square in Carrollton - "The Merrill Museum."

Y’all Fest will be featuring some incredible songwriters in the U.S. and outstanding musical performers...  Hope you can join us and bring lots of friends!  Be sure to check our website for more info.

For more info contact: Cecil Abels

 

The Carroll County Market
607 Lexington St.
P.O. Box 186
Carrollton, MS 38917
www.carrollcountymarket.com
662.237.1133

 

Highway 61 Blues Festival Poster Signing

The Leland Blues Project announces their Poster Signing Event Thursday,
May 28, 2009 at the Highway 61 Blues Museum at 307 North Broad Street in
Leland, MS. Cristen Craven Barnard will be signing her artwork titled
"Street Music" which was selected as the poster art for the 10th Annual
Highway 61 Blues Festival. The public is invited to purchase their
poster and enjoy refreshments as well as performances by Pat Thomas,
Eddie Cusic and T-Model Ford.

Ground Zero Anniversary Celebration

SATURDAY, MAY 30TH
Ground Zero Blues Club
Clarksdale, MS
8th Anniversary Party
FEATURING
"North Mississippi Hill Country Blues Revue"
STARRING
R.L. Boyce, Mary Ann "Action" Jackson, Joseph Burnside, Calvin Jackson, Hal
Reed, Rising Star Fife & Drum Band, Como Breakdown and more!
DETAILS
$10 cover charge at the door; 9pm showtime; no pre-sale tickets (first come,
first serve). Ground Zero Blues Club, 0 Blues Alley, Clarksdale, MS.
http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com; 662-621-9009.

GRADY CHAMPION will perform at Club Ebony

 

 

Charlie Musselwhite - Clarksdale, Oxford, Kosciusko

The Delta Blues Museum-Clarksdale, MS is hosting the Opening Reception of “Charlie Musselwhite:  Son of Mississippi; Citizen of the World.”  See www.deltabluesmuseum.org for details. Tuesday, April 21^st; 5-7pm.

Charlie Musselwhite will perform at Roosters Blues House – Oxford, MS on Wednesday, April 22 at 10pm.  Admission:  FREE

The upcoming Charlie Musselwhite Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony will take place on Friday, April 24, 2009.

At 3:00 p.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission, and Kosciusko/Attala Development Corporation, will honor Charlie Musselwhite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Milton Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

This upcoming Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Unveiling will take place on
Friday, April 17, 2009. At 4:00 p.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program,
the Mississippi Blues Commission, and the Inverness Chamber of Commerce will
honor Little Milton.

Jack Owens Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

This upcoming Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony will take place on
Friday, April 17, 2009. At 10:00 a.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program,
the Mississippi Blues Commission, and the Yazoo County Convention and
Visitors Bureau will honor Jack Owens.

Queen of Hearts Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

This upcoming Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony that will take place on Thursday, April 16, 2009.  At 4:00 p.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission, and the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau will honor The Queen of Hearts.

 

Monk Institute of Jazz Poster

Call the BPAC Box Office at 662-846-4626. 

Price $25 and under

DSU students and under 18 – FREE

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz makes its return to Delta State

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz will return to the Bologna Performing Arts Center (BPAC) for a public performance on Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. Joining them will be legendary guitarist Keb’ Mo.’

The following week, they will perform for student groups at the BPAC, the Delta Music Institute, and Ruleville High School, to be followed by other visits in the region.  

“The Monk Institute put on an amazing show last year,” says David Dallas, Executive Director of the Bologna Performing Arts Center, “They work with the top performers in the world of Jazz and we are very excited that they are bringing Keb’ Mo’ as one of their guest performers for this year’s event.” 

“The work that they do with schools introducing young people to blues and jazz is incredibly beneficial for our region.”

The Monk Institute developed The Blues and Jazz: Two American Classics curriculum for 5^th, 8^th, and 11^th grade public school students. The program traces the blues and its vital importance to American history and culture, showing how the music became perhaps the greatest influence on jazz.

Dallas also was grateful that the Crosstie Arts Council had provided support to bring the Monk Institute back to the Performing Arts Center. “It’s also going to be a fun weekend of Jazz, since the performance  at the BPAC will be the day after Cleveland’s Crosstie Art and Jazz Festival.“

Lucy Janoush, Crosstie Arts Council President, is also excited about the prospect. “We are so excited to be able to combine the Festival weekend with a performance of this magnitude. We hope people will come out and enjoy what is sure to be an exceptional event.”

In addition, 40 years of Crosstie Arts Festival Arts Competition winners will be on display in the BPAC lobby beginning the day of the Monk Institute performance. 

“It’s all part of a continued strengthening of a partnership between the Bologna Performing Arts Center and the Crosstie Arts Festival.  We hope to keep the exhibit up for a few weeks but we hope people will come and enjoy it the day of the show,” Dallas says.

Keb’ Mo’ is a world-class modern blues artist. This three-time Grammy Award winning singer, guitarist, and songwriter is a major presence on today’s world music scene. He portrayed Robert Johnson in the 1998 documentary “Can you Hear the Wind Howl?”

Mo’ performed at the opening of the B.B. King Museum in Indianola last fall, along with Robert Cray, Bobbie Blue Bland and B.B. King himself.

For ticket information, contact the Bologna Performing Arts Center Arts Center Box Office at (662) 846-4626.

 

 

 

 

Service Learning classes visit the Delta and Delta State

CLEVELAND―Spring brings many visiting classes to the Delta.  Two recent examples are a service learning class from the University of North Carolina and Duke University and a Blues studies class from the Colorado Spring School. 

Both classes visited Dockery Farms where these pictures were taken.  They also worked with the Delta State University’s Delta Center for Culture and Learning as they explored the Delta’s heritage. 

The service learning class spent a week helping the Sunflower Freedom Project.  The Blues studies class began their trip in New Orleans and ended in Chicago, learning about the Blues as they traveled. 

Photo One:  Learning class from the University of North Carolina and Duke University

Photo Two:  Blues studies class from the Colorado Spring School

 

 

 

 

 

Delta State's Delta Music Institute holds ribbon cutting ceremony

As a part of Delta State University’s Delta Music Institute grand opening weekend, an official ribbon cutting ceremony was held Sunday, March 9, at the front of the Whitfield Building on the campus.

Pictured are, from left, Malcolm White, executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, Hartley Peavey, founder and CEO of Meridian-based Peavey Electronics Corporation, Fred Carl, founder and CEO of Viking Range Corp., Tricia Walker, director of Delta Music Institute, Mary Peavey, Dr. John Hilpert, president of Delta State University; Eddie Willis (background) campus minister of Wesley Foundation; Bill Luckett of Rock River Foundation; Dr. L. Stacy Davidson, Jr., Board Member, Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning; and Judson Thigpen, executive director of Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce and president of DSU Foundation Board. Not pictured: Marsha Bryan, who with husband George are major donors to the Delta Music Institute.

 

The Delta Music Institute began with a generous donation by Fred Carl of the Viking Range Corporation in 2003. The focus of the DMI is to provide students with a broad and thorough education in the technological, business, and creative areas of the music industry.

 

Students in the DMI program pursue career aspirations through an innovative Interdisciplinary Studies degree, allowing them to combine two or three concentrations of study. The result is a broad entrepreneurial approach to the music and entertainment industries.

 

 

 

 

 

Delta Literary Tour 2009

The Mississippi Delta Literary Tour, set for March 22-26, will again travel across the Delta countryside exploring the region's rich literary, culinary, and musical heritage. Visit this McCormick's Book Inn website for a complete schedule. Some of the scheduled events are open to the public. http://www.mccormickbookinn.com/delta_lit_tour_2009.htm

Willie King, RIP

Bluesman Willie King has passed away from a heart attack at 66. Scott Barretta shares some memories at ://www.highway61radio.com/ .

Highway 61 South Blues Trail Marker Ceremony

The Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Ceremony for Highway 61 South will take place on Thursday, March 12, 2009. At 11:00 a.m., MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission, and the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau will conduct the ceremony. Email info@indianolablues.org if a map is needed.

Grilling contest at Club Ebony in Indianola

 

Thacker Mountain Radio Show to broadcast live from the DMI studio at Delta State

The acclaimed Thacker Mountain Radio Show will be broadcast live from DMI Studio A in the Whitfield Building this Saturday, March 7 at 3 pm. on the Delta State University campus.

The public is invited to come be a part of the studio audience for this free event to help celebrate the Grand Opening of Delta Music Institute.

Pictured in Studio A are Delta musician Duff Dorrough, Viking Hospitality Group President Carol Puckett, DMI Director Tricia Walker, and Thacker Mountain Radio Producer Carol Mockbee.

 

Delta State's Delta Center to host Gear Up Delta Heritage camps during the summer

Rising eighth graders across Mississippi will have the opportunity to discover the rich heritage of the Mississippi Delta during a series of camps at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS this summer.

 

The Mississippi Delta Arts & Heritage Summer Experience, now in its fifth year, combines heritage workshops and arts instruction to increase awareness of the Delta’s history and culture among youth.  The program is divided into three residential camps, each serving 20 students and exploring a different aspect of the Delta: the Blues, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Mississippi River.

 

Delta State’s Delta Center for Culture and Learning received a $25,000 grant from Gear Up Mississippi to run the camps.  The arts component of the camp is led by Camp Director Pat Brown, who also teaches in the Delta State Art Department.

 

The first camp session will be May 31 to June 5. Campers will immerse themselves in issues related to the Mississippi River.  They will visit the Tunica River Park, learn about the Flood of 1927, and get a taste of local ethnic cuisines and construct exciting art projects.

 

The second camp will take place June 21 to June 26, and will focus on the Blues.  Campers will experience live performances by local musicians as well as visit the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola and the Highway 61 Blues Museum in Leland. Campers will learn about how the Blues grew out of the Mississippi Delta.

 

The third camp, which will examine civil rights issues, is scheduled for June 28 to July 3.  The week will include a fieldtrip to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis as well as an intensive focus on local events and leaders of the grassroots movement in the Delta.

 

Participants must attend schools sponsored by Gear Up Mississippi.  A division of the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning, Gear Up promotes higher education to students in low-income school districts throughout the state.

 

For more information, contact the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at (662) 846-4311 or e-mail LaKendra V. Jones at ljones@deltastate.edu.