Browsing: Arts / Culture

What started in 1978 with 56 booths featuring local artisans and crafters has grown to more than 400 booths with an annual attendance exceeding 150,000 now carries the distinction of being the largest art festival in Mississippi and the Gulf Coast. 

Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Keb’ Mo’ is bringing his signature red guitars and soulful blues songs to Meridian for a Nov. 13 show at Mississippi State’s Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts.

Students from approximately 22 schools in the Gulfport and Harrison County school districts will showcase research on local history, culture and cuisine Nov. 7 during the Living Life Local event at the Gulfport Museum of History. 

Just days before Halloween and El Día de los Muertos, The University of Southern Mississippi’s Symphony Orchestrainvites audiences into the darker side of classical music with Fright Night!, Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium.

Phil Proctor left South Mississippi to build a career as a professional sculptor, creating large-scale art installations across the country. Two decades later, the Lucedale native has returned to the Mississippi Coast to create sculptures inspired by an artist he has admired since childhood — Walter Anderson. 

Music has taken me a long way from home. Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, were part of that life, as were New Orleans, New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco. Along the way, I’ve carried a guitar into plenty of rooms where I didn’t know a soul.

Applications are open for artists and vendors interested in participating in Voodoo and Vaudeville, a new oddities market featuring gothic art, New Orleans-inspired food and live entertainment in downtown Ocean Springs on Feb. 12, 2027.

first met Jennifer Biggs during a farmers market at Williamson Nursery, where she and her family had a booth filled with their handmade creations. Jennifer is the artist behind Yarn Chasers, creating crocheted characters, plushies, and other fiber art. I remember being impressed by her work and the creativity that seemed to run through her entire family. Her husband and children were all involved in the booth, each bringing their own talents to the table.

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gallery of Art and Design will present “Two Photographers: Don Norris and Betty Press” Oct. 15-Nov. 13, bringing together two Hattiesburg artists whose photographs explore the relationship between people, place and history.

Brett Hanley, an instructor in Mississippi State’s Department of English, will read from her debut poetry collection “I Was Your Bird” Oct. 27, 5 p.m., in Old Main Academic Center, Room 1030.

The sounds of the Chinese pipa take center stage as The University of Southern Mississippi Wind Ensemble welcomes acclaimed performer and composer Gao Hong for “Horizons,” the featured program in its October band series.

It doesn’t matter what is on the calendar for the first weekend in October, the first weekend of October is best known as ZONTA weekend in Pascagoula and the Jackson County area.

Free open-air concert will feature dancers from across the United States

WHAT:
Belhaven University will host a free open-air dance concert as part of Project Dance Jackson. The event will feature local and national artists performing ballet, jazz, modern dance, hip-hop, tap, and other dance styles.

A special “flash mob” performance will take place every hour on the hour, providing energetic and visually engaging opportunities for television footage, photography, and social media coverage.

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Partners for the Arts(PFTA) invites the community to kick off the fall arts season at Pops in the Park on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. in Spirit Park on the Hattiesburg campus. The event is free and open to the public, with tickets available for a VIP experience featuring food and drinks, a tent and reserved seating.

As fall approaches and I prepare to make my annual batch of oyster shell pumpkins, I find myself thinking about where all of this started.

Like most children, I loved making things. I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, spending my childhood on the water and making trips out to the barrier islands. I was always collecting shells and other little pieces of the Coast that I could carry home and turn into something new.

The Black History Gallery will continue its “History for Lunch” community series Saturday, Aug. 29, with Part 2 of the McComb Movement Timeline Project.