Mississippi Humanities Council

Consumed: Black Subjectivity in Art
2026-09-24 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Mississippi Museum of Art, 380 South Lamar Street, Jackson, MS, 39201
Who gets seen, what gets collected, and who confers value? Join us for a timely conversation on the art world’s complex relationship with Black artists and subject matter, featuring Gagosian director and art and culture writer, Antwaun Sargent.
Antwaun Sargent is a writer, curator, and a director at Gagosian. His recent books are The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion (2019) and Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists (2020). His recent exhibitions include the group show series Social Works; Social Abstraction; and solo presentations of artists Virgil Abloh, Derrick Adams, Awol Erizku, Cy Gavin, Lauren Halsey, Rick Lowe, Tyler Mitchell, and Amanda Williams.

Free and open to the public.

America250 Mississippi - The Town Creek Celebration & Archaeology Exposition Festival
2026-10-03 | Dorothy J. Lowe Memorial Library / Nettleton, 165 Young Avenue, Nettleton, MS, 38858, United States
The Town Creek Celebration & Archaeology Exposition is a one-day, multi-generational cultural heritage event hosted in Nettleton, Mississippi. Designed to honor the region’s Indigenous, civic, and civil rights history, the event will take place at Lowe Library and surrounding venues. Through interactive exhibits, live demonstrations, oral history recordings, and educational panels, the project will foster community pride, historical awareness, and inclusive learning.
Activities will include Indigenous dance and music performances, flint knapping demonstrations, genealogy workshops, and civil rights panels featuring renowned historians and advocates. Attendees will also contribute to a large-scale place-name mapping exhibit, highlighting the Chickasaw and Choctaw linguistic heritage embedded in Mississippi’s geography. All oral histories and genealogy resources will be archived at Lowe Library, ensuring long-term educational access and cultural preservation.
The event is expected to engage over 500 participants, including youth, elders, educators, tribal members, and civic leaders. Its inclusive design ensures that every attendee, regardless of age, background, or experience, can participate meaningfully in the celebration and contribute to the preservation of local history.

The Town Creek Celebration & Archaeology Exposition is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026, as a full-day public event hosted at Lowe Library and surrounding venues in Nettleton, Mississippi. Programming will begin at 9:00 AM and continue until 8:30 PM, culminating in a patriotic fireworks finale.
Planned Activities Include:

9:00 AM – Opening Ceremony: Welcome remarks and overview of the day’s events
9:30 AM – Indigenous Place-Name Mapping Exhibit Opens: Interactive map of Mississippi with magnetic markers for Chickasaw and Choctaw town names
10:00 AM – Oral History Recording Station Opens: Video interviews with older citizens begin; historic audio archive available for listening
10:30 AM – Flint Knapping Demonstration & Artifact Showcase: Live tool-making demo and relic identification station
11:30 AM – Chickasaw Dance & Music Performance: Traditional regalia and live music presentation
1:00 PM – Indigenous-Inspired Art Workshops Begin: Hands-on sessions led by certified art educators
2:30 PM – Genealogy Panel & Family Tree Distribution: Expert guidance and free four-generation family tree charts
4:00 PM – Civil Rights & Historical Perspectives Panel: Featuring Kenneth Mayfield, Al Arnold, Mitch Caver, and Brad Deramus
6:00 PM – Natchez Trace Interpretation: Presentation by National Park Service ranger
7:30 PM – Patriotic Finale: Live performance of The Star-Spangled Banner followed by a choreographed fireworks display

Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit in Oxford
2026-10-10 - 2026-11-21 | Oxford Lafayette Library, 401 Bramlett Blvd , Oxford, MS, 38655, United States
Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit in Oxford

Join MHC in Oxford for the Spark! Places of Innovation tour of Mississippi!
October 10-November 21, 2026
Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library
662-234-5751 | lafayettems.com/places/lafayette-county-oxford-public-library/
Exhibit hours:
Across 2026-2027, the Mississippi Humanities Council presents Spark! Places of Innovation, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring Utica, Meridian, Greenville, Oxford, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport. Special thanks to our statewide sponsor, Cadence Bank, for making this possible!
ABOUT SPARK!:
The story of human history is written in inventions and innovations. Across our nation. And right here in Mississippi. Join us in 2026-2027 to catch a new Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring the state…and spark some new ideas of your own.
Spark! uses photographs, digital stories, objects, and interactive elements to explore the places, people, and circumstances that ignite innovation and invention in rural communities across our nation. The exhibit also offers a springboard for diverse local programming, spotlighting the stories, ideas, and innovations of Mississippians — and a call to contribute to the future of the towns we call home.

Speakers Bureau: “The Marquis de Lafayette Visits Mississippi”
2026-11-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Monticello Methodist Protestant Church, 937 F E Sellers Hwy, Monticello, MS, 39654, United States
William “Brother” Rogers presents “The Marquis de Lafayette Visits Mississippi”
In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette visited Natchez on his farewell tour of America. Learn more about who he was and why this historic event was significant.

Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit in Hattiesburg
2026-11-28 - 2027-01-09 | Eureka School, 412 East 6th Street, Hattiesburg, MS, 39401, United States
Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit in Hattiesburg

Join MHC in Hattiesburg for the Spark! Places of Innovation tour of Mississippi!
November 28, 2026-January 9,2027
The Historic Eureka School with the 6th Street Museum District
601-268-3220 | hattiesburgeureka.com
Exhibit hours:
Across 2026-2027, the Mississippi Humanities Council presents Spark! Places of Innovation, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring Utica, Meridian, Greenville, Oxford, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport. Special thanks to our statewide sponsor, Cadence Bank, for making this possible!
ABOUT SPARK!:
The story of human history is written in inventions and innovations. Across our nation. And right here in Mississippi. Join us in 2026-2027 to catch a new Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring the state…and spark some new ideas of your own.
Spark! uses photographs, digital stories, objects, and interactive elements to explore the places, people, and circumstances that ignite innovation and invention in rural communities across our nation. The exhibit also offers a springboard for diverse local programming, spotlighting the stories, ideas, and innovations of Mississippians — and a call to contribute to the future of the towns we call home.

Deadline: Mississippi Stories Grant
2027-01-15, 2027-05-01 | MS
The Mississippi Stories Grant program, supported by the Mississippi Legislature and the Mississippi Department of Archives & History, is designed to help Mississippians share the stories that matter most to them and their communities. The Mississippi Stories program is rooted in the idea that some of our most meaningful history is found in the voices and lived experiences of everyday people.
This new grant program will support community projects to collect and share first-hand accounts of the lives, histories, and experiences of Mississippians. While such projects may include traditional oral history initiatives that will be professionally archived, these grants will also support Mississippi story-based projects that result in museum exhibits, online exhibits, podcasts, documentary films, or other media. While interviews remain central, the Mississippi Stories Grant encourages creative ways to bring these stories to life and make them accessible to the public.
By “Mississippi stories,” we mean personal narratives grounded in first-hand testimony and individual perspective, rather than interpretations or retellings of someone else’s experiences or history. Examples of fundable projects might include:

An interactive digital kiosk and audio-equipped display that allows museum visitors to listen to people’s voices alongside photographs, letters, and historical artifacts.
A project like Academy Stories, a web-based initiative which gathers and shares personal narratives discussing a significant event or period in Mississippi history.
Documentary films that can weave first-person oral history recordings into the narrative as on‑camera interviews or voiceover, using the speaker’s own words, emotions, and memories to frame historical events, provide context, and ground the film’s interpretation of the past in lived experience.
History exhibits, such as those at the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum in Cleveland, which enhance visitors’ experience by incorporating first-person interviews into the exhibit text or audio/visual displays.
Oral history interviews on a particular topic or community that will be archived and made accessible.

All stories and materials produced through these grants, whether presented in physical or digital form, must be made accessible to the public at no cost.
Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded three times a year, with deadlines on September 15, January 15, and May 1. For 2026 and 2027, no matching funds are required. Projects will be reviewed by a grant committee, with final recommendations approved by the Mississippi Humanities Council board. All Mississippi Stories grant applications must be submitted through our online portal.

Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit in Gulfport
2027-01-16 - 2027-02-27 | Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, 246 Dolan Avenue, Gulfport, MS, 39507, United States
Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit in Gulfport

Join MHC in Gulfport for the Spark! Places of Innovation tour of Mississippi!
January 16, 2027-February 27, 2027
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center
228-897-6039 | lmdc.org
Exhibit hours:
Across 2026-2027, the Mississippi Humanities Council presents Spark! Places of Innovation, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring Utica, Meridian, Greenville, Oxford, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport. Special thanks to our statewide sponsor, Cadence Bank, for making this possible!
ABOUT SPARK!:
The story of human history is written in inventions and innovations. Across our nation. And right here in Mississippi. Join us in 2026-2027 to catch a new Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring the state…and spark some new ideas of your own.
Spark! uses photographs, digital stories, objects, and interactive elements to explore the places, people, and circumstances that ignite innovation and invention in rural communities across our nation. The exhibit also offers a springboard for diverse local programming, spotlighting the stories, ideas, and innovations of Mississippians — and a call to contribute to the future of the towns we call home.
