Mississippi Arts Hour

Leslie Barker talks with this year’s Governor’s Arts Awards honoree for Excellence in Literature, Jesmyn Ward. The first woman to win the National Book Award twice, a recipient of a McArthur Genius Grant, and one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2018, Ward’s writing pulls deeply from her Mississippi roots. It’s a conversation about storytelling, community, education, and life in DeLisle, MississippiPhoto Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

Melody Moody Thortis talks with Raphael Semmes, who is being recognized this year with a Governor’s Arts Award as a Cultural Ambassador. Raphael is a lifelong musician, songwriter and event organizer based in Jackson who has contributed to the music and festival scene across the state for decades. His creation of the song, "Feels like coming home" was recorded for Visit Mississippi as a reminder of all the positive attributes of our state. Photo © Portico, by James Patterson

Sarah Story interviews the Governor’s Arts Awards recipient for Excellence in Media Arts, Arthur Jafa. An acclaimed artist, film maker and cinematographer, Jafa has worked to address African American identity through contemporary imagery for the past three decades. The two discuss Jafa’s early years in Clarksdale and Tupelo, films and comic books that influenced him, his time at Howard University as well as upcoming film projects, some of which may take place in Mississippi. Photograph by Robert Hamacher. Image courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York / Rome.