Aired January 24, 2021

Larry Morrisey talks with 2021 Governor’s Arts Award recipient Nellie McInnis (aka Nellie Mack). McInnis is a Jackson-based bass player and band leader. She has played with several legendary Mississippi blues and R&amp;B musicians and currently leads a number of groups.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Nellie McInnis

Aired April 11, 2021

Leslie Barker talks with visual artist and Mississippi Arts Commission Special Initiatives Director, Victoria Meek. They discuss Victoria’s love of museums and how they helped spark her passion for art at an early age.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Victoria Meek

Aired April 4, 2021

Larry Morrisey talks with photographer and folklorist Robert Stone about "Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus!" his new book of photographs documenting the "sacred steel" music tradition.&nbsp;A group of African American churches use the steel guitar as their lead instrument. The churches are found throughout the eastern half of the US, including in north Mississippi.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Robert Stone

Aired March 28, 2021

Sarah Story talks with Benjamin Saulsberry, museum director of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner. The two speak about the Emmett Till story and the work of the Interpretive Center. The Center was recently awarded a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support racial healing efforts and strategic planning to coordinate the preservation of the Mamie and Emmett Till story across the Mississippi Delta and in Chicago.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Benjamin Saulsberry

Aired March 21, 2021

Leslie Barker talks with her former student, Jay Jurden.&nbsp;Jay is a comedian, actor, and writer who was named one of the Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2020 by Vulture. He has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central Featuring, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and HBO's High Maintenance.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Jay Jurden

Aired March 14, 2021

Melody Moody Thortis speaks to Von Gordon, the Youth Engagement Manager at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation about his work to use the arts as a tool to connect and empower young people across the state. They discuss the Winter Institute’s new Community of the Future Creatives Showcase contest, which serves as a way for middle and high school students across Mississippi to use the arts as a way to process the events of the past year.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Von Gordon

Aired March 7, 2021

Larry Morrisey visits with opera conductor Christopher James Ray. Ray is the resident conductor at Opera San Jose and a native of Sumrall, Mississippi. They talk about Ray's career and his recent work conducting a production of the opera "Three Decembers" that was presented virtually and has received a lot of favorable press in the opera community.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Christopher James Ray

Aired February 28, 2021

Sarah Story speaks with curator Ryan Dennis about the newly opened Dusti Bongé exhibition at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Widely considered to be the first Mississippi artist to work consistently in a Modernist style, the exhibition includes works from throughout Dusti Bongé's career. Visitors will be able to experience her paintings, works on paper, and sculptures as well as see the influences of Bongé’s life in different stages. Image description: Dusti Bongé, Void 6 (detail). 1982, Oil on canvas. Collection of the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Ryan Dennis

Aired February 21, 2021

Highlights of the annual Governor's Arts Awards ceremony.

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Governor's Arts Awards

Aired February 14, 2021

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, Mississippi Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

The Mississippi Arts Hour |  Jesmyn Ward

Airs Sundays at 5 p.m. on MPB Think Radio

Each week, members of MAC's staff host The Mississippi Arts Hour, a radio program broadcast on Mississippi Public Broadcasting's FM and digital radio networks. The show features interviews with Mississippi artists, musicians, craftspeople, and others involved in arts and culture from around the state.

Mississippi Arts Hour

Share

The Mississippi Arts Hour | Nellie McInnis

More Episodes

VIEW ALL

The Mississippi Arts Hour | Robert Stone

The Mississippi Arts Hour | Benjamin Saulsberry

The Mississippi Arts Hour | Jay Jurden