Steeped in a rich cultural heritage that remains vibrant today, Mississippi is home to a wide array of creative citizens, creative businesses and creative places that collectively contribute to the quality of life in Mississippi and the distinctive feel of the communities where they reside.
Artists, professors, chefs, writers, designers, architects, sculptors and musicians are hard at work in all corners of the state. Mississippi-based creative businesses such as Peavey Electronics, Viking Range Corp., the Elvis Presley Museum, Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co., Nunoerin and the Mississippi Museum of Art, to name just a few, are flourishing in Mississippi communities of all sizes. It is these creative people and creative businesses and the state’s vast and varied cultural assets that make Mississippi a unique and vibrant place to visit, live, work and play.
As Malcolm White, executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, says, “Mississippi has an abundance of creative and cultural riches. The state’s literary and musical traditions are second to none. Mississippi is a beacon for anyone interested in blues history, American music, the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, Southern fiction, Southern food, antebellum architecture and sacred spaces.”
Mississippi’s creative economy offers the opportunity for the state and its communities to tell our stories through our people, places and products. We have a rich cultural heritage with a long artistic tradition in music, literature, and the visual, performing and culinary arts. But that heritage is not simply a thing of the past. The creative spirit that inspired native sons and daughters like Elvis Presley, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Jim Henson, Tennessee Williams, Craig Claiborne and Walter Anderson continues to thrive in Mississippi.
Creativity, unbounded by age, class, race or ethnicity, offers a new approach to economic growth in Mississippi. State leaders recognize Mississippi’s creative people, places and enterprises – collectively known as the state’s creative economy – have a significant impact on Mississippi’s economy. Even more importantly, creative people and creative businesses offer tremendous potential for growth and future economic opportunities. They build on Mississippi’s existing place- and people-based strengths, not on looking elsewhere; on distinctiveness, not on imitation; on design-oriented customization, not on price-conscious mass production.
It is these creative people, places and businesses that attract visitors and new residents to communities in the state, inspire fresh entrepreneurial opportunities and existing business growth, and help communities build civic pride and preserve their cultural and historic offerings and generate added value from them.
To learn more about Mississippi’s abundant cultural and artistic offerings, visit www.visitmississippi.org.
To learn more about the creative economy in Mississippi and the collaborative effort between the Mississippi Arts Commission and MDA to support and grow the state’s creative sector, visit www.mscreativeeconomy.com.
Artists, professors, chefs, writers, designers, architects, sculptors and musicians are hard at work in all corners of the state. Mississippi-based creative businesses such as Peavey Electronics, Viking Range Corp., the Elvis Presley Museum, Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co., Nunoerin and the Mississippi Museum of Art, to name just a few, are flourishing in Mississippi communities of all sizes. It is these creative people and creative businesses and the state’s vast and varied cultural assets that make Mississippi a unique and vibrant place to visit, live, work and play.
As Malcolm White, executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, says, “Mississippi has an abundance of creative and cultural riches. The state’s literary and musical traditions are second to none. Mississippi is a beacon for anyone interested in blues history, American music, the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, Southern fiction, Southern food, antebellum architecture and sacred spaces.”
Mississippi’s creative economy offers the opportunity for the state and its communities to tell our stories through our people, places and products. We have a rich cultural heritage with a long artistic tradition in music, literature, and the visual, performing and culinary arts. But that heritage is not simply a thing of the past. The creative spirit that inspired native sons and daughters like Elvis Presley, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Jim Henson, Tennessee Williams, Craig Claiborne and Walter Anderson continues to thrive in Mississippi.
Creativity, unbounded by age, class, race or ethnicity, offers a new approach to economic growth in Mississippi. State leaders recognize Mississippi’s creative people, places and enterprises – collectively known as the state’s creative economy – have a significant impact on Mississippi’s economy. Even more importantly, creative people and creative businesses offer tremendous potential for growth and future economic opportunities. They build on Mississippi’s existing place- and people-based strengths, not on looking elsewhere; on distinctiveness, not on imitation; on design-oriented customization, not on price-conscious mass production.
It is these creative people, places and businesses that attract visitors and new residents to communities in the state, inspire fresh entrepreneurial opportunities and existing business growth, and help communities build civic pride and preserve their cultural and historic offerings and generate added value from them.
To learn more about Mississippi’s abundant cultural and artistic offerings, visit www.visitmississippi.org.
To learn more about the creative economy in Mississippi and the collaborative effort between the Mississippi Arts Commission and MDA to support and grow the state’s creative sector, visit www.mscreativeeconomy.com.
