The MAX to Feature Interactive Exhibits Highlighting Arts Places and People from Mississippi
When the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (The MAX) opens on April 28, 2018, in downtown Meridian, Miss., one of its missions will be to serve as the starting point connecting its guests with numerous historic cultural-arts points of interest in every area of the state. Cultural Trails, an interactive experience, will be a centerpiece of that goal.
“The Cultural Trails interactive brings attention to sites associated with Mississippi artists and entertainers by giving visitors a way to explore a set of curated recommendations across the state that are related to museum content,” said Stacey Wilson, The MAX curator of exhibitions.
The interactive consists of ten trails, each of which consists of ten arts-related sites.
Half of each trail’s sites are organized by genre – containing a blend of literary, music, art, theatre and culinary sites. The other half are organized by the five regions of Mississippi: Capital/River, Coastal, Delta, Hills, and Pines.
Trails organized by genre will highlight Literary Legends, Musicians, the Arts, Theatres, and Culinary treasures.
MAX guests will choose two of the ten trails; itineraries will be emailed to them and accessed via a mobile-friendly website for free. Guests can also print optional souvenir maps for $1 in the museum’s gift shop.
The art of storytelling
Three listening stations are another of The MAX’s cultural-history exhibits that will draw museum guests deeper into the rich, fascinating history of creativity and the arts in Mississippi. At each station, guests may sit and listen to a curated collection of audio stories from their choice of either the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, Thacker Mountain Radio or the Mississippi Art Commission.
Both the listening stations and the Cultural Trails interactive are housed in the John & Beth Clay People and Places gallery at The MAX.
“The intent of the People and Places gallery is to highlight artists and institutions that have helped put Mississippi on the map,” said Wilson. “Artists and their environments – in which they live, work, and inspire one another – are front and center.”