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Delta Blues
Press Release
March 22, 2011
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L
to R: Kevin Clanton, David Carroll, Will Finn / D.
Carroll Construction; Commissioner Buster Moton; Cathy
Clark / City Clerk; Commissioner Edward Seals; Jim
Herring, Johnny Lewis, Dr. Frank Marascalco, Yvonne
Stanford / Delta Blues Museum Board; Howard Stovall;
Shelley Ritter, Delta Blues Museum Director; Clarksdale
Mayor Henry Espy; Curtis Boschert, City Attorney;
Maggie Bjorgum, Belinda Stewart Architects; Brian
Copeland, Mississippi Department of Transportation;
Belinda Stewart, Belinda Stewart Architects
[Photo credit: Chuck Lamb / Lamb Photography] |
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CLARKSDALE, MS (March 22, 2011) - Construction
on the new wing will be complete by the end of 2011.
Using the museum's collection of artifacts,
the new exhibits in the wing will feature the history of
Clarksdale's blues culture, as told by the musicians and
the music they created.
Since 1999, the Delta Blues Museum has been
housed in the historic freight depot, located just across from
Ground Zero Blues Club in downtown Clarksdale. The newest addition
is designed to complement the depot structure, which was built
in 1918 for the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. The museum
building was designated as a Landmark Property in 1996. Belinda
Stewart Architects are the design lead for the new construction,
which will cost $1.4 million. Museum Director Shelley Ritter oversees
fundraising for the project, which is being supported by the Mississippi
Arts Commission, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History,
the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the City of Clarksdale,
the Chisholm Foundation and private donors.
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Rendering
of the Muddy Waters Addition, to open 2012. |
The City of Clarksdale, located at the intersection of
Highways 61 and 49 ("the crossroads"), and the surrounding
Delta region are known as "the land where the blues began."
Since its creation, the Delta Blues Museum has preserved,
interpreted, and encouraged a deep interest in the story
of the blues. Established in 1979 by the Carnegie Public
Library Board of Trustees and re-organized as a stand-alone
museum in 1999, the Delta Blues Museum is the state's oldest
music museum. The Delta Blues Museum Stage is adjacent to
the museum classroom, which hosts a year-round music education
program as well as lectures and symposia. The Delta Blues
Museum Stage serves as the main venue for local festivals
such as the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in
August and the Juke Joint Festival in April.
This newsletter is supported in part
by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state
agency, and, in part, from the National Endowment for the
Arts, a federal agency.
Exhibit opening and book signing
for Mississippi: State of Blues by Ken Murphy and
Scott Barretta
CD Release of Delta Blues
Museum Band's "From Clarksdale to Kansas City, Vol. 1,"
with related events featuring appearances from and performances
by Delta Blues Museum students, David "Honeyboy" Edwards
and others
Juke Joint Festival performances
on the Delta Blues Museum stage beginning at 3P
Annual Sunflower Blues
& Gospel Festival
Gift
Shop
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Delta Blues Museum
Board of Directors
William H. Gresham, President
Yvonne Stanford, Secretary
Johnny Lewis
Dr. Frank Marascalco
Jim Herring |
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to the Delta Blues Museum
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