Delta Blues Press Release

September 04, 2019

Delta Blues Museum Awarded FY2020 Mississippi Arts Commission Grant

Clarksdale, Mississippi

Mississippi's First Music Museum to Utilize Funds in Support of General Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Clarksdale, Mississippi - September 04, 2019] - Delta Blues Museum has been awarded a $23,100 grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) for general operating support for the 2020 fiscal year. This grant is a portion of the nearly $1.4 million in funding to artists and arts programs across the state for FY2020, which began July 1, 2019. MAC grants are made possible by continued funding from the Mississippi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Malcolm White, executive director of MAC, offered his congratulations to all the recipients, adding, "One of the most important ways MAC supports the arts in Mississippi is through awarding grants to artists and organizations. In fact, half of MAC's annual funding is distributed to communities and individuals across the state each year to directly invest in the state's arts and culture."

"The Delta Blues Museum's work is greatly enhanced by support from the Mississippi Arts Commission," offers Museum Director Shelley Ritter, adding, "Art education connects students with their own culture as well as with the wider world. Here at the Delta Blues Museum we help make these connections through our exhibits, our arts & education program and other forms of outreach. We help our visitors from Clarksdale, Coahoma County, and Mississippi and our national and international ones make connections from the music that has its roots here in the Mississippi Delta to other forms of music all around the globe. We are grateful to the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts for this support."

About the Mississippi Arts Commission

The Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, serves the residents of the state by providing grants that support programs to enhance communities; assist artists and arts organizations; promote the arts in education and celebrate Mississippi's cultural heritage. Established in 1968, the Mississippi Arts Commission is funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson and other private sources. The agency serves as an active supporter and promoter of arts in community life and in arts education.

For information from the Mississippi Arts Commission, contact Anna Ehrgott, Communications Director, (601) 359-6546 or aehrgott@arts.ms.gov.

About the Delta Blues Museum

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 Mississippi's oldest music museum. A 2013 recipient of the IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Services - the nation's highest honor for museum and library service to the community - and a 2014 recipient of the National Arts & Humanities' Youth Program Award, the Delta Blues Museum is dedicated to creating a welcoming place where visitors find meaning, value and perspective by exploring the history and heritage of the unique American musical art form, the Blues. The Museum is also recognized as a Great River Road Interpretive Center.

The "Delta Blues Foundation" is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that supports the work of Delta Blues Museum. All funds solicited through the Delta Blues Foundation are raised to benefit the Delta Blues Museum. On-line tax deductible contributions to the Delta Blues Foundation include the Deeper Roots program and the General Fund (a monetarily unrestricted contribution made to the foundation in support of the museum). Memberships and the Buy a Brick program are funded directly to the Delta Blues Museum and are not considered tax deductible.

For more information on events or programs, please call (662) 627-6820, or visit the Museum web site at www.deltabluesmuseum.org.

Members of the press may register in the press room on the Museum's website to access further information, downloadable images and related materials.

Shelly Ritter, Director

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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.

This site is made possible through support from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rock River Foundation.