Delta Blues Press Release

August 12, 2025

Delta Blues Museum Receives $24,000 MAC Grant

Clarksdale, Mississippi

Two-year grant awarded to help offset operating expenses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Clarksdale, Mississippi - August 08, 2025] - Delta Blues Museum is the recipient of a $24,000 grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC). This grant is a portion of the more than $1.7 million in grants MAC awarded in Fiscal Year 2026 and will be used to support Museum operations over the course of the two-year grant period. MAC's operating grants are available specifically for arts-focused institutions as operating support to assist organizations in maintaining their financial stability, building their organizational capacity, improving their artist programs, and broadening their programs throughout the community.

"We are deeply grateful to our state and national leaders who have made the arts a priority this year,” said David Lewis, Executive Director for the Mississippi Arts Commission. "With funding from the Mississippi Legislature and with the continued support of the National Endowment for the Arts, MAC is providing 349 grants to individuals and organizations throughout Mississippi. These grants will foster creativity and make a meaningful impact on local communities and economies.”

Museum Director Shelley Ritter underscores the importance of the state's arts commission. "MAC is an anchor for arts organizations, artists, and arts education in our state. We are grateful for this generous support," Ritter offers, adding, "MAC's investment is key in helping the Museum continue to preserve blues culture and heritage, passing along its unique character and traditions to future generations of citizens."

About the Mississippi Arts Commission

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency serving more than two million people through grants and special initiatives that enhance communities, assist artists and arts organizations, promote arts education and celebrate Mississippi’s cultural heritage. MAC is funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation for Mississippi and other private sources. For more information, visit www.arts.ms.gov.

For information about the Mississippi Arts Commission, please contact Ellie Banks, Communications Director, 601-359-6546 or ebanks@arts.ms.gov.

About 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 first 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. 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.

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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.