A Story of Vision and Persistence

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A Story of Vision and Persistence

The Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience’s 20-YearJourneyfrom Idea to Launch

By Philip Shirley

An idea takes root to showcase the artists, musicians and performers of Mississippi

America’s contributions to the world of music—especially in the forms of blues, jazz, gospel and country music—are unquestioned. And the origins of those contributions can be traced by musicologists to Mississippi. The roots of the blues and gospel run deep in Mississippi and jazz, rock and roll, and country music owe much of their success to these early American music genres.

Mississippi’s musical heritage is in many ways unmatched. It is against this backdrop of musical history that The Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience--fondly known as The MAX—began to explore the entire range of contributions of its artists and performers. The MAX opens its doors to showcase the amazing achievementsof Mississippiansthat have influenced artists and performers on the world stage. Music, dance, visual arts, quilting, literature and storytelling, theatre, pottery, puppetry, folk arts and other forms of arts and entertainment help weave a rich tapestry from the arts culture in Mississippi. Mississippians recognize their writers, artists and performers with the same degree of honor they feel for their doctors and nurses, government officials, and community leaders.

This is the story of The Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience. It’s the story of a group of people with a shared vision for how the arts make communities and a state stronger. It’s a story of persistence through adversity over two decades to bring The MAX to the public. And it’s a story of the desire of the human heart for inspiration, excellence, and a deeper understanding of our world.

The idea for The MAX began as a modest idea of the late Agriculture Commissioner Jim Buck Ross a year before his death in 1999. Commissioner Ross saw the value of preserving musical heritage. He wanted to createa country music museum and imagined it housed inside the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. That initial seed of an idea in 1998 grewand blossomed into what wouldopen 20 years later on April 28, 2018, as the Mississippi Arts Entertainment Experience in Meridian, Mississippi. This world-class, experiential center combines hands-on activities, performances, and museum-quality exhibitions under one roof to showcase and honor Mississippi’s arts, artists, writers and entertainers.

As part of the initial work on this idea, the Stennis Institute of Mississippi State University conducted a feasibility study funded by $38,000 from the Mississippi Development Authority. A site selection committee reviewed possible locations in Meridian and Jackson. A committee was appointed that recommended Jackson as the location, but stipulating that Meridian should be considered if Jackson does not locate a suitable site.

A group of people in Meridian and other key supporters, such as Paul Ott Carruth from Summit, persisted and worked with the City of Meridian to present its location to the members ofthe search committee charged with finding the right site. When no suitable location in Jackson was found and agreed to, the committee members voted to support the Meridian location after visiting the proposed site. Efforts commenced to secure seed money and in 2001 the Mississippi legislature passed Senate Bill 2666 establishing the Southern Arts and Entertainment Center (SAEC).

John Robert Smith, then mayor of Meridian, appointed an ad hoc committee to help the City find and select a board of directors to begin developing a vision for the SAEC. The first development committee met at Meridian City Hall on the morning of April 5, 2002. Over the summer of 2002, a board of directors was approved, bylaws were established, and officers selected for what was still the SAEC at that time. Within 90 days they had agreed on a vision for the arts center. The mission would be to utilize the wealth of arts and artists of Mississippi to entertain and educate through exhibits, interactive learning, performances, readings, concerts, classes, and demonstrations. A mission statement was adopted on June 25, 2002.

The organizational work begins

On September 25, 2002, the first official board meeting was held. The initial directors includedPaul Ott (Summit), Bill Brown (Jackson). Sandy Bynum (Meridian), Greg Cartmell (Meridian), Frank Farley (Meridian), Hank Florey (Meridian), Tim Hedgepeth (Jackson), Melinda Hood (Yazoo City), Thallis Lewis (Choctaw), Hu Meena (Jackson), Connie Royal (Meridian), Dr. Lester Spell (Jackson), Malcolm White (Jackson), and Duffee Williams (Meridian). By the following September the organization had been recognized officially as a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit entity.

In 2003 Chief Philip Martin appointed Marty Gamblin to the board, who had a vast knowledge of the music and entertainment world from his 40 years as an agent and music publisher for such artists as Glen Campbell and Alan Jackson. He suggested that Mississippi alone had more than enough artists and performers to fulfill the mission and that focusing on one state would still be a massive undertaking. The board agreed that this was a more realistic goal, yet still a challenge. The organization began doing business as the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center (MAEC) instead of SAEC. (This name was later ratified into law in 2013 through House Bill #135 presented by longtime supporter Rep. Greg Snowden.)

The vision for The MAX began to become more substantial and the pace increased. Under the leadership and devotion to this project of then board president Paul Ott Carruth, planning and development continued. As a radio and television host and performer Paul Ott had been a very vocal leader over the previous years to select Meridian as the site for the original SAEC. In an article in the Franklin County Times on May 25, 2003, editor Buddy Bynam said, “Anyone who believes in the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center should give Paul Ott a hug...” Ott continued as a leading proponent of the facility from day one through opening.

Quest Marketing was retained to create a logo for the MAEC and incorporated elements of nature,performing and visual artsto highlight both the mission and the Bonita Lakes intended location. In May2004, Dr. Charlotte Tabereaux was hired as the first executive director. Architects Martinez and Johnson of Washington, D.C. and PryorMorrow of Columbus, Miss., were retained. The startup phase was ending and the development phase began.

Support grows and the groundwork for funding begins, but not everything was rosy in 2005

The year 2005 started with a success. A delegation from the board travelled to Nashville in January to visit Faith Hill to request her to visit Mississippi and secured her support for legislative action to help fund the MAEC. A month later, actress Sela Ward, a hometown favorite of Meridian, helped unveil the Master Plan.

The plan was then presented in Jackson to Governor Haley Barbour and other dignitaries at a meeting at Dennery’s Restaurant to coincide with Faith Hill’s visit. With a price tag that had escalated to $100 million, Gov. Barbour advised board members that funding would be easier to secure if the project moved downtown. That idea was immediately put into consideration as plans progressed to secure initial funding.

Faith Hill addressed the legislature on February 22, 2005, to solicit support and help share the vision for the impact such a facility could have on Mississippi’s quality of life, economy and cultural vitality. (This visit would lead—four years later in 2009—to a legislative transfer of four million dollars into a building fund.) House Bill 1770 passed and was sent to the Governor in 2005 to sign allowing the City of Meridian to levy a tax on restaurant sales up to two percent of gross sales to defray the cost of a conference center, performing arts theatre, amphitheater, artists’ village and related purposes. The board determined that pushing forward for a vote at this time would not be good timing.

The excitement continued to build, until a fateful daya few months later, when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on August 29, 2005, as the largest natural disaster in United States history. With $100 billion in damages facing the impacted area, the board determined it would be improper to try to raise money for the project at that time. Behind the scenes, and especially under the determined leadership of newly elected board president Tommy Dulaney, efforts to refine the vision and seek a path forward carried on quietly. Many credit his passion and determination as one of the most important driving forces to keep the vision alive when the time would be right to move ahead. Research and planning continued at the board level.

The Meridian city administration helped explore options for moving the facility downtown. The Kress Building became a focus for a time, but other downtown development allowed the building to become part of the Mississippi State University downtown presence and tied the Kress Building to the downtown renovation centered around the MSU Riley Center for the Performing Arts. This downtown redevelopment would prove later to help create an atmosphere in which The MAX could come to life.

Over the following years, efforts would progress despite the restraints of the continuing impact of Katrina. Behind the scenes the board members and supporters continued to crystalize their vision for the facility and to line up funding opportunities from corporate and private donors. The board considered ideas to bring the project back into the spotlight. Board member Fred Cannon and his daughters surfaced the idea of a Walk of Fame. The idea gained enthusiastic support and in February 15, 2009, the first star was laid in honor of the legendary folk singer Jimmie Rodgers on the sidewalk outside The Riley Center. This launched a Walk of Fame that would eventually lead to the front door of the envisioned new facility and help tie these two downtown revitalization efforts together.

Today the Walk of Fame honors BB King, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Sela Ward, Marty Stuart, Morgan Freeman, Walter Anderson, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm (the first integrated all-women’s band in the country and acknowledged in the Smithsonian), Moe Bandy, Mac MacAnnally, Hartley Peavy, Elvis Presley, George Ohr, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Leontyne Price, Jim Henson, Richard Wright, and John Grisham.

The idea remains alive through tough times

Despite the economic downturn of 2008 and residual impact of Hurricane Katrina,the State of Mississippi transferred bond money for building expensesto the project via House Bill 1722 at the end of 2009. The first half of the 20-year saga from idea to opening had closed and a new chapter of persistence had opened.

Efforts escalated to locate the facility in downtown Meridian. Manny and Melanie Mitchell (a former board member) donated the Meridian Hotel as a location for the facility. Board president Tommy Dulaney and board member Clay Holladay announced in July that they had negotiated the purchase of the Montana’s building next door. With these two properties in hand, the MAEC now had its location, stretching from the bridge on 22nd Avenue to Union Station along Front Street.

In June 2010, the Meridian City Council voted to designate parts of Meridian as an entertainment district, which would allow incentives designed to boost the entertainment industry in Mississippi. Meridian became Mississippi’s first city with a designated downtown arts and entertainment district.

In November that same year, then Lt. Governor Phil Bryant and the board of directors approached Marty Gamblin about serving as executive director. His knowledge of the music and entertainment industry and management expertise would prove invaluable. The vision was becoming more tangible and taking shape. The music business veteran came on board officially in January 2011 as executive director after serving eight years on the board.

Two architectural firms were engaged in March 2011. LPK Architects of Meridian was hired as the lead firm along with Canizaro Cawthon Davis of Jackson. Internationally recognized museum planning and design firm Gallagher & Associates of Washington, D.C. was added to the team. Over the next two years, research and development were undertaken to create a destination that would showcase the achievements of Mississippi artists and entertainers and inspire a new generation of creativity. Later, this team was expanded with the addition of Nikki Dejesus Sertsu with Dejesus and Associates, specialists in helping museums create content relevant to their communities.

After much research, a unanimous board vote on August 19, 2011, agreed to demolish both buildings to create a permanent site for a state-of-the-art new facility. Demolition and site preparation began almost immediately, but funding remained a priority. First Community Development of Atlanta was engaged to conduct a feasibility analysis and later a fundraising campaign beginning in late 2012 and continuing for the next two years.

House Bill 135 officially ratified the name change earlier adopted to reflect the focus on Mississippi. SAEC officially became the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center in 2013 and the organization received authorization to create a “state sanctioned Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame.”

During this period and over the ensuing months, the vision expanded even as the effort and time required escalated dramatically on numerous fronts. A Strategic Plan for downtown development had been crafted in the fall of 2012 and was presented to the board in January 2013. The board realized that the opportunity encompassed so much more than a hall of fame and museum, so board membersdevoted significant time fine tuning the vision to incorporate the required activities, events, interactive displays, performance venues and other components of a greatly expanded idea. The center would be an experience, not a display. It would encourage a new generation of people to harness their creativity in ways that would build a stronger Mississippi and help contribute to both quality of life and a more vibrant economy.

State officials were consulted in 2013 by a group of supporters led by Sen. VidetCarmichael and including board president Tommy Dulaney, Billy Estes, consultant Beth Clay, and Marty Gamblin met with Lt. Governor Tate Reeves. He encouraged the group to step up efforts at local fund raising, without which he feared legislative support would not be easy to obtain. At that time, the cost was estimated at $45 million to build the facilities and exhibits. The first major donation of three million dollars was raised as a grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation in early fall, but a more well-planned funding initiative was being developed.

The board announced a capitol campaign at The Riley Center with 300 community leaders in November 2013. The campaign launched publicly the following April, with Sela Ward on hand demonstrating her support as chairperson of the Honorary Celebrity Committee. The Meridian and Lauderdale County residents, business leaders, supporters, and the board accepted the challenge.

By September, Bob Luke, the East Mississippi Development Center chair, hosted an event to announce another major donation. Bob Dean, chair of the Riley Foundation, announced a Foundation gift of four million dollars.Board member Clay Holladay, on hand for the event, summarized the campaign success in reaching broad backing, saying, “We’ve had great support locally and great support from our state government, the state legislature, and of course the governor and Lieutenant governor as well. Now we are going statewide with our campaign.” The campaign ultimately raised more than $17 million.

That same year, Bill Owens and Owens Economics, LLC was hired to produce a business plan to determine the low and high ranges of likely visitors and spending, so that a realistic business model could be put in place to assure proper financing for sustained operations. These estimates found that the economic impact could eventually exceed $100 million annually based on anticipated visitors and their average spending. The Owens study showed that some 13 million people travelled one way within a mile of the site each year on Interstate 20.

Based on the obvious success in fundraising and encouraged by indications of the positive economic impact, along with an expanded mission and vision to support the tourism and travel across the entire state, the legislature eventually allocated another $10 million and planned to find $15 million over the coming years. An aggressive statewide fundraising campaign under the guidance of board member Billy Estes continued to assure a strong financial future so that the goal to inspire and empower tomorrow’s artists will continue.

A shared vision becomes clear as the facility moves toward reality