Jackson Free Press

As far as literature and music are concerned, on a per-capita basis, Mississippi may be the most important state in the nation, said National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman.

"It's an arts state--an arts-rich state," he said.

Landesman spoke at a forum this morning at the Mississippi Museum of Art's Art Garden about how creative spaces in the city, like the Art Garden, help connect the arts to people's everyday lives.

Last year, the art museum received a $150,000 grant through the NEA's "Our Town" project, which aims to improve the quality of life and economies in communities through the arts. The focus of Jackson's Our Town project is the Art Garden, which helps to create an arts-focused community and public space in downtown Jackson.

Malcolm White, executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, said projects like the Art Garden encourage Mississippi's creative economy.

"It's so symbolic that we are in the place (in the Art Garden) where people are beginning to connect real life with the arts," he said.

Throughout the past year, the museum hosted festivals, musical performances, film screenings and art projects to bring people into the garden, and to get people to think of the Art Garden as a place where they can relax, spend time, and gather with friends and family.

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said that bringing people to the Art Garden brings people to the art museum, even if they would not normally have visited it. That, in turn, makes people want to spend more time in Jackson and see more of the city.

"Culture and art are critical components of the well-being of a city," Johnson said, adding that they contribute to people's lives both economically and culturally.

Find upcoming events at the Art Garden and the Mississippi Museum of Art at jfpevents.com or msmuseumart.org.