Jackson Free Press

Mississippi State University will host the "Mississippi Stennis Flag Exhibition" beginning Thursday, Aug. 1. The exhibit is inside the Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery on the second floor of the university's welcome center and will remain on display through Sept. 6.

Laurin Stennis, a Jackson artist and granddaughter of the late U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis, created her flag design in 2014 as a suggested alternative for the current Mississippi state flag, which contains a Confederate emblem. Stennis organized the traveling exhibition to invite Mississippi artists to interpret her flag design through their work, a release from MSU says.

The exhibit is free and open to the public and features 26 pieces, including paintings, sculptures, photographs and more. Artists represented in the show include Michelle Allee, Anne Scott Barrett, Alexander Bostic, Pat Brown, Anne Brunson, Tony Davenport, Monique Davis, Ron Dill, Mary Bess Gloria, Josh Hailey, Pete Halverson, Sabrina Howard, Ellen Langford, Elaine Maisel, Sky Miles, Harold Miller, Tawny Johnson Minton, Summer Nation, Rob Peeples, H.C. Porter, Jan Stevens, Cathy Talbot, Melanie Mitchell Tucker, Yolande van Heerden and Herb Wiley.

Viewing hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday except for university holidays. For more information, call 662-325-2970, email [email protected] or visit caad.msstate.edu.

MSU "Stay Well Under the Umbrella of Health" Wellness Conference

Mississippi State University's Department of Health Promotion and Wellness will host its inaugural "Stay Well Under the Umbrella of Health" wellness conference on Tuesday, Aug. 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Mill in the MSU Conference Center (100 Mercantile St., Starkville).

The conference will focus on topics such as mental health, well-being and health promotion, and prevention of sexual assault, violence, and addiction to alcohol, opioids and other drugs.

Social workers and psychologists who attend the conference can earn continuing education credits, and participants may also obtain a certificate of completion, a release from MSU says.

Registration is open to students at community colleges, universities and community organizations, and to the general public. Tickets are $30 and are available online here. Attendance is free for the first 200 MSU students who register online and place "student" under the title on their registration form.

Sponsors and exhibitors who want to participate in the event can contact Santee Ezell, assistant director of health promotion and wellness, at 662-325-7545 or email [email protected].

For more information, visit health.msstate.edu/health/.

Delta State Music Director Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

The Mississippi Writers Guild presented Tricia Walker, former director of the Delta Music Institute at Delta State University, with its Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization's annual conference for working and aspiring writers at the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi (800 W. Sunflower Road, Cleveland) from July 26-27.

Walker is a singer and songwriter who worked in Nashville for 26 years as a performer, music publisher and music producer. She co-wrote the single "Looking in the Eyes of Love" with Greek-American country songwriter Kostas Lazarides in 1990. Country music singer Patty Loveless recorded the song, and bluegrass artist Allison Krauss later performed a cover of the song that earned her a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Performance.

In 1988, Walker started a country music show called "Women in the Round" at the Bluebird Cafe venue in Nashville together with fellow female artists Karen Staley, Ashley Cleveland and Pam Tillis. In 2006, she came to Delta State to help the university develop the DMI program.

Walker delivered the keynote address for the Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony and presented workshops at the event. She received her award at a luncheon on July 27 at the Hugh Ellis Walker Alumni-Foundation House on the Delta State campus.

The Mississippi Writers Guild began presenting the Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2015 and presented civil-rights activist James Meredith with the inaugural award that year. Other recipients include Greg Iles, John Evans and Carolyn Haines.