2021 Visit Meridian Visitors Guide

22 23 VISITMERIDIAN.COM Halfway through the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience, you realize something extraordinary: You’ve made heart-to-heart connections with Mississippi’s creative geniuses. The makers of brilliant songs, paintings, photographs, plays, movies, TV shows, books, and recipes — they’re now your friends. MAKING FRIENDSWITHMISSISSIPPI’S STARS AT And they want to inspire your own creativity. Most of the exhibits at The MAX, as the museum calls itself, are organized into six galleries: Land, Home, Community, Church, People + Places, and Global Community. They feature everyone from Elvis and Oprah to such lesser-known but captivating creators as folk artist Theora Hamblett, Christian ballet choreographer Kathy Thibodeaux, and the Mississippi Mass Choir. All convey the same unspoken message: They overcame doubts and difficulties to make their mark. You can too. THEMAX The MAX deploys dazzling interactive technology. Projections of culinary creations magically appear on plates. Words literally leap off a typewritten page and onto a desk to show how writers work. Famous musicians play together even though they never collaborated in real life. The museum also employs simpler artistic media. Paper squares and colored pencils invite you to design quilt blocks. Soft cubes — oversize versions of a child’s blocks — transform, when correctly stacked, into copies of paintings. Colorful puppets sprawl on a bench, waiting for little (or big) hands to bring them to life. Artists and entertainers are different. The MAX reaches out to visitors, especially children and young adults, who also might feel out of step. By honestly showing the challenges that Mississippi’s creative geniuses faced, it shares the message that you are not alone. Others have walked the same path and persevered, even triumphed. Check The MAX’s event schedule for workshops and other creative opportunities. For example, 1st Saturday (on the first Saturday of every month) includes free refreshments, food trucks on-site, discounted admission, and, for families and youths, a Make + Take Workshop with instruction on creating an artwork that participants can keep. The MAX humanizes artists without diminishing their stature — and turns them into mentors. You owe yourself a visit. Your talented friends are waiting. • Bring friends. Adult tickets are only $8 for groups of 10 or more. • Turn the kids loose. As long as they stay on the second floor, where almost all the exhibits are, they can’t get lost or get into (much) trouble. • Let the kids entertain you with a puppet show. • If you’re puzzled or curious about something, ask the roaming volunteer guides. • Explore further after you leave. The MAX can email you music playlists, travel itineraries, and other enhancements. Make sure to spell your email address correctly at each display. Insider Tips Bring Home Mississippi Crafts Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience visitors can buy examples of Mississippi’s creativity in the museum’s gift shop and right across the street. Crooked Letter, at 2120 Front Street, sells handcrafted goods made in Mississippi, including artwork, jewelry, crafts, clothing, soaps, food, and much more.