Delta Center assists Canadian film crew

PHOTO: (L to R) Award-winning Country musician and TV personality Jason McCoy, Terry ”Harmonica” Bean, and TV producer Joel Stewart of CMT Canada, all at Po’ Monkey’s Lounge in Merigold, Mississippi, prior to shooting part of Jason McCoy Eats America.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently helped the television company CMT Canada film part of an episode of their popular show Jason McCoy Eats America at Po’ Monkey’s Lounge in Merigold.  The cast and crew interviewed Bluesman Terry “Harmonica” Bean, and their star, Jason McCoy, later performed with Terry Bean.  Jason McCoy is a Canadian singer/songwriter who is best known for his country music. In 2001 he won Male Vocalist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards, and he has also had 3 SOCAN Song of the Year awards, 19 CCMA nominations and 5 Juno nominations, all for Best Country Male Vocalist.  Other parts of this episode were filmed in Clarksdale, and other episodes of the series have been filmed throughout the Southeastern US.

Delta Center assists in music video production

Manu Lanvin in Kossman’s 1972 LeMans convertible at historic Dockery Farms, known around the world as the birthplace of the Blues.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently helped French Blues singer Manu Lanvin film a music video for his latest release "Sur la route sixty one" ( On Highway 61).  Manu (who goes by his first name) and his producer/photographer, Alexandre Villeret, spent over a week filming in the Delta.  Highlights of their visit included an evening of live Blues at historic Po’ Monkey’s Lounge, during which Manu performed with Mississippi’s own Terry “Harmonica” Bean.  Bean has recently toured in France, and also been featured in the French Blues Magazine called “Blues” as well as in Living Blues Magazine.   Kossman’s automotive, in Cleveland, provided access to their 1972 LeMans convertible, which appears in the music video.

Delta Center hosts workshop in Memphis

Participants in The Delta Center for Culture and Learning workshop gather for a photo while touring Memphis.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently took its workshop “The Most Southern Place on Earth:  History, music and culture of the Mississippi Delta” to Memphis.

The workshop is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Participants in the workshop were teachers (K-12) and librarians, and they came from 21 states.  They were in the Delta for seven days, and several stayed for an extra day or two before going home. 

While in Memphis, the workshop participants visited the Cotton Museum, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and the National Civil Rights Museum, before going to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous ducks walk from the fountain to the elevators.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning and the Robertson Scholars tour Memphis

Robertson Scholars at the Stax Musuem of American Soul Music.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently took ten Robertson Scholars to Memphis.  While there, they visited the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Graceland, and the National Civil Rights Museum.  They also saw Beale Street and watched the ducks march in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel. 

The scholars group included six scholars who are living in Cleveland for the summer plus three who are living in New Orleans and one stationed in Atlanta.  The tour was escorted by the Delta Center’s Lee Aylward.  The Delta Center is currently the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently review plans for Blues Museum and Visitor’s Center

L to R- Willie Bearden, museum consultant, Wanda Clark and Allan Hammons of Hammons and Associates, Mississippi Blues Trail designers, Luther Brown, Delta Center and MS Delta National Heritage Area, Mary Beth Wilkerson, MDA/Mississippi Tourism, and Scott Blake, museum consultant.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning was recently invited to review plans for the new Gateway to the Blues Museum and Visitor’s Center located on Highway 61 in Tunica. The Delta Center was included because it is now the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. 

The visitor’s center is currently open, and the museum will be under construction soon, opening in 2014.  The new visitor’s center is adjacent to the previous one, but is now located in an old railroad terminal that was moved from Dundee.  The museum will house the fine collection of artifacts that was formerly on display in the Horseshoe Casino, and will direct visitors along the Mississippi Blues Trail.

Delta Center recognized as “Best Practice Leader”

Dr. Luther Brown (fourth from left), director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, at the Best Practices panel discussion

Governor Haley Barbour recently commissioned the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission to produce a study of the creative economy in Mississippi. The report, prepared with assistance from Regional Technologies, Inc, was released during a day-long symposium on August 10 at the Jackson Convention Center. Numerous presentations provided information on the value of the creative economy, along with examples of how the creative economy helps build communities and provide jobs. The event ended with a "Best Practices Panel" that featured the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University.  

The Delta Center is involved in the Mississippi Blues Trail, the new Mississippi Freedom Trail, and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, and other projects. The Delta Center was one of five "Best Practice Leaders" that were featured at the symposium. The others included Mississippi State University’s music program, the Fondren District renovation in Jackson, the Cities of Oxford and Bay St. Louis, and the Mississippi School of the Arts. These entities, and several others, are also featured in the published report. The complete creative economy report is published on-line at http://www.mscreativeeconomy.com.

Delta State’s Delta Center continues to distribute books to promote literacy

Bright Beginnings: From left-right, Beverly McWilliams, with Bright Beginnings and librarian at Parks Elementary, Robert Smart, Rosedale Elementary, and Lee Aylward, Delta State Delta Center for Culture and Learning.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning continues to distribute books that have been collected by the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA), an international group of volunteers. 

This week’s recipients included Parks Elementary School in Cleveland and the Rosedale Elementary School, as well as students in the Delta State Child Development Center. 

Delta State Child Development Center: From left-right, Brenda Dumas, teacher, Samantha Blake, Sherrod Cauthen, Kate McClain, Cash Miller, and Elizabeth Gray Havens students in the four year-old class look over some of the donated books.

The Harry Potter Alliance was founded by Andrew Slack, who first came to the Delta as a students from Brandeis University and was introduced to the Delta’s heritage by the Delta Center for Culture and learning.  HPA was recently awarded $250,000 by the Chase Bank Community Giving Challenge, and online competition that selected the most popular new charity organization. The money will allow them to build further capacity to do good deeds around the world.