Exhibitions
Now on display in the Permanent Collection Galleries...

The Museum's new location allows it, for the first time ever, to display some of the more than 4,000 works of art from its permanent collection.  MMA felt strongly that the first major presentation of work from the permanent collection in this new facility should focus on the state’s rich artistic heritage, although the collection contains works from wide-ranging time periods, styles and even continents.

This Mississippi Story exhibition portrays the history and culture of Mississippi through art, reflecting the national and international context of that story as well.

Eudora Welty wrote “It seems plain that the art that speaks more clearly, explicity, directly and passionately from its place of origin will remain the longest understood”. With that in mind, Patti Carr Black, art historian and curator of the Mississippi Story, says that the exhibition “explores art that is explicity and passionately derived from Mississippi- its place of origin”. The Mississippi Story is divided into four categories: the influence of the land on our art, Mississippi’s people as depicted in its art, life in Mississippi observed by its artists, and the exporting of Mississippi Culture through its artists. The exhibition features artwork by Walter Anderson, George Ohr, Sam Gilliam, William Dunlap, John McCrady, Richmond Barthé, Eudora Welty, William Hollingsworth, Marie Hull, and William Eggleston, among many others.



Also on display...

Breathing Art:  The Work of Myra Green and Lynn Green Root
April 26, 2008 -June 29, 2008
This exhibition explores the lives and art of mother and daughter artists Myra Green and Lynn Green Root, who lived and worked in Jackson during the twentieth century.  A full-color publication accompanies the exhibition.  The image on the left is Myra Green, Rain People, no date. oil on canvas. Collection of Mr. Joshua Green, Jackson, Miss.  The image on the left is Lynn Green Root, Princess Cheri Lynn of Pensacola Beach, 1982. acrylic on canvas. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William G. Cheney, Jr., Jackson, Miss.

Seeing Ourselves:  Masterpieces of American Photography
April 26, 2008 - June 22, 2008
More than 150 photographs by master photographers are presented in various themes that dramatically illustrate our country's people and landscape.  Masterpieces by artists such as Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White, Lee Friedlander, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, amoung many others, represnt well over a centruy of photography in America. Seeing Ourselves: Masterpieces of American Photography from George Eastman House Collection was organized by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film and was made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Masterpieces program.   Lewis W. Hine (American, 1874–1940), Power House Mechanic, 1920. gelatin silver print. Courtesy George Eastman House.

Icons from the Collection
In this gallery, MMA showcases some of the most important works from its collection. The Museum has amassed a broad array of paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and photographs, including artwork by Albert Bierstadt, John Sloan, George Inness, Robert Henri, Georgia O'Keeffe, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, Andy Warhol, Mary Cassatt, and Elizabeth Catlett, among many others. A selection of these icons is installed adjacent to the lobby. Artwork on display changes periodically. Opening selection features American paintings.

Pre-Columbian Ceramics
The objects displayed in the cases of the Museum’s lobby originate from two continents and represent a time span of more than two thousand years. Pre-Columbian civilizations living across Peru, Mexico and Central America flourished prior to the arrival of Europeans. An array of archaeological cultures developed, several of which are represented in the collection exhibited here.


Exhibitions coming soon...

Pieces and Strings: Mississippi Cultural Crossroads 21st Annual Quilt Contest and Exhibition
May 10 – September 7, 2008
An annual presentation of award-winning quilts is displayed in the Museum’s atrium, sponsored by Mississippi Cultural Crossroads, Port Gibson. Mississippi Cultural Crossroads sponsors Crossroads Quilters, a group that displays and sells its one-of-a-kind handmade quilts at the Crossroads Building in Port Gibson.

The Sight of Music
July 5 - September 7, 2008
The Donna and Jim Barksdale Galleries for Changing Exhibitions
The Sight of Music is a diverse collection of nearly 100 works dating from the 1920s through the 1990s and encompassing numerous interpretations of, and variations on, the theme of music. Artists represented include Thomas Hart Benton, Red Grooms, John Cage, Billy Morrow Jackson, Lou Barlow, and Robert Motherwell, among many others. An illustrated publication based on this exhibition is for sale in the Museum Store.

Life Through the Lens: Photographs by Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr. and Governor Raymond Mabus
July 5 – September 7, 2008
The Donna and Jim Barksdale Galleries for Changing Exhibitions
This exhibition features color photographs by Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee and Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus, and includes images of landscape, flora and fauna, people, and architecture from around the world.

John James Audubon: American Artist and Naturalist
September 13, 2008 - January 4, 2009
The Donna and Jim Barksdale Galleries for Changing Exhibitions
The name John James Audubon is synonymous with the study and preservation of American wildlife. His masterpiece, The Birds of America folio and his lifetime of written journals stand as an unsurpassed contribution to the world of fine art, natural science, and American history and literature. This exhibition includes original Audubon letters, rare books, photographs, personal items, and sixty of the original large hand-colored Double Elephant Folio engravings from The Birds of America, selected from the collection and archives of the John James Audubon Museum at Henderson, Kentucky.

Marshall Bouldin: A Retrospective
September 13, 2008 – January 4, 2009
The Donna and Jim Barksdale Galleries for Changing Exhibitions
Artwork from across the career of the state’s most prominent portrait artist is presented. A full-color publication accompanies the exhibition.

Mississippi Watercolor Society Grand National Watercolor Exhibition
October 4, 2008 – January 4, 2009
Public Corridor
This annual presentation includes works from across the country in various water-based mediums, organized in conjunction with the Mississippi Watercolor Society.

The Scholastic Art Awards of 2009 Mississippi Regional Competition
January 31 – March 29, 2009
Public Corridor
The Mississippi Museum of Art hosts this annual Mississippi Regional Competition for students in grades 7-12 from throughout the Mississippi region. All artworks winning at the regional level are exhibited prior to national competition, where Gold Key regional winners are eligible to compete.

Raoul Dufy:  A Celebration of Beauty
February 7, 2009 - July 5, 2009  
Raoul Dufy’s expressive style of painting has captivated people around the world since the early twentieth century. He translated his joie de vivre into lively, colorful paintings that covered themes like the sea, horse races, flowers, and music, among others. Yet his textile designs were among his greatest work and often reflect the passions expressed in his paintings. Dufy collaborated for decades with couturier Paul Poiret, and his more than 5,000 textile designs were produced by leading French silk manufacturer Bianchini-Ferrier. Today led by Cédric Brochier, the fabric maker still uses Dufy designs. Raoul Dufy: A Celebration of Beauty presents artwork by the artist from across seven decades of his career and includes more than 200 drawings, paintings, and textile designs, as well as dresses created from Dufy fabric by designers such as Monghi Guibane and Christian Lacriox.

Click here to see some of our past exhibitions.
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