Five college students bring new perspectives to MMA’s collection and explore what Mississippi’s future could hold.
JACKSON, MISS. — The Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA/the Museum) will present To What End? Imagining Mississippi Futures, on
view January 9 through July 4, 2027, bringing together five distinct exhibitions curated by college students and recent graduates from across Mississippi.
Developed through MMA’s Summer 2026 Museum Practice Internship Cohort, To What End? applies an innovative curatorial model to MMA’s permanent collection inviting five emerging museum professionals to consider a shared question: What might Mississippi’s future look like, and how its past and present help us imagine the possibilities of where the state is headed.
Led by MMA and Millsaps College Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Julia Harth Hamilton, the nine-week internship offered students a rare opportunity to experience exhibition development firsthand, from researching MMA’s collection and developing curatorial concepts to selecting works and helping design the final presentation. The cohort includes Mackenzie Armstrong of the University of Southern Mississippi, Hannah Brown of the University of Mississippi, Aynecia Gardner of Mississippi Christian University, Sarah Perkins of Mississippi State University, and SavannahClaire Wilkerson of Millsaps College.
Rather than offering a single vision of Mississippi’s future, To What End? brings together five individual exhibitions, each shaped by its student curator’s perspective and research. In Wavering Paths, Mackenzie Armstrong considers Mississippi’s future by looking to its past, using roads, doorways, and other pathways to explore movement through time and the uncertainty of what lies ahead. 
Hannah Brown’s The Long Tomorrow considers inheritance, deep time, and the legacies that extend beyond individual lifetimes. Drawing inspiration from Afrofuturism, Aynecia Gardner’s Mirrored Memories examines representations and realities of Black life across decades by juxtaposing photography and other forms of visual art. Sarah Perkins’s A Seed is a Changing Shape explores Mississippi’s landscapes, native species, traditions, and communities as forces that continually shape the state. SavannahClaire Wilkerson’s Signs of the Times examines literal and figurative signs as indicators of Mississippi’s culture, communities, politics, and future.
Together, these five exhibitions ask visitors to consider their own relationship to Mississippi’s past and the role they may play in shaping what comes next.
“What makes these exhibitions so meaningful is that each student came to the Museum’s collection with their own experiences, questions, and ideas
about Mississippi,” said Dr. Julia Harth Hamilton, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Mississippi Museum of Art and Millsaps College. “We gave them the opportunity to engage deeply with the collection and empowered them to develop their own curatorial perspectives. The result is five exhibitions that are distinctly their own, while together creating a much larger conversation about how we understand Mississippi and how we each play a role in creating its future.”
“To What End? reflects what can happen when we make space for new voices to interpret the stories held within our collection,” said Betsy Bradley, Laurie Hearin McRee Director of the Mississippi Museum of Art. “These students are not simply being asked to imagine Mississippi’s future. Through this exhibition, they are helping shape the conversations we have about it. Their perspectives challenge us to look at familiar works and ideas in new ways and remind us that the future of Mississippi belongs to all of us.”
After their presentation at the Museum, these exhibitions will be available for travel across Mississippi beginning in late 2027 as part of MMA’srelaunched Affiliate Network. The Affiliate program expands access to the visual arts by partnering with arts, educational, cultural, and historical institutions to present exhibitions from MMA’s permanent collection in communities throughout the state. Developed with Affiliate audiences and sites in mind, this student-curated exhibition will expand opportunities for Mississippians to engage with MMA’s collection through students’ interpretations and visions for Mississippi’s future.
To What End? Imagining Mississippi Futures and the Summer 2026 Museum Practice Internship Cohort are initiatives of the MMA Department of Academic Affairs, which has received support from the Mellon Foundation.
Press photography and captions are at this link.
About the curators
Mackenzie Armstrong earned her Associate of Arts degree from Hinds Community College and currently attends The University of Southern Mississippi, pursuing her bachelor’s degree in interior design. She has had opportunities to work on projects for Kids Hub Child Advocacy Center and Jewelmaster custom jewelry. Her interest in art history and museum curation led to her decision to intern at the Mississippi Museum of Art.
SavannahClaire Wilkerson is from Flowood, Mississippi, and recently graduated from Millsaps College with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts and Art History. As a Teaching Fellow at the Mississippi Museum of Art, she researched artworks and developed interactive activities for students. Her senior thesis focused on interpreting the work of George Febres, an artist in the Museum’s permanent collection. Her familiarity with the collection, background in art historical research, and artistic practice have informed her work as a Summer 2026 Museum Practice Intern.
Sarah Perkins graduated with her Associates of Arts degree from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in 2024, before transferring to Mississippi State University, where she is now in her senior year as a sculpture major. Her work often utilizes wood and metal forms, complemented by natural textiles and paper, dealing with themes of ritual and connection. Her background as an artist informed her selection and interpretation of works during her time as an intern at the Mississippi Museum of Art.
Aynecia Gardner is a current sophomore at Mississippi Christian University studying Graphic Design, with a concentration in Marketing. A former Visual Art student at Ida B Wells APAC (Academic and Performing Arts Complex) and Valedictorian of Murrah High School, Aynecia is a nationally and regionally recognized artist. At MMA, she has served as a Teen Council member and Studio Assistant and currently serves as a Teaching Fellow and Teaching Artist at the Museum, in addition to being a Summer 2026 Museum Practice Intern.
Hannah Brown is from Oneonta, Alabama, and recently graduated from the University of Mississippi, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a minor in History. As a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, she developed academic interests in aesthetics, philosophy of science, and the history of philosophy. These interests have informed her work as an intern at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Hannah plans to take a gap year before pursuing graduate studies in philosophy.
About the Mississippi Museum of Art
Established in 1911, the Mississippi Museum of Art is dedicated to connecting Mississippi to the world and the power of art to the power of community. The Museum’s permanent collection includes paintings, photography, multimedia works, and sculpture by Mississippi, American, and international artists. The largest art museum in the state, the Mississippi Museum of Art offers a vibrant roster of exhibitions, public programs, artistic and community partnerships, educational initiatives, and opportunities for exchange year-round. Programming is developed with community involvement to ensure that a multiplicity of voices and perspectives are represented. Signature programs include the Center for Art and Public Exchange, a community-driven effort to ensure local relevance to offerings; the Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition, a bi-annual nationally recognized traveling exhibition program; and the Mississippi Invitational and Jane Hiatt Fellowship, promoting the careers of working artists in the state. Located at 380 South Lamar Street in downtown Jackson, the Mississippi Museum of Art and its programs are sponsored in part by the City of Jackson and Visit Jackson. Support is also provided in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information, visit www.msmuseumart.org.
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Image Captions
- Sam Fentress (1955-), Jackson, Mississippi, 1985. giclée. Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Gift of the artist. 2003.018
- Don Norris (1940-), Indian Mound, Pocahontas, Mississippi, 2017. archival pigment print. Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Gift of the artist. 2017.135.
- Shirley Rabé Masinter (1932-2023), Heidi, 1994. oil on canvas. Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Gift of the artist. 1997.025
- Kathleen Blackshear (1897-1988), Attic Owl, not dated. woodcut. Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Gift of Andrew Bucci.1990.057.
- Eudora Welty (1909-2001), Home by Dark, Yalobusha County, 1935. gelatin silver print. Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Museum Purchase, with funds from the Mary Mhoon Endowment © Eudora Welty, LLC; Eudora Welty Collection–MDAH.1981.268.
