How It All Started!
The Guide to Mississippi Museums
Two Country Gals Talk Books (CGTB) Podcast
Read Our Stories
Diane’s Story
As a young girl, stories swept me away from a difficult childhood. Within the pages of books and poetry, I discovered solace and marveled at being transported into other worlds.
Because stories are the heart of who we are as individuals, determining how we connect on a human and global scale, they became the cornerstone of my life. Whimsy, fantasy, culture, and history converged in my original fiber art designs and tapestries as a tale unfolded in each piece.
Stories also foster effective communication and help to build relationships, so whether I’m teaching in a classroom, navigating the boardroom, or standing firm on a witness stand, storytelling enhances the impact.
Embarking on my professional storytelling adventure in 1992, I’ve embraced a lifelong journey of learning and perfecting my craft, carefully molding each creation to resonate with diverse communities.
Whatever the medium, my stories are told through the lenses of faith, hope, love, and triumph over adversity. Even when stories draw from history’s most difficult times, I strive to celebrate the indomitable human spirit and the will to prevail.
A noteworthy gratification my working with people to weave their community stories into quilts and fiber arts projects.
As a former teaching artist consultant for esteemed institutions like the Galef Institute and the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC), I’ve shared the art of storytelling, nurturing pride, and preserving the rich history of communities.
My accolades, including the Zora Neale Hurston Award, the Blue Circle of Elders Award from the National Association of Black Storytellers, and the prestigious Storytelling World Award, and the Oracle Award for Regional Leadership and Service from the National Storytelling Network, and the Storytelling World Award, bear witness to the triumphs that come with continual self-improvement as an artist.
As the former arts industry director and grants director for the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC), I learned about many of the cultural institutions in the state. As a former MAC performing and teaching artist, I discovered the profound impact museums have on communities in Mississippi and around the world. My role as teaching artist deepened this connection, allowing me to contribute to the preservation and cultural narratives by creating teacher guides, lesson plans, docent training, while also bringing exhibits alive through performances in museums.
As a Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi adjudicated member, my work is exhibited onsite and in other art galleries. But my tapestries and fiber art designs also found a home in museums.
Therefore, writing a book about museums is more than an accomplishment. It’s a reciprocation of the joy museums have given me over a lifetime. Thank you for joining me in this extraordinary odyssey of words, art, history, and the boundless imagination found in our Mississippi museums.
Diane’s Books
Richelle’s Story
Growing up mainly in a single-parent home, my mom often loaded we four children into the car to head for the battlefield park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, or to the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, both only a few hours away from our Mississippi home. So, early on, without even being aware, I was immersed in the history surrounding me and astounded by what the museums taught me as a child.
I never thought I would become a professional writer. When I did, it was essential for me to acknowledge brutal truths about this wondrous place I called home. Mississippi, like the rest of the world, has grappled with a history marred by prejudice, judgment, racial inequality, and social division. I needed to understand the events and the complexities that guided our determined efforts to lead the next generation.
Although much of my writing focused on fiction and songs, my search for truth eventually led me to nonfiction. Research for articles and books revealed how the personal history that molded me as a person ventured far beyond my perspective, heritage, culture, ethnicity, and those of family and friends.
Choosing to pursue a BS in Business: Marketing Management opened my eyes to our essential global need for one another. Examination outside the boundaries of the home exposed how the same issues still haunting Mississippi were not isolated to Mississippi. They represented only a microcosm within this broader worldly landscape where similar issues also challenged social structures.
One of my proudest achievements was obtaining an MA in writing. It gave me the confidence I needed to relate complex subjects in clear, concise narratives and it equipped me with the ability to teach the writing craft at conferences, writer retreats, and other events.
My work as a Literary Artist and Teaching Artist on the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Artist Rosters has allowed me to explore other intersections, such as the fine arts and education. Through collaborations with teachers, arts specialists, and students of all ages, I discovered the transformative power of integrating drama, poetry, songwriting, and storytelling into core subjects like literacy (or English), history, science, math, and geography. Children crave learning, but they learn in different ways. As a recipient of two MAC literary fellowships for fiction (2014 & 2020) and multiple individual and project grants, I know MAC has been my lifeblood as an artist. As a MAC panelist adjudicating grants in several categories, I realize it supplies the lifeblood of many artists and nonprofits.
As a songwriter and musician, I integrate songwriting and music with subjects like history, language arts, and writing skills, using famous ballads such as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and some of my originals – “Angelina Grimke,” “Bobby Coote,” “Where the Rabbits Dance” and “The Ballad of Meridian.” The success of this methodology in students of all ages fueled a craving to learn, understand, and implement Mississippi history through other mediums and perspectives. And that is exactly what museums do!
I have written for various publications such as eat. drink. MISSISSIPPI, Mississippi Magazine, Portico, Well Being, Parents & Kids, Town & Gown, and The Bluegrass Standard Magazine, where I serve as Senior Editor and Writer. My short fiction has received national and international awards from publications like Writers Digest and Writers Forum (World Wide Writers) and has been published in The Copperfield Review, The Birmingham Review, Fish Publishing, New Millennium, and several anthologies published by Adams Media, a Simon & Schuster imprint. Songwriting recognition includes American Songwriter Magazine, Billboard Music, SongU.com, and UK Songwriting Contests. I expanded this repertoire of articles, short stories, and songs into book-length fiction and nonfiction.
My nonfiction books include (Lauderdale County, Mississippi: a Brief History, Legendary Locals of Meridian, The Inspiring Life of Eudora Welty, a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, Silver Medal recipient, Legendary Locals, co-written with my good friend, the late June Davidson, Mississippi and the Great Depression, a Foreword INDIES Book Awards Bronze Medal for regional nonfiction, and Mississippi In the Great Depression, a pictorial with narrative captions of over 200 photos of Mississippi during the Great Depression, the perfect complement to Mississippi and the Great Depression) published by Arcadia Publishing and The History Press.
Museums taught us early on, and those lessons helped us grow as individuals, artists, and writers. In addition to the territory’s long and diverse history, Mississippi museums display to the world how Mississippi is a melting pot of ethnic culinary delights, musical and literary genres, and artistic expressions due to the coexistence of various cultures. From the blues-drenched Delta to the fusion of Creole and Southern traditions in Natchez and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. African American, Native American, European, and Latino communities contributed to the state’s identity. Each tradition, language, and custom crafted Mississippi’s intricate societal mosaic. Museums throughout the state continue to produce ongoing conversations, education, and their collective commitment to inclusivity, evidence that Mississippi is evolving into a place where diversity is tolerated and celebrated. A Guide to Mississippi Museums was born from these discoveries and the desire to learn much more.
