Organizational Picture:

Mission Statement; The Mission of the Meridian Council for the Arts, Inc. is to foster and promote diverse art and cultural organizations, events, education, and individual artists in Meridian/Lauderdale County, Mississippi through leadership, partnership, collaboration, grantsmanship, and service.

The Meridian Council for the Arts, Inc. was designated the local arts agency for Meridian and Lauderdale County by the Meridian City Council and the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors in 1978. The MCA is staffed by an executive director and a secretary, and governed by a 28-member board of directors with an executive committee made up of the president, first vice president, second vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and the immediate past president. Standing and ad hoc committees oversee all aspects of the operations of the organization and are given specific goals and responsibilities. In a county with a population of over 76,000 the council serves over 100,000 people a year via the Community Art Grants Program, the annual Arts in the Park Festival, the annual Threefoot Art Festival, workshops, and co-sponsored special events each year. Meridian Council for the Arts has an annual budget that ranges from $100,000.00 to $190,000.00 each year depending on the events planned and money raised. Major sources of financial support include the Mississippi Arts Commission, the City of Meridian , Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors, the Arts in the Park Festival, the Threefoot Art Festival, special fundraisers, membership, and corporate sponsors. MCA broadened the scope of the council to include cultural heritage organizations and tourism events as well as art organizations and events. This will also broaden the scope of our grant writing and fund raising enabling us to offer operating grants to local organizations in the future. We will apply to foundations and the federal government for additional funds to be dedicated to the Community Art Grant Program for this purpose. MCA works with city and county officials, the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, and the Lauderdale County Tourism Bureau to help promote the area thru the arts and to make an impact on economic development and our local quality of life. Our community is a service-based economy with three large medical facilities, a community college, a branch of Mississippi State University , a large regional shopping mall and many recreational facilities available to the public. The area's population is made up of all major races, religions, cultures and cultural traditions. One of our major projects is to provide project grants through our Community Art Grant Program . This re-granting program is available to local non-profit art organizations and schools and is designed to allow them to present art and art education to our community . And in the future we will offer operating grants to local museums, cultural heritage and art organizations to promote economic growth and development through the arts. We are a community that supports, appreciates, participates in and preserves the arts and our cultural heritage.

MCA works to Lead the way in support of the arts with programs designed to encourage involvement in the arts by everyone in the community. MCA strives to bring the arts to under-served areas of the community through the Arts in the Park Festival, with its wealth of free, high quality art exhibits, activities, and performances designed for children and adults alike, and the Community Art Grant Program, which provides critical support to programs designed to involve those who are often shut out by racial or economic barriers. MCA provides financial and organizational support to organizations to promote new venues for the community and encourage community development through the arts. The council also presents free programs and exhibits throughout the year to the community and offers various seminars or programs to schools and workshops whenever possible. Our newest presentation and fund raiser is The Threefoot Art Festival, which features a fine art exhibit, competition and sale designed with adults in mind. This festival involves local downtown businesses and is held on the city blocks that surround the MSU-Riley Education and Performing Arts Center. These programs are prime examples of our strong involvement in business, cultural and educational projects for our community. The council also promotes multi-cultural arts activities through the Community Art Grants awarded as well providing organizational support to the July 4th Symphony Pops Concert. All of these activities add significantly to our local Quality of Life and to our Economic Development through the Arts.

MCA has a strong, stable Organizational background. Our plans are designed to continue our growth, and ability to provide income through fundraisers, corporate sponsorship, foundation grants, and government sponsorship to extend our outreach into the community. The in-kind contributions to MCA demonstrate the amount of community respect, trust, and support that the council receives. MCA plans to continue to sponsor the Threefoot Art Festival, the Arts in the Park Festival and to sponsor additional art events as the opportunity arises. We feel this adds to our Stability, Capacity, and Financial Development as well as helping to achieve the rest of our goals.

Our goal to enhance our Collaborative Efforts with our art partner organizations and other art and cultural heritage organizations throughout the state is a work in progress. A good example of our collaborative efforts is our plan to add operating grants to our grant program to provide more stability to local art and cultural heritage organizations and to make it possible for more organizations to be built and operate. Art Education has begun to take the forefront in our community so the MCA has formed an art education committee to provide art education training to teachers and to provide an art education planning committee to help coordinate the growth of art education throughout all schools and organizations. Public Awareness for the Arts is high due to several local projects. “Around Town Carousels Abound” a public art project, the MSU-Riley Education and Performing Arts Center, which includes the renovation of the Grand Opera House, and Meridian as the site of the Southern Arts and Entertainment Center (MAEC) have placed our area firmly in the public eye. The Meridian Council for the Arts is active in many committees that work to help these projects come to life. The Cultural Affairs Coordinator for the City of Meridian who also serves as art council executive director is a member of the board of directors for the MAEC and currently serves as their secretary. We also have member of our board serving on a new downtown committee that was formed to seek heritage and new market tax credits for downtown development projects.

The Meridian Arts Council has a strong Program Schedule Developed for the next five years. We have strived to make room for events and sponsorships that are not planned in advance as well. The Arts Council's Re-Granting Program, the Community Art Grant Program will continue to be a large part of Meridian Council for the Arts' community outreach. It has funded over $166,221.35 in matching grants to art organizations, schools, and individual artists through this program since 1992 thereby making an impact on economic development. Our plan to add matching operating grants to this program and the broadening of the scope of the arts council to include cultural arts and cultural heritage will enlarge our economic impact on the community.

MCA will continue to stress Artistic Excellence in the Meridian/Lauderdale County area. Our very successful juried art exhibit and competition in the Arts in the Park Festival, in addition to our new annual downtown fine art festival, the Threefoot Art Festival, are both prime examples of the quality of the arts sponsored by MCA as well as the Council's ability to carry out the projects it sponsors.

MCA is committed to working together with City, County, and State Officials, as well as Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center Board to make our area a showplace for “The Arts”, “Arts and Education”, “Cultural Arts”, “Cultural Heritage”, and “The Arts as a Community Development Tool”.

Meridian Council For The Arts Programs
Meridian Council for the Arts programs are specifically designed to encourage involvement in the arts by everyone in the community. The Arts Council strives to bring the arts to under-served areas of the community through the Arts in the Park Festival, with it's wealth of free offerings for children and adults alike, and the Community Arts Grant Program which provides critical support to programs designed to involve those who are often shut out by racial or economic barriers.

The council also presents free programs to the community and offers various seminars to the schools when ever possible.

The Community Arts Grants Programs
The Community Arts Grants Program fosters artistic excellence through a review process that ensures applying programs have the necessary artistic expertise to carry out the proposed project. The grants program also encourages artistic excellence through its support of individual artists and multiple-artist programs.

The annual contributions made to the Meridian Arts Council by the City of Meridian, and the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors are the main source of funding for the Community Arts Grant Program. The Meridian Arts Council allocates these funds to Community Arts Grants Program only and adds funds from the Arts Council general budget each year as funds permit.

* Minority
** Senior Citizen

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