Taking part in the opening ceremonies of The Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art were (from left) Leland Speed, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, and Mayo Flynt, President of AT&T Mississippi and fundraising chair for The Art Garden.

The long awaited unveiling of The Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art took place on Sept. 29 with a special ribbon cutting ceremony and “An Evening in the Garden,” fundraising gala to benefit the Museum.

The Art Garden marks the second phase in the Museum’s renovation of the former Mississippi Arts Pavilion, located at 380 South Lamar Street in Downtown Jackson.

Attending the Art Garden opening were (from left) Mayo Flynt, President of AT&T Mississippi and fundraising chair for the Art Garden, State Sen. David Blount, State Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, Michael Raff, Director of Human and Cultural Services, City of Jackson, Steve Edds, an attorney at Baker Donelson and Museum trustee, and Betsy Bradley, director of the Mississippi Museum of Art.The Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art is a multi-million dollar project and a collaboration between various public and private partners, including the Museum and the city of Jackson. Flanked by the Jackson Convention Complex and several of the city’s most active cultural organizations, the Museum is now the cornerstone of an arts district that is unified by a vast, outdoor public space, and is poised to become the thriving epicenter of Downtown Jackson.
Museum Director Betsy Bradley said,

Taking part in the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Bradley were Roy Campbell, chairman, Mississippi Museum of Art Board of Trustees, the Honorable Harvey Johnson, Mayor of Jackson, Leland Speed, executive director, Mississippi Development Authority, Mayo Flynt, president of AT&T Mississippi and fundraising chair for The Art Garden, United States Senator Thad Cochran, and Joseph Jiles, a 5th-grade student, Brown Elementary.