Mississippi Cultural Crossroads

About Us

Mississippi Cultural Crossroads is the local arts agency for Port Gibson and Claiborne County, Mississippi.

We base our artistic programming on a recognition of certain facts about the community in which we work. Claiborne County is rural, with a population of 12,000 people who live 50-70 miles from the nearest regional center of arts activity; many of its citizens are economically poor, with little discretionary income; the population is racially divided between a 82% black majority and a white minority, which, until recently, controlled the political as well as the economic life of the community.

We also base our programming on a vision about our community. Claiborne County will never prosper, economically or spiritually, unless it recognizes the human potential of every citizen, the unique contribution that each racial group has made and can make to the community, and the necessity for mutual respect and cooperation in building a common future.

The primary function of our arts activities in our community are educational--not in a narrow, disciplinary sense but in a broad humanistic perspective. And since the aesthetic achievements of African-American culture have been largely denied, neglected, or despised in our community and in America generally, our artistic program seeks primarily to educate both races in our community about the significance and potential of the African-American aesthetic--what it has already achieved and how it can contribute to the common well-being of the total community.