Episode 26 - Ida Floreak is a painter living in New Orleans, LA. Her work deals with ecological anxieties paired with reverence for the natural world. She explores what it means to be human in a time of ecological disaster, where to find hope and our place in the recovery, as well as the universal human trait of worship. Humanity is an ancient and vital part of the planets ecology - our belief systems and rituals are an integral facet of nature. Drawing from a classical tradition with influences in the Italian Renaissance and medieval reliquaries, she examines the importance of acknowledging a world and systems greater than oneself, and finding the sacred in the smallest artifacts of nature. 

Sarah catches up with the Mississippi Book Festival’s Executive Director Ellen Daniels & Deputy Director Jordan Perry about the upcoming festival 8/20/22 in Jackson, MS! 

Having served as the festival’s Literary Director for the past three years, Ellen continues to draw on her longtime love of books—and her extensive relationships with the publishing industry—in her new role as Executive Director. In addition to her prior work as a gallery assistant at Fischer Galleries and her own fine art photography training, Ellen also brings more than a decade of experience at Lemuria Books to her leadership position.

Having spent most of her career in the non-profit sector, Jordan brings to the festival nearly a decade of experience in fundraising, capacity-building, and event logistics. Through her work with the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Mississippi Arts Commission, she’s seen first-hand the breadth and impact of our state’s rich cultural heritage and looks forward to building on the festival’s success to broaden its reach even further.

Follow along @msbookfestival for announcements of authors & panelists! 

Veronica Roberts - the new Executive Director of the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford!

Veronica has had an incredible curatorial career. She was working the Blanton in Austin since 2013 as the curator of modern and contemporary art. At the Blanton, she put on a number of notable exhibitions: national touring displays of “Nina Katchadourian: Curiouser” and “Converging Lines: Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt”; work uplifting Texan artists like Vincent Valdez and Donald Moffett; and a collaboration with the UT Austin’s Black Studies program to bring Charles White’s work on campus. Roberts also worked with Ellsworth Kelly to create “Austin,” a 2,715-square-foot stone chapel-sculpture with colored glass windows that opened in early 2018. Before the Blanton Museum, Roberts held curatorial positions at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum. She also served as Director of Research for the Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing Catalogue Raisonné. Roberts earned her master’s from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her bachelor’s in art history from Williams College.

Joy Young, Ph.D. serves as the Vice President of Programs for South Arts and has more than 25 years of experience in the arts as an entrepreneurial performing artist, arts administrator, and academic. Joy’s work as a performing artist included owning a successful music studio and performing as a recitalist, sanctuary soloist, and studio and background vocalist. Her 14-year tenure with the South Carolina Arts Commission was highlighted by serving on the executive leadership team as the agency Director of Administration, Human Resources, and Operations. Prior to joining South Arts, Joy served as the Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.

Joy enjoys sharing her experiences from the field in the classroom by preparing the next generation of arts administrators in the Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Winthrop University to be adaptive leaders. Joy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Master of Arts in Voice Performance, and the Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. Her research interests include arts leadership, program assessment and evaluation, and organization and leadership adaptations amid dynamic environmental paradigms.

Sarah talks with Nell Knox, the Deputy Director at Visit Mississippi & Kamel L. King, the Bureau Manager for the Tourism Development Bureau at Visit Mississippi, our state tourism agency.

Kamel King was born and raised in Jackson, MS. Kamel attended American University (Washington, D.C.) and Tougaloo College (Jackson, MS) and graduated with honors from Tougaloo College earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science/International Relations. Kamel was accepted and graduated from Mississippi College School of Law earning a law degree with emphasis on intellectual property/entertainment law. 

Kamel spent 10 years as the Attorney on the Road for a 9 time GRAMMY nominated group, was a Director of Operations for both Blackberry Records, Inc. and Terminal Recording Studios (a GRAMMY award winning studio) and has had many years of experience in booking and event production. Kamel has since been Ass. Producer in the Recording Academy© endorsed “Mississippi…Celebrates Its GRAMMY© Legacy ” events, “Mississippi Night” at the L.A. GRAMMY© Museum and other tourism conferences. Kamel also is a contributing author in the American Bar Association released book "Entertainment Law: For The General Practitioner" and has been an adjunct professor of Entertainment Law with the Mississippi College School of Law. He is a practicing veteran entertainment attorney. 
 
Kamel is most proud and passionate to currently work for Visit Mississippi as the Bureau Manager for the Tourism Development Bureau.  His bureau manages the Mississippi Blues Trail, Country Music Trail, Freedom Trail, Writers Trail and the state’s rich music and cultural branding at many trade shows and festivals. 
 
Nell Knox is the Deputy Director at Visit Mississippi. Nell believes you cannot understand American history without understanding Mississippi’s stories, and you cannot understand Mississippi’s stories unless you visit in person. Supporting Mississippi's tourism industry is central to her career. 

Nell has worked in public service for more than a decade. She began at the Mississippi Department of Archives & History as a graduate intern in marketing and joined the MDAH public relations team during the completion and grand opening of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. She went on to serve as Marketing Director for the entire agency, promoting the thirteen museums and cultural attractions the department administers. 

Nell is a passionate volunteer. She has chaired events and led fundraising initiatives for the Junior League of Jackson, Briarwood Pool, the Mississippi Heritage Trust, and St. Andrews Episcopal School, and served on the board of the Mississippi Tourism Association. She presently serves on the board of directors for the Southeast Tourism Society. 

Chad Mars grew up in Jackson Mississippi, and attended the University of Mississippi where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting in 2004. He began working as a full time painter in 2012 and has painted out of his Studio in Ridgeland for the last decade. His work captures improvised gestures, and makes the material the subject. Mars works with large homemade squeegees, paint scrapers, taping knives, and palette knives to make a web of kaleidoscopic and ribbon like strokes that constantly shift and blend into on another.

Nina Parikh has been with the Mississippi Film Office for 23 years, currently serving as the director. Established in 1973, the Film Office is one of the oldest of its kind in the world. The office’s mission is to foster the growth of the film industry in Mississippi, connect filmmakers with necessary resources and to cultivate and promote filmmaking by, for and about Mississippians.

She studied filmmaking at the University of Southern Mississippi and New York University, began her career as a freelance camera assistant, worked in the industry as a producer, and teaches a film production class at Millsaps College. She produced the Mississippi made film “Ballast” which won two awards at Sundance Film Festival in 2009. She serves on the boards of 3 college-level institutions, advising on film & media curriculum development; developed the curriculum and served as director for the Canton Young Filmmakers Summer Program; and co-wrote a book about digital video for the amateur.

Nina is a co-founder and board member of the Crossroads Film Festival & Society and Mississippi Film Alliance, a non-profit supporting indigenous filmmaking. Additionally, she serves on the boards of the Association of Film Commissioners International, South Arts, Mississippi Book Festival, Creative Mississippi, and is a producer of TEDxJackson.

Most importantly, she’s a wife and a mom to their 12 year old son.

🎙Episode 19 Art Life Stories! Sarah catches up with Earl Dismuke, a Mississippi sculptor who is dedicated to enhancing community life through the power of public art, all the while pursuing his passion of creating his own body of work. 

👨‍🎓 He graduated in 2007 from the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in sculpture. 

🗺 Co-founder of the Yokna Sculpture Trail, a bi-annual rotating outdoor sculpture exhibition in Oxford, Miss. 

Recipient of the Mississippi Arts Commission 2019 Visual Arts Fellowship Grant, 

Member of the International Sculpture Center and the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance.

📍His work has been included in several international and national exhibitions, including but not limited to, the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition in downtown New Orleans, LA, The Atlanta Beltline in Atlanta, GA, Scope Basel in Basel, Switzerland, and several gallery and museum shows.

🔍 Exhibition “Piecing it Together” is on view @msu_artgalleries in Starkville, MS! 

🎧 Listen to this episode on sarahstoryartlife.com, Spotify, or Apple podcast. You can follow us on instagram @sarah_story_artlife, @earldismuke

🙏🏻 Thank you for tuning in! Please DM any questions, ideas, or comments on my instagram.