A night at the museum? Learn more about MS Museum of Art’s free upcoming event

MS fastest growing population will get its own exhibit on display for a special evening viewing this Thursday.

With a unique combination of oral history and contemporary photography, the Mississippi Museum of Art in partnership with Mississippi Humanities Council and Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity is presenting “Nuestro Mississippi,” an exhibit documenting how Hispanic immigrants have found a home in the Magnolia State for decades. 

The exhibition will be open until Oct. 13, but museum go-ers will get a special chance to take a look at it this Thursday, Aug. 15, from 5 to 9 p.m. as the museum invites guests to see the photography display of Mississippi’s Latino community with a twist: a night at the museum. 

“Guests can expect a celebration of our Hispanic communities here in Mississippi through food, dance, art and a panel discussion with community leaders about the challenges, joy and contributions of their people,” Jasmine Williams, associate curator of public programs and community engagement at The Mississippi Museum of Art, said in a statement. 

The project started with The Mississippi Humanities Council, which wanted to find a way to raise visibility about the state’s Latino community, the fastest-growing population in the state with numbers projected to double between 2020 and 2024.

Enlisting the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, or IAJE, they selected Austin-based photographer Roj Rodriguez, who has made a name for himself documenting communities along the Texas-Mexico border. The two organizations brought Rodriguez to Mississippi for two multi-day tours of the state, where he was tasked with documenting Mississippi’s diverse Latino population.

“We have college professors. We have a rancher. We have folks who work in the poultry industry. We have archivists. A really wide array of folks,” said Stuart Rockoff executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council. “What I love is the richness in the stories that reflect both the history and the contemporary times.”

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In both English and Spanish, Rodriguez and IAJE interviewed a variety of immigrants from Latin America, documenting their stories in an oral history series on YouTube.  

At the museum, visitors will get an in-person look at Rodriguez’s images, Mississippi Museum of Art’s Associate Curator Kaegan Sparks said in a statement. Each image will be paired with the subject’s name, where they currently live and where they were born. 

“Our hope is that the exhibit will get visitors to understand the diversity in our state and to appreciate and recognize a community whose stories have not always been incorporated into the larger Mississippi story,” Rockoff said. 

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The after museum experience is also a chance for visitors who don’t have the time to see the museum by day to visit its galleries by night. Every third Thursday, the museum keeps its doors open late, offering live music, pop-up exhibitions, an open bar, food trucks and other activities that aren’t normally available during regular daytime hours. 

“Nuestro Mississippi,” open Thursday evening for a night of stunning portraits and live music, lives up to its name, bringing the community together in and outside of the frame.

“The title of the exhibit is very intentional, and our goal was to give these members of the Latino community an opportunity to show and share what their Mississippi is,” Rockoff said. “The title ‘Nuestro Mississippi’ means ‘our Mississippi.’ The people on those walls are part of Mississippi.”