#JXNMS is in the news and we’ve got the good stuff! In case you missed it, here are a handful of positive, uplifting features from the past couple of weeks.

• Mike Espy, former Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture and a former United States Representative from the 2nd District of Mississippi, has donated $25,000 to the William and Elise Winter Education Endowment. The endowment is named in honor of former Governor William Winter and First Lady Elise Winter and was created to underwrite field trips to the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum for Mississippi students. 

• The 2021 Mississippi Invitational exhibition, a survey of recent works created by contemporary visual artists living and working in the state, opens August 14 at the Mississippi Museum of Art in downtown Jackson. As part of a statewide, collaborative effort to welcome visitors back to art museums and sculpture gardens, Museum admission is free in August.

• A mural honoring civil rights legends — both living and dead — who blazed a path for equality was unveiled at Jackson State University. Titled “Chain Breakers,” the mural by artist Sabrina Howard depicts six civil rights activists as they rise above a chain that is broken. The notable figures in the mural range from the community’s first florist to the first African American female legislator in the state.

• The Mississippi Ag and Outdoor Expo, hosted by The Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks and presented by Southern AgCredit, will be held at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds from Friday, August 6, through Sunday, August 8, in the Trade Mart. In conjunction with the Expo, a concert featuring Mississippi’s own Adam Doleac and Hannah Everyhart, Corey Smith, and headliner Tyler Farr, will be held on Saturday, August 7, at 6:00 p.m. in the Mississippi Coliseum.

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With reporting from Clarion Ledger and WLBT.