About

The mission of Pike School of Art – Mississippi is to enrich and empower a thriving community built by artists and allies in Southwest Mississippi.

Pike School of Art – Mississippi (PSA-MS) values collaboration, understanding, respect, inclusivity, equity, and unconventional spaces. As southwest Mississippi’s only contemporary art center, PSA-MS offers free community programming and exhibitions; artist residencies; workshops and talks; and space for art-making and discursive research. We encourage artwork and curatorial or writing projects that create articulations about the Deep South, including Mississippi and Louisiana’s history of the colonization of indigenous people. Projects about the ongoing African-American struggle to achieve full participation in American society are especially welcome.

About Pike County, Mississippi

Pike County is located in the southwest part of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 40,404. Pike County is named for explorer Zebulon Pike, who led the expedition, sent out by President Thomas Jefferson, to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana territory. There are two cities, McComb and Magnolia (the county seat), and two towns, Summit and Osyka, in Pike County. McComb, the largest city in Pike County, is about 80 miles (130 km) south of Jackson and 100 miles north of New Orleans, Louisiana (120 km). As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,644. The climate in southern Mississippi is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

McComb, the largest city in Pike County, is about 80 miles (130 km) south of Jackson and 100 miles north of New Orleans, Louisiana (120 km). As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,644. The climate in southern Mississippi is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

McComb has a troubled past. During the 1960s, McComb and nearby areas were the site of extreme violence by the KKK and other opponents to the Civil Rights movement. In 1961, it was the location of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s (SNCC) first voter registration project in the state, which was quickly met with violence and intimidation by authorities and the local KKK. SNCC members of the Council of Federated Organizations worked in McComb in mid-July of 1964 on voter registration. From late August 1964 through September, after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, McComb was the setting for eleven bombings directed against African-Americans. The following summer, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and African-Americans could register and vote again in vote again in Mississippi, after more than a century of disenfranchisement.

Land Acknowledgement

Pike School of Art — Mississippi acknowledges that we in Pike County occupy the traditional homelands of the Choctaw and Natchez people throughout Southwest Mississippi. This area holds tremendous value to these tribes and their cultural history. Let this acknowledgement remind all that this land was stolen from the native people who were removed from this land by force. Let these words increase public awareness as we honor, respect, and support the Indigenous peoples who are still connected to the land on which we live.      

Board & Staff

 

Pike School of Art - Mississippi is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Pike School of Art - Mississippi must be made payable to “Pike School of Art - Mississippi” and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. TAX ID #47-3838208






PSA-MS is a proud member of:

AlternateROOTS

Proud Member of the Society for Nonprofits


Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy