The Mississippi Museum of Art is hosting a Community Mapping Activity with the Invisible Histories Project on Friday, Sept. 10, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

IHP locates, preserves, researches and creates an accessible collection of the history of LGBTQ life in the American South, a release from MMA says. The mapping activity will collect data about key moments in the life of LGBTQ Jacksonians and provide participants with a platform to share their stories on the experiences of the LGBTQ community in the South.

Historian, archivist and educator Josh Burford will lead the discussion of the project together with Maigen Sullivan, an instructor for Women’s Studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Registration is required to attend the event. To register, visit https://10432.blackbaudhosting.com/10432/Invisible-Histories-Community-Mapping-Activity. For more information, visit msmuseumart.org or invisiblehistory.org.

Mississippi Humanities Council Awards COVID Grants to Cultural Organizations

The Mississippi Humanities Council recently awarded $450,122 to 36 cultural organizations through its ARP Humanities Recovery Grant program to help them respond to and recover from the coronavirus.

During the summer of 2021, MHC also awarded $225,000 in ARP Museum Relief Grants to fifteen Mississippi museums. The combined $675,000 in relief funds came through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The ARP Humanities Recovery grant funds will help Mississippi’s cultural sector respond to the ongoing challenge of COVID while planning for a post-pandemic world, a release from MHC says.

Some organizations in the Jackson metro that received grants include the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, the International Museum of Museum Cultures, the Millsaps College Truth & Racial Healing Center, the Mississippi Book Festival, the Mississippi Heritage Trust, the Smith Robertson Museum and University Press of Mississippi.

Funding for the ARP grants comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit mshumanities.org or neh.gov.

Musical Expressions Experience Hosting Virtual Music Classes

Musical Expressions Experience, a model program that offers learning opportunities and training in the fields of music and arts education to students in under-resourced communities, is hosting virtual music classes with in person-options during fall 2021.

MEE's after-school musical enrichment programming includes beginner ukulele, guitar, violin, percussion, songwriting and music production. Fall classes will take place from September to December and are for grades 3 through 12. The classes will meet virtually, twice a week for 60 minutes per session.

Musical Expressions Experience will also be partnering with “New Dimensions Ministries” of Jackson to pilot “Actualizing Equity In Youth Ministry,” a program designed to help build youth ministries through music education. The enrichment program will offer children an opportunity to learn an instrument of their choice for the fall 2021 spring 2022 semesters.

Registered students must pay a non-refundable fee of $125, which will cover instrument rental and instrument damage, if any. The fee is due by Tuesday, Sept. 21. If parents or sponsors are unable to pay the full tuition, MEE offers mini scholarships. For more information, visit meexperience.org.