The National Park Service has awarded the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation a grant to organize and sponsor a year-long celebration to honor the spirit and works of Vicksburg nature artist Hobbs Freeman. The $24,200 award, funded through the National Park Service’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative, will allow the Foundation to conduct a series of workshops, performances, and events that will encourage participants to appreciate nature and engage them in the creative process of making art.
Mr. Freeman served as a long-time member of the board of directors for the Vicksburg–Warren County Historical Society and the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation. He passed away in July 2009 with a huge artistic legacy. Mr. Freeman was an artist, sculptor, builder, jewelry maker, cook and gardener. “He could create art from items only he could imagine,”said Foundation director, Annette Kirklin. “He spent the majority of his time in the Mississippi outdoors and was an ambassador for both art and nature.”
The celebration will encompass the many aspects of the arts and the natural resources of the community with workshops, seminars, contest, music and exhibits leading up to the one-day festival that will explore the natural habitats of the Mississippi River region and the various ways to embrace the arts through the voices of nature.
The goal of the Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative (LMDI) grants program is to give local groups the ability to increase public understanding of the stories of the Delta, and to bring people to those places in the Delta where they can experience its heritage first hand. “This project achieves LMDI goals perfectly,” said Michael Madell, Vicksburg National Military Park superintendent and member of grant committee. “The Festival and Celebration will combine aspects of the Delta’s history, cultural, and natural heritage.”
Ms. Kirklin noted that a preliminary calendar of Festival events will be available by January 6, 2012, and will be made available through the Foundation’s website (www.southernculture.org)
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 395 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at http://www.nps.gov.
