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southwest mississippi multiplex

For Early Innovative Intervention Studies

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  • Welcome to the Creative Place

    Our mission is to grow the creative capacity of Southwest Mississippi residents, citizen artists, and youth.

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    Your feedback helps fuel our micro school initiative!

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  • Don't Close the Book: A Campaign for Hope

    It is easy to become disheartened by challenges facing our community. Social disparities, educational deprivation, and safety concerns can cast shadows that threaten to engulf our spirits, creating a sense of despair that leads many to question the viability of their efforts to effect change. Yet, we believe that every community is a tapestry of individuals, each thread woven together, forming a vibrant picture of hope and resilience. This is our story, and it's not over.

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  • join our campaign for hope

    Hope sharing is the act of expressing and spreading hope among individuals or communities. It often involves sharing positive thoughts, encouraging messages, inspiring stories, or experiences that foster optimism and resilience, especially in challenging times. When sharing, please refrain from shaming, blaming, and generalizing as we are looking for genuine solutions that can help move us forward.

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  • Blog

    Providing educational, social, familial, and communal GUIDANCE

    Poetry is the language of the living
    2024年4月24日
    Whether you’re basking in the sunny days or feeling the impending doom of finals that are quickly approaching, April is a special month for writers and creatives alike. It’s National Poetry Month! It’s a time to celebrate the art of poetry and the community of sharing the multifaceted...
    5 Tips for a Better Sleep
    2024年3月29日
    If you read the last blog, you saw where I mentioned the importance of sleep health and the effects of disrupting our circadian rhythm. Sleep awareness is crucial and maintaining a consistent and healthy sleep schedule has proven benefits to our health long-term. However, in a world where busy...
    Embrace community and unity beyond February 1st
    2024年2月3日
    February 1st is known as National Freedom Day, as it is the day President Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery in 1865. Though the Amendment was not ratified until December 18, 1865, it’s important to recognize and celebrate this day of liberation, especially as we enter Black...
  • Literacy Campaign: #1000Strong

     

    SMMEIIS aims to provide early intervention and supplemental programs to both improve literacy and raise awareness about illiteracy in Southwest Mississippi. Our goal is to discover the correlations of illiteracy to issues of our community such as poverty, low self-esteem/ social emotional development, racial inequality, and gun violence. By 2026, we want to increase the literacy levels of 1,000 children and adults, ensuring that our community experiences the lifelong advantages of literacy.

     

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  • Arts & Culture

    The PIZZAZZ Dance Troupe Presents...

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  • artist-in-residence

    Meet Maleigh Crespo, Our 2023-2024 Artist-In-Residence

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    Maleigh makes history as our first Literary Artist-in-Residence

    Maleigh Crespo has established herself as a talented writer, regularly contributing insightful and engaging blogs to our platform. Her unique perspective and captivating writing style have garnered a loyal following and have enriched our readers' experience. In addition to her blog contributions, Maleigh has also curated our organization's first-ever creative writing contest. As our literary artist in residence, Maleigh will collaborate with our team to develop exciting literary initiatives and help nurture a vibrant creative community in our city.

    BookSong: "Do you see the clouds?" By Maleah Dawn, Our 2022 Artist-in-Residence

    BOOKSONGS are an educational resource for elementary teachers and learners. We take educational texts/ literature and make the information/ stories appealing to the youthful ear. In this BookSong, Maleah Dawn makes a musical adaptation of the children's book, "Cloud Dance", by Thomas Locker.

     

    BookSong: "I am water" By Maleah Dawn, Our 2022 Artist-in-Residence

    BOOKSONGS are an educational resource for elementary teachers and learners. We take educational texts/ literature and make the information/ stories appealing to the youthful ear. In this BookSong, Maleah Dawn makes a musical adaptation of the children's book, "Water Dance", by Thomas Locker.

  • Arts & culture

    The Arts are an expression of culture and culture reflects people.

    EMERGE Theatre Group

    Our theatre program exposes underserved audiences to transformative, educational, and inspirational theatre. We stage stories and live performances that raise awareness and provide opportunities for youth and adults to learn techniques in playwriting and acting, while building community.

    The PIZZAZZ Dance Troupe

    PIZZAZZ Dance Troupe, founded in 1990, is our non-competitive, performance-based dance education program is for girls ages 3-18. PIZZAZZ uses multi-genre dance as a catalyst to promote self-love and empowerment, creative expression, social-emotional development, conflict resolution, cultural appreciation, social justice, character-building, critical thinking, and growth mindset. Parents and the community can follow PIZZAZZ activity on Facebook.

    "We Lit" Literary Festival

    Our celebration of literary arts and oral lore takes place the first Saturday in February. The festival features local writers/ authors and historians/ storytellers through a community book fair and formal programming. In addition, young writers from the Southwest Mississippi region are encouraged to submit creative pieces (prose, fiction, plays, essays, or poetry) so that they can receive mentorship and public readings during our festival.

    Artist Residencies & Enrichment

    We collaborate with cultural workers, creative professionals, actors, directors, designers, choreographers, and hybrid artists who are passionate about doing meaningful work in Mississippi. Artists may be invited or may apply when applications are available. SMMEIIS also sends teaching artists out into the community to provide arts enrichment to school districts, organizations, civic and church groups, and educational entities.

  • key partners

    Our work would not be possible without these amazing collaborators.

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  • connect with us

    Have a seat at our table. Ask about our vision. Ask about our goals. Ask about our core values. Ask about collaboration, mediation, or just say hello.

    1312 C Harrison Ave.
    McComb, MS 39648
    Mon-Fri 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
    601-600-8345
    601-600-8345
    smmeiis.thecreativeplace@gmail.com

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