MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Horhn, Frazier, Michel, Barnett, Hopson, Jackson (11th), Thomas, McDaniel
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE TO FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE MISSISSIPPI BOOK FESTIVAL HOLLY LANGE AS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2022 GOVERNOR'S ARTS AWARD GOVERNOR'S CHOICE.
WHEREAS, the Governor's Arts Awards Program has announced its 2022 recipients, which includes the Founding Director of the Mississippi Book Festival Holly Lange as the 2022 Governor's Arts Award Governor's Choice; and
WHEREAS, established in 1988, Governor's Arts Awards are given to individuals and organizations to recognize outstanding work in the artistic disciplines, as well as arts-based community development and arts patronage in Mississippi. The awards are presented in partnership with the Governor's Office and signify the important relationship between government and the arts; and
WHEREAS, born and raised in Austin, Texas, Holly Powell Lange has already made a lasting imprint on her adopted State of Mississippi, particularly in the realm of the arts. Her acumen at planning events and running nonprofit organizations has led to a steady stream of high-profile projects; and
WHEREAS, in the early part of the 21st Century, Lange ran two popular annual creative events in Jackson: the Jubilee! JAM Music and Arts Festival and the emerging Crossroads Film Festival. Holly Lange parlayed this experience into a highly successful business assisting arts and cultural organizations in opening museums and promoting their missions. Some of the large-scale museum openings Holly helped oversee include the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, the Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, and the Mississippi Civil Rights and History Museums. Known for her energy and enthusiasm, Lange has served on the Boards of the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi, the Mississippi Museum of Art, Millsaps College, and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, among others; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, Holly Lange became the Founding Director of the project that has come to define her career in arts management: the Mississippi Book Festival. The self-described "Literary Lawn Party" has become one of the most popular annual events in the state. Some of the biggest names in literature and popular culture have appeared at the Mississippi Book Festival, including Angie Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, John Grisham, Joyce Carol Oates, Julia Reed, Salman Rushdie, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, and children's Author Dav Pilkey. In 2019, more than 9,000 people attended the festival, which featured 170 authors on 47 official panels. Adding in other events leading up to the weekend, that year's festival alone reached more than 15,000 people. The festival's audience is actually much larger, considering many of the panels are broadcast nationally on C-SPAN and are available online; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, Lange stepped down as Executive Director of the Mississippi Book Festival to focus on her longtime business, Lange Management. Holly and her husband, Alan, have two sons, Ford and Jake; and
WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we pay tribute and express appreciation for the talent of a Mississippi Arts and Nonprofit Leader who has made Mississippi a better place and exemplifies the artistic/literary traditions of our great state:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby extend the recognition of the Mississippi Legislature to Holly Lange, recipient of the 2022 Governor's Arts Award Governor's Choice, and extend our congratulations to an artistic-literary leader on this auspicious occasion.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Holly Lange as part of the Governor's Arts Awards presentation and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.