Senate Concurrent Resolution 507

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING PATTI CARR BLACK FOR HER RECEIPT OF THE 2013 NOEL POLK LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE MISSISSIPPI INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND LETTERS.

WHEREAS, on June 8, 2013, Patti Carr Black received the Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters at its 34th Annual Awards Banquet held this year at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi. This award joined other accolades from arts, literary, history and craft corners that stretch back to the early 1980s. Patti formerly directed the State Historical Museum at the Old Capitol and curated the Mississippi Story at the Mississippi Museum of Art; and

WHEREAS, Lifetime Achievement Awards have been presented to artists such as Gulf Coast Painter and Potter Walter Anderson, Jackson Writer Eudora Welty, and distinguished Film Actor from the Delta, Morgan Freeman; and

WHEREAS, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (MIAL) is a privately funded foundation created to recognize annually the greatest accomplishments in art, music, literature, and photography among Mississippians. The idea was conceived by, among others, former Mississippi Governor William Winter, Dr. Cora Norman, Dr. Aubrey Lucas, and Dr. Noel Polk in 1978, and the first awards were given out in 1980. Nominations for these awards may be made only by registered members of the Institute. The winners are chosen by a jury of prominent academics in each of the seven fields: Fiction, Non-fiction, Visual Art, Concert Musical Composition, Popular Musical Composition, Photography and Poetry. The ceremony is held in a different Mississippi city each year. Past winners have included Walker Percy, Ellen Douglas, Ellen Gilchrist, Richard Ford, Larry Brown, Rick Bass, Lewis Nordan, Beverly Lowry, Donna Tartt, Clifton Taulbert, Barry Hannah, Willie Morris, Leontyne Price, Cynthia Shearer, Stephen Ambrose, Steve Yarbrough, Tom Franklin, Brad Watson, Shelby Foote, Natasha Tretheway, Birney Imes, Maude Schyler Clay, William Grant Still, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Maurer, Wyatt Waters, Logan Skelton, and many others; and

WHEREAS, that sense of Mississippi — who we are, where we are, what we've created — permeates endeavors that stretch over decades for Patti Black, who has spent much of her career and post-career as our Cultural Curator in one form or another as Museum Leader, Author, Art Historian and more. For Patti Carr Black, a sense of place just made so much sense. "I got that from Eudora's writings, of course, and from conversations with her," she said of celebrated Jackson author and longtime friend Eudora Welty, whose home a few blocks away is now a State Museum and National Historic Landmark. Nearby is New Stage Theatre, with which both were long involved, and downtown are the Old Capitol Museum (former home of the State Historical Museum, which Black directed) and the Mississippi Museum of Art (where she guest curated its permanent exhibition); and

WHEREAS, at her home in Belhaven, a sense of place surrounds the Sumner native from books and baskets to paintings, pottery, photographs and posters by and about Mississippi authors and artists. Eudora Welty, Walter Anderson, William Faulkner are just a few of the names. Her focus now is on writing a popular short biography of Jimmie Rodgers, Father of Country Music; and

WHEREAS, colleagues of Patti Carr Black use words like "innovative," "pioneer" and "visionary," measuring her contributions in terms of "huge" and "enormous"; and it is with great pride that we pay tribute to this prestigious award recipient who has joined a list of recipients that is a strong reflection of the talents of Mississippians and the artistic heritage of our state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize Jackson (Belhaven) resident Patti Carr Black for her receipt of the 2013 Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, and extend our best wishes to Patti on this auspicious occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Patti Carr Black, forwarded to the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters and the Mississippi Arts Commission and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.