Wins Mississippi Main Street Award for Public Art
The town of Cleveland was recently recognized with the 2020 Mississippi Main Street Award for best public arts project for the installation of multiple sculptures on the downtown green-strip and on the campus of GRAMMY Museum Mississippi as part of the expansion of the Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden at Delta State University. Representatives from Team Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden Committee were in attendance at the annual awards ceremony, held in Jackson on Thursday, June 17.
The annual awards luncheon honors Main Street directors, board members, and volunteers and recognizes the most outstanding downtown development projects and events from Main Street communities in Mississippi.
“After a year without face-to-face meetings, we are excited to celebrate the achievements of our Main Street communities again in person,” said Thomas Gregory, MMSA State Coordinator. “As difficult as 2020 was for our communities, we still saw economic growth in our downtowns and resiliency from the small businesses in our downtown districts.”
Cleveland has long been a hub for artistic excellence in the performing, visual, and even digital arts sectors. For Mississippi Main Street, the outstanding public arts project is new to their annual awards ceremony, so Cleveland will join Biloxi, the 2019 winner, as the only other Mississippi town to have garnered this distinction.
The Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA) is a catalyst for the preservation and economic revitalization of Mississippi’s historic downtowns and districts. As a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program, MMSA helps lead a powerful, grassroots network consisting of more than 40 Coordinating Programs and over 1,200 neighborhoods and communities across the country committed to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.