MISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR CULTURAL PRODUCTION

For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production d/b/a Sipp Culture operated the following programs:(i) The DigiCulture Lab is a three-week summer program for middle school students, ages 12 14 in Utica, Mississippi. It is designed to support youth development of agricultural skills and the knowledge to use digital media tools of photography, video, and audio production to build personal and collective rural narratives that are connected to the land, family, food, and cultural production. The DigiCulture Lab supports the mission of Sipp Culture to advance comprehensive community development strategies through connecting stories about family, land, and food with digital storytelling and agricultural production. (ii) The Rural Performance / Production Lab (RPPL) is a creative production process that seeks to support the development of new performance movement, story, and sound rooted in rural history, places, and bodies. Through leveraging the combined assets of a rural, place-based initiative dedicated to cultural production, the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production d/b/a Sipp Culture will support rural artists in the creation of new work by providing time, space, and connectivity. The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production d/b/a Sipp Culture sees this initiative as integral to creating space for rural narratives to fill gaps in the Organizations national story and expand the conversation to include unique and important perspectives. (iii) The Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) is a year-long intensive leadership experience for artists, culture bearers, and other arts practitioners. ILI is a collaborative program of Alternate ROOTS, the First Peoples Fund, the National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures (NALAC), the PAI Foundation and the International Association of Black in Dance (IABD). The effort grew out of our direct experiences as leaders of the founding cultural organizations. The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production d/b/a Sipp Culture often found that many personal and professional leadership programs emphasized dominant cultural norms, modes of learning and social approaches that didnt match the Mississippi Center for Cultural Productions d/b/a Sipp Culture's commitment to cultural equity and change-making in the Organizations own communities.ILIs intercultural approach emphasizes overlapping experiences, shared spaces, and mutual accountability and seeks to challenge dominant social norms while honoring differences of histories, traditions, vocabulary, and more. The Organization seeks to develop leaders specifically within the arts & culture field to adeptly respond to significant changes that impact society, politics, the environment, and the economy. As a peer cohort, ILI intercultural leaders hone personal and professional skills to affect local, national, and global communities and promote a shift toward greater awareness, resourcing, and action in the broader field of arts & culture. (iv) Small Farmer Apprentice Program trains both aspiring and experienced farmers in the skills needed to meet the production needs of the Organizations rural community. This program supports participants over three years through an 18-month apprenticeship with financial support and training in small-farm agricultural production. Produce grown through this program has provided support for the ElderShare initiative and the local farmers market.(v) Trading in Cultural Memory This research project will seek to answer the paramount question: What is the role of artists as health workers and trainers using the call-and-response methodology in the context of Utica, Mississippi? This question will guide inquiry around the cultural practices that have sustained and innovatively designed wellness in rural underserved communities. This project is a collaboration with RISE Research and Evaluation and the Center for Africana Studies at Indiana University Indianapolis.(vi) One Nation One Project - Residents of the rural town of Utica, Mississippi are coming together to tell stories, map resources, and prototype solutions around food access. Their work will culminate in July 2024 with a community festival celebrating and showcasing their effort. This project is a partnership with the Town of Utica and the Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center. (vii) TBD Fund A regional regranting program of the Andy Warhol Foundation supporting Mississippi visual artist in the creation of new public facing projects that aspire to expand Mississippis collective narrative, build new audiences, and deepen community dialogue. It considers visual art activities that are experimental and collaborative for individuals and groups to include new exhibitions, public art, visual art publications, online projects, residencies, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, performances and screenings and beyond. The name TBD is representative of the artistic process which, at its core, is constantly being determined.