19-20 Year in Review

Letters from the Leadership Desk:

A Message from the Dean, Dr. Chris Winstead

The Arts community at Southern Miss remains engaged during this unprecedented time. Through artistic creativity and use of digital resources, our faculty continue to work with students to enhance their skill and encourage their passion for the Arts. Although our plans for spring events were altered, we hope that a look back at this past year will send a bit of the Southern Miss spirit from our homes to yours. We kicked-off the year with the USM Symphony Orchestra’s year-long Centennial celebration with an event the Hattiesburg area won’t soon forget—the Partners for the Arts “Casablanca Gala.” The Gala, made possible thanks to the generosity of our community, commemorated the Symphony’s impact in the Gulf South region while raising funds to provide vital support to the Arts programs at Southern Miss. We are deeply appreciative of the time and effort that so many of our Partners invested in making the Gala a resounding success.

Each academic year the Arts at Southern Miss host over 300 exhibitions, concerts, and performances and bring world-class artists to our community to share their expertise. A few of the many highlights from this past year include:

• A masterclass with multi-award-winning recording, mixing, and mastering engineer, José Diogo Neves;
• The 43rd Season of Southern Arena Theatre with two plays based on Shakespearean masterpieces: I Hate Hamlet and Speak the Speech!;
• The Visiting Writers Series featuring Stanford University’s 2018-19 Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction, Jamel Brinkley;
• A dance residency with instructor of Countertechnique, Rosanna Tavarez;
• The Southern Invitational Choral Conference featuring students and teachers from across the region;
• The 2019 National Painting Juried Exhibition featuring works by artists from across the country, juried by renowned painter, Bill Scott;
• The USM Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial season featuring performances by many of our alumni and friends from past generations.

Thank you for your gift to the Arts at Southern Miss through your Partners for the Arts membership. The remainder of the semester represented a different kind of experience for all of us. However, our commitment to the Arts is unwavering and we will continue to work towards enhancing the quality of life for our students and arts patrons. 

Southern Miss to the Top!

 A Message from the Chair, Ron Hancock 

The Arts From Home: A Digital Pivot 

How artistic creativity gave USM Arts students the power to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Show Must Go On Podcast The production team discusses, Oresteia, the ill-fated spring show

Virtual Art Exhibits The Annual Student Show exhibit goes virtual

Concert Hall Playlist School of Music's YouTube Channel features clips from historical performances, live streams, and more