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Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—The 51�Թ��� Stennis Flag Exhibition opens Thursday [Aug. 1] at 51�Թ��� State’s Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery.

Located on the second floor of the university’s Welcome Center, the traveling show organized by Jackson-based artist Laurin Stennis is on display through Sept 6. Granddaughter of the late U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis, she created the Stennis Flag in 2014 and invited 51�Թ��� artists to interpret the flag through works of art.

Free and open to the public, the exhibition currently features 26 works, ranging in media from painting and sculpture to photography and fibers. Gallery viewing hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for university holidays.

In addition to Stennis, artists represented in the show include Michelle Allee, Anne Scott Barrett, Alexander Bostic, Pat Brown, Anne Brunson, Tony Davenport, Monique Davis, Ron Dill, Mary Bess Gloria, Josh Hailey, Pete Halverson, Sabrina Howard, Ellen Langford, Elaine Maisel, Sky Miles, Harold Miller, Tawny Johnson Minton, Summer Nation, Rob Peeples, H.C. Porter, Jan Stevens, Cathy Talbot, Melanie Mitchell Tucker, Yolande van Heerden and Herb Wiley.

“Art can be a powerful initiator of difficult discussions, and the Stennis Flag Art Exhibition gives our community an opportunity to see how artists living in our own state respond to current events,” said Lori Neuenfeldt, MSU art instructor and gallery director. “It’s also a chance for many of our students to see the role artists and designers play in creating the images associated with our state.”

For more information, call 662-325-2970 or email msu-art-galleries@lists.msstate.edu.

Part of MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, the Department of Art is the longtime home of the state’s largest undergraduate studio art program. Learn more about the college and department at .

MSU is 51�Թ���’s leading university, available online at .