Resources

Mississippi Rural Placemaking Summit Presentations

• From Blight to Bright: Actionable tools for your downtown upgrade

• Keynote Address 2024: Carlton Turner 

• Place: Map + Design + Build: Placemaking in Rural MS with Jennifer Lay, Fran Pharis and Jamie Sowell

• A Pathway to Economic Growth: Making Your Community Bikeable and Walkable with Caron Whitaker

• Repurposing Spaces Through Adaptive Re-Use and Preservation Panel

• Placemaking on a Budget with Leah Kemp

• Funder Roundtable 2024

• The Power of Public Art: Tourism & Community Revitalization with Marlo Dorsey & Mayor Toby Barker

• Empowering a New Generation: Involving Young People in Place-Based Change, Part 1 (Stacy Howell)

• Empowering a New Generation: Involving Young People in Place-Based Change, Part 2 (Tonja Murphy)

• Placemaking for Everyone: Increased Livability for All People with Dr. Kina White, MS Dept. of Health

Were you inspired? Reach out to any of our speakers to learn more:

• Melody Moody Thortis, Community Foundation for Mississippi 

• Rebecca Sanborn Stone, Community Workshop, LLC

• Jeff Siegler, Revitalize, or Die

• Ashley Richardson, Director of Housing Law, MS Center for Justice

• Dr. Rachael M. Carter, Gov. & Community Development, MSU Extension

• Calvin Phelps, Pike School of Art, McComb 

• Martha Allen, Extra Table

• Carlton Turner and Saint Allen Austin, Sipp Culture

• Jennifer Lay, Brandon Main Street 

• Rebekah Pleasant-Patterson, Griot Arts

• Gavin Bird, Muralist

• Shaun Thompson, McComb Main Street

• David Lewis, Mississippi Arts Commission 

• Marlo Dorsey, Visit Hattiesburg 

• Leslie Barker, Mississippi Arts Commission

• Caron Whitaker, League of American Bicyclists 

• Reshonda Perryman, (muralist), Pixels & Paint

• Laura Withers, Tunica Main Street

• Toby Barker, Mayor of Hattiesburg 

• Leah Kemp, Fred Carl, Jr. Small Town Center at Mississippi State University

• Lolly Rash, Mississippi Heritage Trust

• Ryan Biles, Kudzu Collective

• N’gozi Brown, NOB Architecture and Design

• Belinda Stewart, Belinda Stewart Architects

• Tonja Murphy, Mississippi Book Festival 

• Stacy Howell, Mississippi Whole Schools (MS Arts Commission) 

• Carol Andersen, Mississippi Humanities Council

Placemaking Resources

How to get started? Toolkits for Placemaking

Click here to view the toolkits below from the Small Town Center at Mississippi State University! 

• Alley Activation 

• Mural Toolkit 

• Historic Preservation Toolkit 

• Asphalt Art Toolkit 

• Streatery Toolkit 

• Outdoor Classroom 

• Mississippi Downtown Design Guidelines

• Walk Audit Toolkit

Toolkits from Others Working in Placemaking 

• AARP Livability Communties Toolkits: 

• The Pop-Up Placemaking Toolkit

• Community Gardens 

• Creating Parks & Public Spaces for all People 

• Team Better Block 

• Tactical Urbanism Guide 

• Hackable Cities: Toolkit for Re-imagining your Neighborhood