Other Areas of Interest
Featured Area: Bologna Performing Arts Center
The Bologna Performing Arts Center provides first-class arts and entertainment for Delta State University and the entire Mississippi Delta region. The 41,500 square foot facility boasts two performance spaces, providing seating for close to 1,200 in the main theater in addition to the more intimate 145-seat recital hall. The Bologna Center hosts an average of 250 events per year, including a fine arts season of national Broadway tours, concerts, dance, theater, and a dedicated series for school-age students. The Bologna Performing Arts Center serves more than 35,000 individuals each year, of which at least 12,000 are K-12 students. During the past season, more than 10,000 students and teachers, representing 20 counties and 3 states, were served by the Bologna Performing Arts Center’s arts education programs.
The Center has been selected to participate in the Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, offering professional development programs in arts integration for area educators. The Center has earned recognition as one of the premier houses for entertainment and arts in Mississippi and the Southeast, having received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and voted the Best Performing Arts Venue in Mississippi by Mississippi Magazine.
Main Stage Events
Artists who were part of the Bologna Performing Arts Center’s past season represented a combined 20 GRAMMY awards, 59 GRAMMY nominations, 15 TONY awards, 41 TONY nominations, 4 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 8 CMA nominations, and 2 American Music Association awards.
Recent artists include Gladys Knight, The Avett Brothers, Michael McDonald, John Prine, The Temptations, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Clint Black, The Four Tops, The Beach Boys, Josh Turner, Sara Evans, Vince Gill, and Aaron Neville. Recent touring companies include: Mamma Mia!, ANNIE, JERSEY BOYS, Kinky Boots, MEMPHIS, The Sound of Music, RENT, 42nd Street, STOMP, Shrek, and Elf the Musical.
Janice Wyatt Mississippi Summer Arts Institute
The Janice Wyatt Mississippi Summer Arts Institute is a series of annual summer camps for children ages 5-11. The programs offer a variety of arts education opportunities for campers, focusing on performing, visual, digital, and literary arts. Quality instructors from all over the country ensure that children develop both process and product, and stretch their creative muscles while attending MSAI each year. The institute is named in honor of former Delta State first lady Janice Collins Wyatt, wife of Dr. Kent Wyatt.
Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden
The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden is located at the Bologna Performing Arts Center! The Sculpture Garden exhibits approximately 40 permanent pieces from regional and national artists. It makes visible the University’s commitment to and appreciation of artistic endeavors, enhances the vitality of the campus environment, and offers students first-hand educational experiences. The Sculpture Garden is named in memory of former First Lady Pam Mathews, wife of Dr. David Potter, and in memory of Hazel and Jimmy Sanders of Cleveland.
