Deborah Mansfield moved paintbrush over canvas, deftly capturing the scene before her Wednesday night during a fundraiser for what looks destined to become a regional must-see attraction — the Black Prairie Blues Museum. Her painting would be auctioned off that evening to benefit development of the ambitious project in downtown West Point. Progress and plans are fueling momentum. Long a dream of the Black Prairie Blues Society, the museum will be located in the former Bank of West Point building at 640 Commerce St. It will greatly expand on the current but cramped Howlin’ Wolf Blues Museum on Westbrook Street. Howlin’ Wolf (1910-1976) was born in Clay County and became a towering figure in the Chicago and worldwide blues scene. His legacy inspired West Point’s annual blues festival that has become a Labor Day weekend tradition. While the new museum will pay tribute to Wolf, it will also explore other blues pioneers with roots in Mississippi and especially the Black Belt Prairie region.
The acquired building already has received a new roof and plumbing, electrical and air handling improvements. Renderings of proposed features are ready. And Wednesday’s “Night at the Museum” gala, held in the former bank, gave the public a glimpse into just how innovative the museum can be.
“We wanted to open up the building and get people interested in seeing what’s happening here,” said Mansfield, a Blues Society board member and artist. “People are curious about it. We wanted to show them ideas.”
Those concepts include guitar-playing holograms, narrating dancers, interactive instruments, immersive exhibits, a juke joint experience — and everywhere, the blues. Mansfield has worked on design concepts for the past two years. The firm Museum Arts out of Dallas, Texas, has, she said, embellished them to be truly “out of the box.”
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Here’s what a future visit to the finished museum is expected to look like: As guests enter, their juke joint journey begins. A large empty stage fills with holographic musicians. As music plays, a life-like figure of a dancer begins to gyrate on a platform to the upper left of the stage. When the song ends, the dancer addresses visitors, telling stories about life at the juke joint.
Down below, a checkerboard-patterned wall by the stage contains hidden light boxes that illuminate to reveal album covers by well-known blues artists. Close inspection of artfully stacked beer bottles reveal they double as a control panel for an interactive chandelier covered with musical instruments. Visitors choose an instrument to learn about and the chandelier lowers from the ceiling. An actor imitating a performer known for playing that particular instrument explains its importance to the genre. When the narration ends, smoke rises from the stage floor and a projection of the bluesman or woman “performs” one of their most known numbers.
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Not far from the stage will be a facade of a juke joint called the Magic Star. As visitors approach the door, projections of dancers can be seen moving inside. One of the dancers walks up to the door and greets visitors with a short monologue about the juke joint scene. Multiple characters rotate in the doorway, so guests hear different monologues.
The concrete floor in front of the Magic Star will be etched to show the Black Prairie blues region while a window on the “club” contains a large touch screen that becomes a teaching tool as visitors interact with the map to learn about artists who came from the area.
Education will be a major focus, and not only by passing on knowledge of the blues genre and the region’s role in it.
“We want to provide music lessons for children and adults, and we want to have seminars and guest speakers, for musicians to come and speak,” explained Mansfield. “We also want to have a music venue and have a blues series here.”
New memorabilia exhibits will be acquired over time to complement those the current museum already displays, like the donated guitars from Pete Townshend, Hubert Sumlin, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Elvis Costello — musicians influenced by Howlin’ Wolf. Blues Society board member Jeremy Klutts escorts tours at the current blues museum by appointment. It’s not unusual for him to welcome visitors from multiple states and from abroad, many making a Blues Trail pilgrimage through the South. He had about 15 people come through in the past week and is eager to welcome many more to the new museum when it is completed in, he projects, about two years.
“This has been big talk for many years, and we’re actually coming now to the head of it,” Klutts said.
Much that has been accomplished to date is thanks to the generosity of Blues Society President and businessman Milton Sundbeck, Mansfield said. With the site being readied, organizers’ commitment now turns toward earnest fundraising. The approximate $15,000 raised through Wednesday’s event will help move forward with design and with development of marketing tools.
“Our budget for construction is $750,000. Our biggest donations will probably be from corporations and foundations nationally and internationally,” said Mansfield, noting the popularity of the blues not only in the U.S. but in Europe as well.
“It’s been a lot of hard work,” said Klutts. “We’re not there yet, but we’re seeing progress for sure.”
Editor’s note: For more information about the Black Prairie Blues Museum, contact Deborah Mansfield of West Point at 662-275-7819.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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