The leontyne price library at rust college will develop a permanent exhibition and a portable traveling exhibition to expand public access to archival resources, strengthen humanities-based…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Rust College, located in Holly Springs, Mississippi, $100,000 under the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program (CFDA 45.309) on September 1, 2026, to develop a permanent exhibition and a portable traveling exhibition at the Leontyne Price Library.

The project will assess the library's archival collections for exhibition use, identify interpretive themes, develop an overall exhibition framework, and design and fabricate both a permanent on-campus exhibition and a traveling exhibition for deployment to schools, libraries, and community venues beyond the college campus. The college will hire an exhibit designer to conduct interpretive planning, spatial design, and graphic development, and to coordinate final design documents for production. Project activities include increasing access to archival resources, strengthening humanities-based interpretation, and expanding the college's capacity to serve students, educators, researchers, and the Holly Springs community. The funded work will establish a replicable model for future exhibition development tied to the library's holdings and expand Rust College's platform for hosting educational programming rooted in its own collections.

Work is performed in Holly Springs, Mississippi, with a period of performance from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2029.

The leontyne price library at rust college will develop a permanent exhibition and a portable traveling exhibition to expand public access to archival resources, strengthen humanities-based interpretation, and increase rust college's capacity to serve students, educators, researchers, and the broader holly springs community. Project activities include assessing the collections for exhibition use, identifying interpretive themes and developing an overall framework, development of exhibit design and content, fabrication and installation of the permanent exhibition, and fabrication of the traveling exhibition for schools, libraries, and community venues beyond the college campus. The project supports the hiring of an exhibit designer to work on interpretive planning, spatial design, graphic development, and coordination of final design documents for production of both exhibitions. The outcome of project activities will give rust college a stronger platform for sharing its collections with students and the public, expand its ability to host educational programming rooted in its own archival resources, and establish a replicable model for future exhibition development tied to the library's holdings.