JACKSON - Time is running out for Mississippians to see one of the rarest diamonds in the world and to catch a glimpse of a rare Johannes Vermeer painting in the state's international art exhibit.
As of today, there are only 40 days left to see "The Glory of Baroque Dresden" exhibition, said Jack Kyle, executive director of the show's organizing group, the Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange.
Kyle has been traveling around Mississippi and neighboring states hoping to attract more visitors.
"We've hit our 100,000-ticket sales mark and we really need to attract another 60,000 visitors," he said.
The Dresden exhibit is the fourth large-scale European art exhibition brought to Mississippi in the past eight years; previous exhibits in Jackson have come from Russia, France and Spain.
The 1996 exhibition of Russian art had an estimated economic impact of $61 million. Exhibitions of French treasures in 1998 and Spanish art in 2001 each injected about $40 million to the state economy.
The budget to bring the Dresden exhibit to Jackson was $9.8 million. Part came from state taxpayers and part from private sponsors.
The Dresden show features 400 objects of art collected during the reigns of August the Strong of Saxony and his son August III from 1670-1763.
Among the most famous pieces on display are the 41-carat Dresden green diamond, one of the rarest diamonds in the world, and a 1656 painting by Dutch artist Vermeer, one of only 36 of his known works in the world.
The show opened March 1 and will end Sept. 6.
Kyle said ticket sales are a strong component in determining whether there will be another international art exhibit in Mississippi. He said he's been in contact with officials from Australia, the Netherlands, France, England and some more countries hoping an exhibition could be done with their treasures.
"The way our organization is set up, success or failure is the current major determining factor if we will have another one," Kyle said.
On Monday, a steady flow of art lovers and vacationers from other states and a few Mississippi church groups visited the exhibition.
Rich and Karen Basore of Collierville, Tenn., who found out about the show through a flier in their utility bill six months ago, said they came back a second day to gather information to pass out to friends at home and in North Carolina.
"This exhibit has something for everyone," Karen Basore said.
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