JACKSON - Mississippi, best known for its cotton and catfish, is the temporary home of priceless Spanish art and artifacts, an exhibition so significant it attracted that country's king and queen.
Making its first appearance in North America, the 600-item collection includes masterpieces by Francisco de Goya and tapestries and sculptures from royal palaces. The exhibit is located in downtown Jackson, a city of 184,000 located hours away from larger population centers like Atlanta, New Orleans and Memphis.
Javier Morales, an exhibition commissioner who helped choose which pieces would leave his country for the Majesty of Spain exhibition, says a frequently asked question is why the exhibit is in Jackson, not in a much larger city such as New York or Los Angeles.
"The answer is very complex," he says, including the state's track record in pursuing and organizing international exhibitions. In addition, he said there was a willingness by the state to make a substantial financial investment - $9.8 million.
Jackson is also the official site of the USA International Ballet Competition, one of the world's most prestigious dance events.
And the city hosted the Splendors of Versailles exhibit in 1998, and the Palaces of St. Petersburg, a Russian exhibit, in 1996.
Morales says Spain eventually acquiesced to the request after the state promised to ensure the exhibition would be educational as well as entertaining.
To suggest the Spanish spectacle is out of place in the mostly rural state perpetuates the nation's misconception of Mississippi, says Jack Kyle, who organized the exhibition.
Kyle, executive director of the Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange, says Mississippi is not "culturally devoid."
"It's not like we're proving something to the world every time we have an exhibition," says Kyle, who grew up on a Delta farm and admits a limited knowledge of art, but possesses undeniable skills of persuasion, which came in handy when he made his pitch to Spain.
"They didn't know a lot about Mississippi and I had to convey to them what our organization represented," Kyle says. "Once they saw the photographs of previous exhibitions, they were relatively impressed."
The commission's two other exhibitions - The Palaces of St. Petersburg: Russian Imperial Style in 1996 and Splendors of Versailles in 1998 - together attracted more than 825,000 visitors to Jackson.
So far, 130,000 tickets have been sold and 75,000 people have visited the Spanish exhibition, including Spain's King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, who made a trip to the state in March.
Kyle's latest brainchild is being lauded by some in the art world.
Ann Townsend, director of the Trust for Museum Exhibitions in Washington D.C., said landing the Spanish exhibition was "a coup on a very grand scale."
"There are some people who just know how to get spectacular loans for exhibitions and others who are not so good at it. Jack Kyle is good at it," says Townsend, whose group helps organize museum exhibitions across the country, including the American West exhibition in Jackson last year.
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