Minter City native Jack Kyle says he is excited about his new job at Belhaven University and looks forward to strengthening the school’s programs in the arts.
Kyle, 63, was selected in April to be chairman of Belhaven’s arts administration degree program. Also, in the new position of senior director of arts development, he will be asked to create projects to enhance the departments of music, dance, visual arts and theater at the Jackson school.
“I’m real excited about the work that I’ll be doing there, which really focuses on preparing the students for their future in the real world,” he said.
Kyle said Dr. Roger Parrott, president of Belhaven, approached him about working there. He said he had known Parrott since 1998, when he visited Belhaven while overseeing the “Splendors of Versailles” exhibition.
Kyle is chairman of the Mississippi Commission for Cultural Exchange, which brought four exhibitions to Jackson between 1996 and 2004: “The Palaces of St. Petersburg,” “The Splendors of Versailles,” “The Majesty of Spain” and “The Glory of Baroque Dresden.” Parrott also participated in trips to France and Spain that were organized for college and university presidents in conjunction with the exhibitions.
“Jack spent a lifetime presenting to the public the highest quality of both visual and performing arts, so we are especially proud that someone of his caliber is joining our faculty at Belhaven,” Parrott said in a statement. “As a leading Christian university, preparing students for careers in the arts, Jack’s remarkable track record, commitment to education and unique expertise will give our arts administration majors the opportunity to learn from the very best.”
After accepting the Belhaven job, Kyle tried to observe as many activities in the arts departments as he could before school ended. He also has been working with the vice provost on the arts administration degree program, analyzing the courses and how they compare with similar degree programs at other schools.
“It’s a wonderful environment on the campus,” he said. “Dr. Roger Parrott has really developed Belhaven University into a really outstanding, highly respected institution with new degree programs being developed.”
It also speaks well of Belhaven that the music, dance, visual arts and theater programs are all nationally accredited, he said.
Kyle’s duties will include teaching some classes — something he hasn’t done since graduating from Delta State University. “This will really be my first real challenge in the classroom,” he said.
He’s also living in Jackson, very close to his job.
“I could be five minutes away from my desk,” he said. “I like to live close to where I work.”
The Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange owns about $15 million in artworks that Kyle hopes to incorporate into a program or project at Belhaven.
A few years ago, he was hoping to include works from that collection in a museum in Greenwood that would have focused on porcelain.
He moved back to Minter City, living in an apartment in his parents’ house and working out of an office in Greenwood. In 2011, he said the project would require $25 million from public and private sources — $15 million for construction and $10 million for an endowment to sustain it.
“I worked in the Delta for nearly four years trying to develop a project in the Delta whereby these artworks could be utilized, and I was not really able to develop a strong foothold,” he said last week.
He said he had a good steering committee working on the project and favorable numbers from a study done about its feasibility and potential economic benefits. However, the idea didn’t resonate with “people who were in the key leadership positions” and were needed to help move the project forward, he said.
“I don’t know what those issues were — if they thought the project was too big for Greenwood or if it had to do with obtaining the funding,” he said.
After about a year and a half of work, including bringing some foreign art experts to town, he decided that it wasn’t meant to be and moved on. Now, with works that would have been displayed in Greenwood sitting in warehouses in Memphis and various Delta locations, he is looking forward to putting them to use.
“We need to find a way to install this in a way that the general public can view it and enjoy it,” he said.
Having done a great deal of international travel over the years for his work in the arts, Kyle hopes to use his ties in other countries to benefit Belhaven. The university already has connections of its own, including exchange agreements with universities in South Korea; in fact, a Belhaven dance group spent about five weeks in that country and performed at an international festival.
“It’s very exciting for me to be able to tap into this international connection that Belhaven University has,” Kyle said. “I hope to expand upon that.”
Even while looking forward, Kyle said his time in Minter City was well-spent and it was good to be with his parents and friends.
“Minter City will always be my real home, and I have a great love and affinity for Greenwood and the Delta — many, many lifelong friends that are very important,” he said.
• Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
