HELENA-WEST HELENA – A new exhibition, “Rhythm and Roots: Items and Images for the Delta Cultural Center Permanent Collection,” debuts on Friday, September 7, at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street in historic downtown Helena-West Helena.

The exhibit will feature a variety of musical instruments, stage clothing, and personal effects from blues, soul, and pop artists, rare and vintage recordings, and music-related artwork. Among artists represented by the items are (but not limited to): Bobby Rush, Al Green, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Wallace Coleman, Mississippi Spoonman, Michael Burks, and Larry McCray, as well a wide array of harmonicas collected from numerous artists.

“Most of the items featured were collected by the DCC in 2006-2007; much of the remainder has not been displayed since 2005 or before,” noted DCC Assistant Director Terry Buckalew, who oversaw the development of the exhibit.

Photography featured at the exhibition will also focus on musicians who visited the DCC in 2006 and 2007, either for concert performances or appearances on the “King Biscuit Time” or “Delta Sounds” radio programs broadcast from the DCC on world-famous radio station KFFA-AM in Helena-West Helena. The programs can also be heard by many listeners around the globe on the Internet.

“Many of the items displayed come to the DCC directly from the artists, the Sonny Boy Blues Society, Arnold and ‘Blues Sister’ Jeannie Webster, blues fans, and memorabilia collectors from around the U.S., and there will be a few items from the Old State House Museum’s ‘Our Own Sweet Sounds’ exhibit – now in the DCC collection,” Buckalew pointed out.

Another emphasis will be on photographs of performers who will be performing in the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival (formerly the King Biscuit Blues Festival) on Thursday, October 4, through Saturday, October 6.

Gallery hours at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street and the nearby DCC Depot at 95 Missouri Street are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturday. “King Biscuit Time,” the nation’s longest-running blues radio program, is hosted each weekday at the DCC Visitor’s Center by “Sunshine” Sonny Payne, from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. “Delta Sounds,” hosted by Buckalew and Payne, is broadcast each Friday at 1 to 1:30 p.m. An additional broadcast of “King Biscuit Time” is also slated for 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, October 6, as part of the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival celebration.

The “Rhythm and Roots: Items and Images for the Delta Cultural Center Permanent Collection” exhibition is slated to end on Saturday, December 8.

For more information, interested persons can call the Delta Cultural Center at (870)-338-4350 or toll free at (800)-358-0972 or visit the DCC online at www.deltaculturalcenter.com.

The Delta Cultural Center shares the vision of all seven agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage – to preserve and promote Arkansas heritage as a source of pride and satisfaction. Other agencies within the department are the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Arts Council, and the Natural Heritage Commission.

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