Our very own AAS Master's program alum Theron Wilkerson has been honored as 1 of 6 up and coming artists funded by the Rural Performance/Production Lab (RPPL) through The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production. AAS Master's program alum Theron Wilkerson has been honored as 1 of 6 up and coming artists funded by the Rural Performance/Production Lab (RPPL) through The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production. These artists from Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi will all receive funding through RPPL and some of them will participate in residencies at the Sipp Culture Artist Residency House in Utica, Mississippi in the fall. The organization is thrilled to expand the Sipp Culture family and embrace the genius of these artists.
Check out the website: http://sippculture.com/2020/05/30/2020-rural-performance-production-lab-artists/?fbclid=IwAR1S8cKUI9vZX5uS1dRDOLald87Mh_n1H48G1g9SdD7ehuXDIUwMhYFDF34
Wilkerson's bio:
Theron Wilkerson, a Jackson-based poet, producer, historian, and teacher from Carthage, Mississippi. He is the founder of Wilkabergg Productions, a multimedia business that fosters a Black Southern transmedia experience with an emphasis on Mississippi art, history, politics and culture. He has published poetry in BAMN (2019), The Baroda Pamphlet (2015), and Black Magnolias Literary Journal (2014), published encyclopedia articles, book reviews, and edited oral histories for Prabuddha: Journal of Social Equity (2019). In 2018, he helped to produce the music video for “Optimistic” by August Greene featuring Brandi that highlighted the history and culture of Black Mississippi.
In 2019, he began working with Mississippi hip hop creatives through the MS Hip Hop Network as a cultural strategist and organizer to facilitate youth and arts organizing, civic engagement, and economic development. He currently teaches African American Studies at Murrah High School and serves the lead facilitator of the Jackson People’s School. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Jackson State University and a master’s degree in African American Studies from Georgia State University.