News Archive

Image Alternative Text: STR logo - red flower petals with yellow circle in center and purple "leaves"

Learn More about MSU Small Town Center announces Small Town Revitalization grant program recipients

MSU Small Town Center announces Small Town Revitalization grant program recipients

Communities receiving STR grants include: Booneville, Carthage, Columbia, Eupora, Falcon, McComb, Pascagoula, Ripley, Saltillo, Tunica and Water…
Image Alternative Text: Leah Kemp

Learn More about Director Leah Kemp to serve as state scholar for Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition

Director Leah Kemp to serve as state scholar for Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition

“Crossroads: Change in Rural America" is an interactive, multimedia exhibit that will travel the state for six weeks from August 2023 through June…
Image Alternative Text: photo of mural in front of mural on University Drive as part of the University Drive Corridor Connections project.

Learn More about Soy-Biobased Biostripe makes a big impact for Small Town Center

Soy-Biobased Biostripe makes a big impact for Small Town Center

The street mural project can be seen along University Drive from campus to downtown.
Image Alternative Text: Volunteers paint a large cowbell-themed mural on University Drive Friday [July 22] as part of the University Drive Corridor Connections project. (Photo by Grace Cockrell)

Learn More about Street art strengthens MSU-Starkville bonds

Street art strengthens MSU-Starkville bonds

The Small Town Center received funding for the project from a $25,000 grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative.
Image Alternative Text: Children sit and play on turf and colorful block seats while others are gathered on sidewalk

Learn More about State Spotlight: Creating Fun Spaces

State Spotlight: Creating Fun Spaces

In a partnership between the Idea Shop and MSU's Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center, outdoor seating was designed and fabricated, serving as an example…
Image Alternative Text: Guntown residents stand in front of signs on either side of sidewalk

Learn More about Small Town Center featured on WTVA news

Small Town Center featured on WTVA news

A public meeting was held as part of the Guntown City Park Visioning session process to get feedback and input about what community members would…
Image Alternative Text: Leah Kemp at podium

Learn More about Small Town Center director presents to Starkville Aldermen

Small Town Center director presents to Starkville Aldermen

Leah Kemp explained the concept of using tactical urbanism to create the outdoor dining area downtown.
Image Alternative Text: screen capture of Leak Kemp, left, gathered around a table with 4 female students in the Small Town Center office

Learn More about MSU’s Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center receives national award for comprehensive plan

MSU’s Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center receives national award for comprehensive plan

The American Planning Association’s 2019 Vernon Deines Award recognizes the CSTC’s Ripley Master Plan.
Image Alternative Text: View of the wall in the Small Town Center - maps, logo, renderings, photos of models

Learn More about Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center writes guidelines for downtown renovation

Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center writes guidelines for downtown renovation

Leah Kemp, director of the center, said the template is going to focus on exterior characteristics of the buildings. 
Image Alternative Text: Welcome to Marks sign with wagon wheel - autumn scenery

Learn More about Small Town Center Director shows multi-modal interpretive trail to Martin Luther King III

Small Town Center Director shows multi-modal interpretive trail to Martin Luther King III

The trail highlights the Marks Mule Train Civil Rights campaign, a vision of his father in the 1960s.
Image Alternative Text: group poses in front of buildings (left to right): Thomas Gregory (CSTC),  Rayce Belton (4th year architecture), Chris Marsalis (Mayor, City of Ripley), Shelby Jaco (3rd year architecture), and Silvina Lopez Barrera (Assistant Professor)

Learn More about CREATE Common Ground course implements coursework in Ripley

CREATE Common Ground course implements coursework in Ripley

This service learning course is the result of a partnership between the Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center at Mississippi State University and the…
Image Alternative Text: Pictured during a recent presentation to Ripley stakeholders are, from left to right, MSU senior architecture majors Asher E. Paxton of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Matthew T. Lewis of Brandon, MSU School of Architecture Director and F.L. Crane Professor Michael Berk, and Mitchell D. Hubbell of Pensacola, Florida. (Photo by Russ Houston)

Learn More about MSU Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center’s Ripley community project provides students with ‘real-world’ experience

MSU Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center’s Ripley community project provides students with ‘real-world’ experience

Mississippi State University Mississippi State’s Carl Small Town Center has collaborated with students in the university’s College of Architecture,…
Image Alternative Text: Welcome to Marks sign

Learn More about Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center at MSU receives public outreach, design honors for ‘Marking the Mule’ project

Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center at MSU receives public outreach, design honors for ‘Marking the Mule’ project

On the university’s behalf, STC Director Leah F. Kemp recently accepted a 2017 Public Outreach Award from the Mississippi Chapter of the American…
Image Alternative Text: four small colorful cottages. image via deltabusinessjournal.com

Learn More about Baptist Town Neighborhood reinvestment project featured in Delta Business Journal

Baptist Town Neighborhood reinvestment project featured in Delta Business Journal

Today the community is going through a promising re-flourishment as the Baptist Town Neighborhood Reinvestment Project, planned in 2000, is still…