As part of the Smithsonian Institution, Museum on Main Street (MoMS) is a unique alliance of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, state humanities councils, and cultural organizations in small, rural communities.
Coming in 2026:
Spark! Places of Innovation
The story of human history is written in inventions and innovations. People are problem-solvers. Sometimes, we invent. More often, we innovate—we introduce a fresh idea or an invention into use in some way that creates a new way of doing or thinking.
Invention can happen anywhere and it’s happening right now in small towns across America. Rural Americans are creating new products, taking risks, meeting challenges together, and seizing upon exciting opportunities that change local life and sometimes reach far beyond.
View the Spark!: Places of Innovation 2026-2027 Mississippi Tour schedule below to see when Spark! will be in your community.
May 16, 2026 – June 27, 2026
Utica Institute Museum at Hinds Community College Utica Campus
July 4, 2026 – August 15, 2026
Soule Steam Museum in Meridian
August 22, 2026 – October 3, 2026
Greenville Higher Education Center at Mississippi Delta Community College Greenville Campus
October 10, 2026 – November 21, 2026
Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library in Oxford
November 28, 2026 – January 9, 2027
The Historic Eureka School with the 6th Street Museum District in Hattiesburg
January 16, 2027 – February 27, 2027
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport
For questions, contact Katie Molpus at kmolpus@mhc.state.ms.us
MHC is proud to partner with the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development for the Spark!: Places of Innovation tour in Mississippi. Dr. Joe Fratesi, Assistant Director for Community Development, and Chance McDavid, Research and Economic Development Project Director, of the Stennis Institute will serve as the official State Scholars throughout the exhibition.
As State Scholars, Dr. Fratesi and Mr. McDavid will serve as a resource for our host sites as they develop public programs and create local exhibits telling the story of their community’s innovative spirit. They will also share stories from across the state about the ways that Mississippi communities are creating lasting change and improving their spaces.
The 2026 – 2027 Mississippi tour Spark! is made possible thanks to the generous support of our state sponsor, Cadence Bank.
Museum on Main Street’s exhibitions focus on broad topics of national history and give host museums the opportunity, with support from state humanities councils and guidance from the state scholars, to create their own educational programs, cultural activities, and exhibitions that center on their local heritage. Exhibition support materials and “how to” training workshops are provided to venues hosting the exhibitions.
Since 2001, the Mississippi Humanities Council has toured ten MoMS exhibits including “Produce for Victory” (WWII America on the Home Front), “Key Ingredients” (America by Food), “Between Fences” (Boundaries, Borders and Bridges in America), “New Harmonies – Celebrating American Roots Music,” “Journey Stories” (Immigration, Migration and Settlement in America), “The Way We Worked,” “Hometown Teams,” “Water/Ways,” “Voices and Votes,” and “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” (2020-2021, 2023-2024).