Located at 2155 Front Street in Meridian, Miss., and slated to open in 2017, the MAEE will be an iconic, two-level structure consisting of 58,500-square-feet of which 22,000-squarefeet will be designated for the Hall of Fame and interactive exhibit and education space. The MAEE has raised $29 million of the $45 million required to complete the project, which is anticipated to attract 160,000 visitors annually.  

The world-renown design firm, Gallagher & Associates of Washington, D.C., created a space where visitors can experience the state’s legacy in the arts and the Mississippians who created it. The exhibit space will be organized around five themes—the land, the home, the community, the church and the people. Audio and video stories will tell who, what, where, when, why and how Mississippians influenced the arts and the creative economy all over the world and continue to do so on an international level.   

The Walk of Fame unveiled on February 15, 2009 continues to make its way from the MSU Riley Center to the MAEC site. New Walk of Fame stars will accompany the earlier stars of Jimmie Rodgers, Sela Ward, B. B. King, Marty Stuart, William Faulkner, Morgan Freeman, Walter Anderson, Mac McAnally, Hartley Peavey and others