Southeastern Museums Conference awards gold to MTSU’s Baldwin Gallery for ‘Deep Roots’ exhibit

Baldwin Photographic Gallery at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., was awarded the Gold Prize at the 2024 Southeastern Museums Conference Competition for the exhibit, “Deep Roots: Evocations of the Mississippi Blues,” displayed in fall 2023. Southeastern Museums Conference Director Zinnia Willits, center, presents the Gold Prize to associate professor of photography Shannon Randol, left, and School of Journalism and Strategic Media assistant professor Andrea Hall at the annual meeting held in October in Baton Rouge, La. (Submitted photo)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery grabbed the Gold Prize at the 2024 Southeastern Museums Conference Competition for the 2023 exhibition, “Deep Roots: Evocations of the Mississippi Blues.”

The exhibit was a collaboration of veteran photojournalist and MTSU alumnus Bill Steber, MTSU School of Journalism and Strategic Media assistant professor Andrea Hall, MTSU Department of Media Arts associate professor of photography and gallery curator Shannon Randol, and the MTSU Public Relations Storytelling graduate students.

Shannon Randol, associate professor of photography and curator of Baldwin Photographic Gallery at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., left, and School of Journalism and Strategic Media assistant professor Andrea Hall stand in front of the welcome sign at the Southeastern Museums Conference annual meeting held in October in Baton Rouge, La., where they were presented the Gold Prize for the exhibit, “Deep Roots: Evocations of the Mississippi Blues,” featuring artwork by veteran photojournalist and alumnus Bill Steber. (Submitted photo)

“The exhibition combined photographs, mixed-media pieces and artifacts, along with interviews with Bill made by the students in the storytelling class,” Randol explained. “We also were able to install a portion of an authentic sharecropper house in the gallery so that viewers could get a sense of where the blues originated.”

“Deep Roots” won in the category for exhibits with less than $10,000 budgets, a feat that comes from a true collaboration of sources, strengths and talent, Randol noted.

“Many hands came together to make this happen and it is nice to see recognition from an outside organization,” Randol said. “We thought this exhibition was very competitive in our category (under $10,000). After seeing the award winners from other categories, we think this exhibition would have been competitive in other categories as well.”

Randol and Hall were presented the award at the Southeastern Museums Conference’s annual meeting held in mid-October in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The nonprofit membership organization is an association of museums, museum staff, independent professionals and corporate partners focused on the Southeastern states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“This award means that the gallery is recognized by a group of peers in the museum and gallery world as being exemplary. It was nice to see all the work that Andra Hall, Andrea’s students, Bill, and myself put into this exhibition being acknowledged,” Randol said.

In addition to being recognized in the museum world, “Deep Roots” became the most well-attended exhibit in Baldwin Gallery history.

“We had a record number of people that visited the gallery, and the artist talk had over 140 attendees, one of the largest since the pandemic,” Randol said.

Photojournalist and MTSU alumnus Bill Steber sits on the porch of a facade of a salvaged Mississippi Delta sharecropper's shack that is part of his exhibit, "Deep Roots: Evocations of the Mississippi Delta Blues," on display through Dec. 9, 2023, in Middle Tennessee State University's Baldwin Photographic Gallery. (MTSU photo by Nancy DeGennaro) — In this fall 2023 file photo, photojournalist and Middle Tennessee State University alumnus Bill Steber sits on the porch of a facade of a salvaged Mississippi Delta sharecropper’s shack that is part of his exhibit, “Deep Roots: Evocations of the Mississippi Delta Blues,” at MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery. (MTSU file photo by Nancy DeGennaro)

During the exhibition, Baldwin Gallery also hosted well-known blues musician Alvin Youngblood Hart and prominent blues historian Scott Baretta in the Chris Young Café on campus for a conversation on blues music. Hart also performed original music and some covers during the conversation while Steber had his work projected on a screen throughout the conversation.

Randol is also working with Steber to take the exhibition on the road. And he hopes to host a screening next year of a documentary about Steber by renowned filmmaker Robert Mugge.

Although Steber’s work has been featured in numerous exhibits, he said the Baldwin Gallery brought him full circle since taking his first photography class at MTSU in 1986, which led to a 30-year dedication to chronicling the blues diaspora of Mississippi.

“Shannon Randol and the Baldwin Gallery gave me the opportunity to present that work in a dynamic and comprehensive way unlike any other gallery exhibit I’ve ever done,” Steber said. “Not only was this the culmination of my life’s work, presenting it at the place that gave me my start made it all the more meaningful.”

Although the “Deep Roots” exhibit is no longer on display in the gallery, you can still peruse some of the images and artifacts online at https://www.baldwinphotogallery.com/steberindex. You can also see more of Steber’s work at www.steberphoto.com.

MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery, part of the university’s College of Media and Entertainment, was founded in 1964 by professor Harold Baldwin to provide access to inspiring photographic works for the community. The gallery, which is free and open to the public, is located at the top of the stairwell in interior courtyard of the Bragg Building, 1735 Blue Raider Drive. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays when university classes are in session or by appointment.

Off-campus visitors can obtain a temporary permit from the Parking and Transportation Services office at 205 City View Drive or pay by plate by visiting this webpage, https://bit.ly/mtvisitorparking, and clicking the appropriate link under “Visitor Parking.” Visitor permits are $2 per day. A parking map and more information is available at https://mtsu.edu/parking/.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu