How C Spire Fiber Powers Mississippi's Creative Legacy at the MAX

The city of Meridian, Mississippi, sits at the crossroads of major highways and railroads that have long made the Queen City a center for culture and commerce. And like the state and region it occupies, Meridian has exported its share of talents who have made their mark across the creative arts.

But the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (MAX), an interactive educational center that showcases Mississippi's global legacy in the arts, broadens the scope to focus on the writers, chefs, painters, sculptors, musicians and creative innovators from across its home state.

“Such a wealth of creativity comes from this state, from our writing prowess to visual creativity and culinary arts,” says Penny Kemp, president and CEO of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience. “Without Mississippi, we would not have the blues, rock and roll, country music, the Muppets, the voice of Darth Vader, the voice of God.”

Since opening in 2018, the MAX has also focused on creating opportunities for students to practice their crafts and learn how to succeed in the creative economy through exhibitions, performances and classes. Laura Bell, a Lauderdale County native who attended a summer camp at the MAX, returned as a 2026 intern during a break from studying the recording arts at the college level.

“On the first day of summer camp, I fell in love with the creation of music,” Bell says. “It was so pivotal, because I was able to put a name to what I loved to do.”

The MAX has several hands-on, interactive stations driven by project mapping and specially designed software that takes visitors inside Mississippi’s creative history. There are even kiosks where they can simulate painting, block printing and sculpture.

“Technology allows us to tell stories in different ways,” says Aaron Windham, technology director at the MAX. “The intersection of art and technology is there to inspire people and show them that they can create, too — whether that's listening to someone watching a video or interacting, creating your own pottery or creating your own painting.”

At the heart of the MAX is an extensive network built with C Spire Fiber.

“C Spire fiber provides internet access for everything that we do,” Windham says. “Everything's interconnected, so it not only runs our just computer offices or our phones, but it also is a backbone for all our exhibit infrastructure as well as our lighting and other systems that we utilize. That's how we control every piece of our building.”