By Anna Owens | Mississippi State University
A Mississippi State professor of art is the recipient of a top national award through an annual competition for concert industry professionals in Los Angeles, California.
Jamie Burwell Mixon’s poster of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg received Poster of the Year at the 31st annual Pollstar LIVE! National Concert Industry Awards and Convention held earlier this semester.
Mixon’s design was created for a Ginsburg lecture sponsored by the Clinton Foundation and displayed at the Simmons Bank Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, last fall. The piece features hand-lettering and a sketch of Lady Justice behind Ginsburg’s portrait. Mixon said she has long admired the Supreme Court justice and her work.
“I drew a lot of inspiration from her and wanted to incorporate vibrant colors because they’re not something we typically expect with a justice,” said Mixon, who in addition to being a professor of graphic design, also serves as the concentration coordinator.
Mixon has designed posters for the Simmons Bank Arena, formerly known as the Verizon Arena, since 2004 and typically illustrates eight to 10 posters each year.
Frank “Critz” Campbell III, associate professor and head of MSU’s Department of Art, said this national award “speaks to the quality of Professor Mixon’s work and the expertise she brings to the classroom.”
“She is a world class designer and educator with years of experience in the field of graphic design. And, like many of our faculty, Professor Mixon practices what she teaches. Hundreds of our alumni are thriving in the industry because of Professor Mixon’s expertise and mentoring. We are fortunate to have her as a member of our faculty at MSU,” Campbell said.
Mixon’s posters for the Simmons Bank Arena include pieces for Bob Dylan and Elton John concerts. In addition to six previous Pollstar LIVE! awards, including 2010 Poster of the Year, Mixon also is a 1996 Grisham Teaching Excellence Award recipient and a 2004 MSU Grisham Master Teacher recipient, the university’s highest honor for classroom and instructor excellence. Her work has been featured in a variety of national and international design publications, including HOW, Creative Quarterly and French Paper Sample Room.
For more on MSU’s Department of Art, visit www.caad.msstate.edu/academics/majors/art.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.