Baskervill, in association with Madge Bemiss Architects and Glavé and Holmes, is working collaboratively on this project.

A "patron's front porch," the vernacular of the region, and those beautiful loblolly pines inspired this concept for the renovation of an existing building into the new home of the Mississippi Museum of Art.

The mission of the Mississippi Museum of Art is to engage the community in and through the visual arts. The challenge in this renovation project was to convert a 54,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Jackson into an art museum that would be welcoming, accessible and engaging to all Mississippians.

A newly-added front porch and west garden, with shaded seating areas, a fountain and native planting, create a welcoming and comfortable space that is, literally, the front porch and garden for the downtown cultural district.

The design of the new Mississippi Museum of Art building celebrates the museum's mission of inclusion. The roof of the building above the entrance was raised and the walls glazed to create a comfortable and light-filled public room where everyone is welcome.

From the street outside, visitors see not only the entrance to the Museum but the art, the shop, the café and other visitors inside the building. A 56-foot-long mural by Mississippi artist William Dunlap hangs on the wall opposite the entry, engaging visitors with the collection as they walk into the museum and inviting them to move deeper into the gallery spaces.