arts & culture
The Juke Joint Project Brings Blues Legend Bobby Rush to Northwest Arkansas
Bobby Rush | Photo courtesy of The Music Education Initiative
Welcome to the Juke Joint
The Music Education Initiative presents an up close experience with Blues living legend Bobby Rush — happening Friday, May 20, 2022 at 7 p.m. at the Pryor Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. There are limited tickets for this special, one-night-only event.
Bobby Rush, a fixture in Blues culture, has been making records for nearly 70 years and has more than 400 recordings, 75 career releases, and now 27 studio albums to his name.
Rush’s appearance is a part of the highly celebrated The Juke Joint Project: An Exhibit created and presented in partnership with the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. The exhibit debuted May 6 and will be available to the public until the end of June. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
From the UARK Newswire Release:
The Juke Joint Project, built of period-aged cypress and tin, was originally created by renowned designer Kaki Hockersmith and was scheduled to go on display at the Clinton Presidential Center as part of the Fusion 2020: Arts and Humanities Arkansas exhibit, The Mighty Mississippi: The HeART and Soul of the Southern Delta.
The Fusion event was canceled in March 2020 due to the pandemic, and The Juke Joint Project was never opened to the public. Then, in June 2021, The Music Education Initiative received the authentic walk-through replica from the Clinton Presidential Center.
The Juke Joint Project: An Exhibit, which is now on display at the Pryor Center, will be used to benefit The Music Education Initiative’s communities and amplify the voices of African American musicians, past, present and future.