24 JULY | AUGUST 2019
The city of Meridian came together to build the city’s first all-inclusive
playground in February. Jeannie’s Place at Planet Playground features a
wheelchair-friendly merry-go-round and swing as well as a stainless steel
spiral-slide, accessible to the hearing impaired.
The project began after teenage Jeannie Null, who uses a wheelchair,
was unable to access Planet Playground on a school visit. Fundraising
for the inclusive playground began with many donations from the city,
county, foundations, and community members.
Julia Norman, who works for the city of Meridian’s government af-
fairs office and served as project coordinator for Jeannie’s Place, says
that despite heavy amounts of rain the community came together to
build Null and other children of all abilities a playground.
“It was an amazing project,” Norman says. “We built a playground,
but the component of building our community at the same time was
something intangible that we received that was really exciting. We saw
so many people of our community in every socioeconomic class come
together, and we were all the same, we were all trying to build a play-
ground together for all of our children.”— E.K.For more information, visit facebook.com/Jeannies-Place-at-Planet-Playground.all-inclusive
access
University of Mississippi Chancellor’s artist-in-residence Bruce Levingston
has recently received international attention for his piano playing.
The native of Cleveland, who now resides in Oxford and New York City,
gave a series of 10 sold-out concerts at the Royal Opera House in London in
January and played in Kenya, Africa; in May.
“Mississippi has produced many important and influential artists,” says
Levingston who holds the L.G. Fant chair at Ole Miss. “I am so proud to be
from a state like Mississippi where the arts have such a prominent and mean-
ingful voice.”
Levingston says his mother began giving him lessons when he was four
years old, and he “immediately loved trying to make magical sounds come
out of the piano.” Levingston’s most recent album, “Citizen,” contains works
from two Mississippi composers, William Grant Still and C. Price Walden.
Still was an African-American composer born in 1895, and Walden is 26 years
old and studied at the University of Mississippi.
“These composers from very different generations are represented by
some of the most personal and moving music imaginable,” Levingston says.
“I premiered their works at my last concert at Carnegie Hall and am so proud
to have them on my new album.” — E.K.keys to music: mississippi
Visit brucelevingston.com for more information.