A Mississippi native, Kristen Brandt returned to her home state after completing a master’s degree in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Mississippi College and has published interviews in Mississippi Folklife. Prior to coming to the Mississippi Arts Commission full time, Kristen served as a graduate teaching assistant, participated in surveys and interviews for Mammoth Cave National Park’s 2017 Ethnographic Survey, partnered with South Arts to plan the Folklorists in the South 2017 conference, and conducted archival work to establish the Mississippi Folk Arts Archive. At MAC, Kristen has managed the rollout of 2020-2021 emergency grant funding supported by the CARES and American Rescue Plan funds received from the National Endowment for the arts, the production and installation of historical markers on the Mississippi Writers Trail, and quarterly professional development workshops for arts organizations. 

Contact me for guidance and assistance with your application in eGRANT if you are a writer (fiction/nonfiction, poet, playwright, screenwriter, etc.), a single-discipline arts organization (such as a dance company, symphony, chorus, arts museum, arts festival, etc.) or if you are interested in funding a project through the Building Fund for the Arts program.