The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience on Friday had one of its first celebrity visitors since its grand opening in April.

Actress and veteran educator Tonea Stewart, a Greenwood native who has starred in films such as “A Time to Kill” and “Mississippi Burning,” spent part of her day touring the Max.

As a featured Mississippian in one of the exhibits, Stewart said she has been looking forward to visiting Meridian’s newest attraction for the last few months.

“I came to witness the museum,” said Stewart, who taught for 20 years at Jackson State University. She is currently the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Alabama State University.

Stewart said she couldn’t attend the grand opening in April, but she wanted to come when she “wouldn’t be rushed.”

“I am so glad I came,” she said. “It is absolutely breathtaking. This is a monument for the state… and then to even be thought of to be a part of it is even more enthralling for me.”

Paula Chance, director of marketing and communications at the Max, said Stewart’s visit was a pleasant surprise.

“It’s exciting,” Chance said. “I’m hoping that she wants to see how she is represented… To me, she strikes me as just a great role model.”

Stewart said she has always enjoyed visiting Meridian.

“Meridian has always been a charm, but now to have this museum here, it’s going to be a drawing card because I know all of my relatives will be coming,” she said.

Stewart also had roles on television’s “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “In the Heat of the Night.”

According to IMDB, Stewart held the first McKnight Doctoral Fellow in Theater Arts.

She is also the first African-American female to receive a doctorate from Florida State University’s School of Theater.

In 1995, she was inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame.