At the end of a promotional video featuring children talking about the forthcoming Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian, a little girl eagerly whispers, “It’s going to be AMAZING!”

It is the same excitement and enthusiasm expressed by the museum’s executive director, Elizabeth “Liz” Vise Wilson, whenever she speaks about the project.

“When I drive down 22nd Avenue and see the fence and everyone working behind it … You realize what an impact it’s going to make in children’s lives and on the community, and on the area just from the building itself. It is going to be BEAUTIFUL,” Wilson said with quiet enthusiasm.

A vision spearheaded in fall 2014 by MCM-Meridian Founding Advisory Committee members Kim Bowers, Kimberly Denison and Wilson, the project is well into coming to fruition as crews work daily at the $17 million Meridian site to meet the projected 2021 opening. For years, the three women have served as community activists to bringing a high-quality children’s museum to Meridian, gaining community support, reaching out to the Mississippi Children’s Museum (MCM) for professional guidance, securing financing for the project and a site and working in numerous other capacities.

While Bowers and Denision continue to work closely with the project as volunteers, Wilson has evolved into being on staff.

“Each of us has worked tirelessly for years as volunteers on this project,” Wilson said. “At the end of 2018, we realized we needed a full-time employee. We had reached that critical threshold and I was able to roll into my current position as executive director.

Since taking on the role of executive director of MCM-Meridian, Wilson has been a major driving force toward completion of the project. Her dedication and strong commitment have not gone unnoticed.

“Liz’s passion for her hometown and the children’s museum is incredible,” said Terry D. Cruse, administrative director and head of campus at Mississippi State University-Meridian. Cruse serves as chairman of MCM-Meridian’s Advisory Committee.

“A philanthropic effort of this magnitude, in addition to all the other wonderful projects here, many have seemed impossible. Liz’s tireless efforts, combined with the experienced leadership of Mississippi Children’s Museum, once again brought out the best in Meridian and will provide amazing opportunities to children for years to come,” he said.

Hallie Pearson Swindle, an MCM-Meridian Advisory Committee member and a MCM-Meridian Partner, echoes Cruz’s thoughts on Wilson’s dedication to the children’s museum project.

“I met Liz through volunteering with the children’s museum and admire most her tenacity and eternal optimism,” Swindle said. “Her passion for bringing this museum to the children of Meridian and East Mississippi is infectious. She’s an asset to our community and her ward work will make an impact for generations.”

Wilson’s husband Ron said he has been fascinated that she “remains a dedicated mother to our three children, dedicated member to our church (and past-president of women’s ministry), dedicated volunteer to several organizations in our community, and, is full-time building a children’s museum.”

Wife, mother, dedicated church member and volunteer, children’s museum builder, Liz Wilson can now add the title Meridian Star Newspaper’s Citizen of the Year for 2019.

“You’re kidding!” Wilson exclaimed when told she’s been selected for the recognition. “I’m, I’m speechless … and honored. I don’t do this for accolades, but because I love my community and want to see our children have opportunities to succeed.”

Hometown girl returns, sparks change

The daughter of Dr. Richard and Betty (Brookshire) Vise, Wilson graduated from Lamar School in 1996, then attended Vanderbilt University, where she received a degree in mathematics, fine arts and educational studies. After college, she worked for Southern Progress Corporation — which is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and is a publisher of lifestyle magazines (Southern Living, Cooking Light, Health, Coastal Living and Sunset) and books — doing marketing for Coastal Living.

After Wilson married, she and her husband moved to Pasadena, California, where he received his doctorate degree. It was her husband, a Birmingham native, who suggested they return to Meridian.

“I think it was hearing about my simple, sweet childhood here with few distractions and being very close to my father is what attracted him,” she said. “We were raising our family and knew that’s what we wanted for them, plus to be close to family.”

The couple moved to Meridian in 2013 with three small children, and her husband began teaching in the psychology department at MSU-Meridian as well as doing clinical work at Rush Hospital. Having previously lived in communities with easy access to cultural learning opportunities, Wilson said they, as well as many of their friends, sought the same here.

“My husband would send me articles about the importance of brain development at this critical time in our children’s lives. And that pretend-play and community-play were really vital to developing a healthy brain architecture,” she said.

In search of a way to bring such a resource to the Meridian community, Wilson and friends Bowers and Dennison visited the Mississippi Children’s Museum in Jackson in spring 2015.

“We thought we would get some road maps and pointers,” Wilson said. “And beyond our wildest dreams that they would walk this journey with us and we would be the first satellite campus of this statewide institution, which is our state’s largest cultural early education institution.”

And from there, their endeavor quickly began to snowball. In a considerably short amount of time, $50,000 in seed money was raised.

“That seed money and the short time it took to raise it really spoke volumes to the Mississippi Children’s Museum Board of our community’s investment to being the first satellite museum and desire to bring this resource to East Mississippi,” Wilson said.

The funds were used to conduct a feasibility study to find out not only if a children’s museum was wanted by the community, but also if it could be created and sustained. The response was “overwhelmingly positive,” she said.

“A group from Omaha, Nebraska, spent two months here and we had over 90 percent in favor of a children’s museum for our community, and over 80 percent in favor in starting the campaign,” Wilson said. “They said they’d never really seen a response like that from a community, which was really heartening and encouraging.”

The campaign began in spring 2016 with the Junior Auxiliary of Meridian as the first donor. The Phil Hardin Foundation was the first signature sponsor, followed by The Riley Foundation.

Amazing opportunity to reach many

To some, the children’s museum will be “just another place for children to play” in Meridian. But Wilson assures the facility will offer much more to current as well as future generations.

“If you look around, there’s really no real community-convening resources for children,” she said. “And for young families, times have changed. The freedom to sometimes just be a child, and to play, and to explore, and to be at the center of your learning — it’s not as easy to come by. I think our parents and our educators are yearning for those type of opportunities. I think our schools have so much on their plates; they can’t do everything.

Liz Wilson

“The freedom to sometimes just be a child, and to play, and to explore, and to be at the center of your learning — it’s not as easy to come by. I think our parents and our educators are yearning for those type of opportunities. I think our schools have so much on their plates; they can’t do everything.”

–Liz Wilson

“We have this model in Jackson that is the No. 1 tourist destination for children and families, and that’s just tourism. That’s not really looking at the educational mission of the institution. They have a wonderful relationship with the public schools in Jackson and have been doing work across the state and those are the goals we have for our facility,” she said.

Educational resources such as the Mississippi Children’s Museum have become the expected norm in communities nationwide.

“We are starting to get more people who have had access to these resources outside of this community who have either moved back (to Meridian) or work has brought them here and they look for this. As young parents we look for these type of resources,” Wilson said. “When Kimberly, Kim and I were brainstorming about all of this, the Mississippi Children’s Museum was the most obvious resource that would help address these needs in the community.”

The children’s satellite museum will be that resource for Meridian and East Mississippi, and like the main facility other locales throughout the state and beyond.

“I love that the museum at five years old said, ‘We are here for all of Mississippi’s children, let’s help bring a satellite to East Mississippi because East Mississippi can’t lean into this resource like they need to,’” Wilson said. “And two years before that, they said, ‘Let’s help the Delta’ and took ‘Planting The Seeds to Read,’ (MCM’s first family literacy program which is recognized nationally) for two years with a traveling exhibit. Never do the wheels stop turning of how do we continue to improve the resources we can offer to Mississippi’s children, families, educators — the entire circle of influence … Program growth for the Mississippi Children’s Museum is way above national average. And we hope to build on that with our satellite museum.”

What will satellite offer?

As stated on the Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian website, the vision of the satellite program is to:

• Enrich the lives of children.

• Spark creativity.

• Expand the realm of imagination.

• Instill an everlasting joy of learning.

• Broaden families’ understanding of education.

• Create a safe haven where our community can thrive and grow.

While the satellite facility will not be as large as the Jackson museum, Wilson assures the facility will not be deficient in what it offers to Meridian and East Mississippi residents.

“Each children’s museum is unique and into itself,” she said. “We did several exhibit charrettes — roundtable discussions and brainstorming sessions — about what is distinctly East Mississippi. What makes us unique? What will resonate with our children? What do our children need to celebrate? And other scenarios.”

Exhibit designers were consulted and the end result is exhibits that reflect the rich history of East Mississippi, including the Key Brothers and their invention of the inflight refueling, the railroad’s critical role in the region’s development and community’s inventive spirit.

“We’re going to have a maker’s space/tinkering lab that will focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning, and really in our world it’s STEAM, which is the incorporation of art as well,” Wilson said. “In this space, we are providing kids the tools to be their own inventors and to go through that inventive process.”

And as a beacon of encouragement, several of the community’s innovators will be spotlighted, including Peavey Electronics (guitars, amplifiers and other equipment), Algix (local manufacturer that turns algae into plastic), Rush Hospital (pin and helmet) and E.F. Young Manufacturing (hair care products).

The city’s art history and culture also will be an exhibit, as well as local icons such as Red Hot Truck Stop and Dunn’s Fall.

Full steam ahead

Wilson credits the community to the success of the satellite children’s museum, especially volunteers.

“We have more than 100 volunteers working on this project as well as local leadership, which says a lot about the commitment,” she said. “We could not make it without our volunteers, our Partners of the Children’s Museum, our advisory committee, fundraising committee and other support systems. We have truly been blessed.”

The old Sear’s Building on 22nd Avenue site was chosen as the location for the Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian and the process to deconstruct the building began in December 2018. The satellite museum’s construction team set up shop in September 2019 and the groundbreaking was officially celebrated at the end of October 2019. The pouring of the slab took place in January of this year.

“I can start imaging exactly what’s where in the building,” Wilson said.

The 25,000-square-foot children’s museum will feature 9,500 square feet of interior exhibits plus a 150-seat auditorium, and a 25,000-square-foot outdoor exhibit experience called My Fantastical Backyard.

“We will host programs in the auditorium, statewide science festivals, statewide elementary coding challenges, chess tournaments, reading camps, summer camps and other camps, family, health and literacy programs. We’re ecstatic to have this space,” she said.

According to its website, the mission of the Mississippi Children’s Museum is to create unparalleled experiences to inspire excellence and a lifelong joy of learning. This is accomplished through hands-on and engaging exhibits and programs focusing on literacy, the arts, science, health and nutrition — the keys to helping children mature into healthy and productive adult learners.

Wilson echoes this mission and has set a personal goal for Meridian’s satellite children’s museum.

“I’ve talked about the importance of a community convening space. I can’t wait to see how this space does that. I can’t wait to see how it makes children’s eye’s light up and that spark of discovering something new shows,” she said. “I can’t wait to see our teachers lean into it through our professional development programs. I’m excited to see parents come in and sit back let their children be at the center of their learning experience, and seeing that wonder in their children. I think it’s all those things at its core and its mission mean to do, which is why we sought this in the beginning.”