CARE is again partnering with the Ed & Becky Meek Foundation to honor a local resident who has spent a lifetime stitching together beautiful costumes that have created lasting memories and shared her love of the arts with audiences all over the world.
Myrna Colley-Lee, of Charleston, will be honored in the CARE Arts Center Saturday, April 25, from 2-4 p.m., where those who attend may view many of her contributions to the arts community.
Myrna is an internationally known costume designer, arts advocate, patron/collector and an artist. Credited as one of the foremost costume designers in the New York City area Black theater movement of the 1960s through ’80s, she started her career in the late 1960s and continues designing shows today.
In addition to designing costumes, she has served as art director, set designer and executive producer for various theatrical productions.
Myrna has designed for six decades and been involved in over 80 productions in regional theaters across the country. She has donated the collection of her theater career work to Mississippi State University, which includes costume design renderings, documentation papers in the form of show “bibles,” design show research, programs, posters, mannequins and other items from her GladRags Designs studio.
In 2014, her career’s work was showcased at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, in an art exhibition called, “A Theatre of Color, Costume Design For the Black Theatre.”
She was a recent recipient of the Mississippi Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Costume Design and Arts Patron.
Her love of the arts is further demonstrated on the local level. Myrna is a founding board member of Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort, and a proud sponsor of Gateway to the Delta Festival for Charleston and surrounding communities.
She is an advocate of literacy in local schools and has worked with the Tallahatchie County Library System and the East Tallahatchie School District to further arts education. When not designing, Myrna is an avid gardener and can often be found in her yard designing yet another patchwork of beautiful colors for the world to enjoy.
CARE is honored to partner with the Ed & Becky Meek Foundation to be a part of this celebration for Myrna Colley-Lee and to honor her numerous accomplishments that have spanned decades.
Members of the community are invited to attend this reception and to view items from her collections that have been specifically selected to share with the local arts community.
