The Mississippi School of the Arts recently inaugurated its newly planted gardens and arboretums.

In a ceremony on the MSA campus, the employees dedicated the new landscaping. The beautification took place on the basis of a grant that the art school applied for last year.

“We no longer have gardens, but gardens in almost every area,” said the managing director Suzanne Hirsch.

Hirsch said a parishioner reached out to her last year with knowledge of the scholarship and encouraged the school to apply.

MSA applied for the grant and met with the Mississippi Urban Forest Council. MSUFC helped MSA write the grant and it took almost six months to apply.

Once the school was approved for the scholarship, landscaping began. When everything was ready, volunteers from the school came and helped plant.

“We all came together and put them in the ground in May and June,” said Hirsch.

Funding for the grant was provided by Canadian National Railroad and America in Bloom. Aside from planting trees, most of the beautification consisted of building flower beds around buildings on campus.

Hirsch said the new landscaping gave the school a better visual feel.

“Of course it helps the environment to have more plants to produce all the gases for our breathing,” said Hirsch. “But it’s also a cozier feeling on campus, it makes the buildings warmer.”

She said it was a positive addition to the art school’s campus.

“It’s all new, but it feels like it has always been here,” said Hirsch. “It really makes a big difference.”

She hopes students and faculty alike will enjoy when everything blooms in spring.

“I’m very excited about the effect,” said Hirsch. “I can’t wait for spring to bloom again.”