Bill Steber performs with the Jericho Road Show at Lown in Tokyo, Japan. Dec. 17, 2018. Photo by Pat Casey Daley.CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Fielding Wright Art Center Gallery at Delta State University is pleased to present an exhibition by photographer and musician Bill Steber, on view from October 8 through December 1. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Fielding Wright Art Center Gallery. The public is invited to attend.
For more than three decades, Steber has documented Mississippi blues culture, creating an extensive photographic record of the musicians, places, traditions, and communities connected to the blues. His photographs encompass blues musicians and juke joints as well as churches, river baptisms, hoodoo practitioners, traditional farming methods, and folk traditions that helped give birth to or influence the blues. This body of work has been brought together in his exhibition “Stones in My Pathway” and has appeared in Living Blues magazine and other publications.
A native of Centerville, Tennessee, Steber worked as a staff photojournalist for The Tennessean in Nashville from 1989 to 2004. During that career, he photographed subjects ranging from national politics and fashion to major sporting events while receiving numerous regional and national awards for his work.
Since 2007, Steber has also explored contemporary American culture through historic photographic processes. Working with 19th-century wet-plate photography, including tintypes, ambrotypes, and glass negatives, he brings historic photographic methods into conversation with contemporary subjects.
Music is also an important part of Steber’s creative practice. In addition to his photography, he performs with The Jake Leg Stompers, the Hoodoo Men, The Jericho Road Show, and The Stoop Down Rounders.
Presented in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, this exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience Steber’s sustained engagement with the people, places, and cultural traditions associated with Mississippi blues. His photographs provide a visual record of traditions and communities that have shaped one of Mississippi’s most significant cultural legacies.
Exhibition Information
Exhibition Dates: October 8 – December 1, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 8, 5:00–7:00 p.m.
The public is invited to attend.
Location:
Fielding Wright Art Center Gallery
Delta State University
1003 W. Sunflower Road
Cleveland, MS 38733
Gallery Hours:
Monday–Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Closed on weekends, university holidays, and semester breaks.
For more information, please contact coguz@deltastate.edu or visit live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io.
