Before becoming mayor of Oxford, Robyn Tannehill was the director of tourism for the city and started the first annual Double Decker Arts Festival in 1995. Now as mayor, she has been awarded the Americans for the Arts 2026 Public Leadership in the Arts Award.
Americans for the Arts (AFTA) and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) announced the winners in a press release on Jan. 30. Other honorees included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Albuquerque, N.M., Mayor Tim Keller.
The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, a local organization dedicated to supporting Lafayette County artists and residents, announced Tannehill had won the prestigious national award for local arts leadership in a Facebook post last month.
“From championing the Double Decker Arts Festival to weaving arts and culture into every corner of city planning, Mayor Tannehill has helped make creativity a part of Oxford’s DNA,” the post read. “Her support of spaces like the Powerhouse Community Arts Center and her arts-forward vision continue to strengthen our city, our creative economy and our sense of community.”
Tannehill said she was honored to receive the award.
“Wayne Andrews, who is the director of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, called me to tell me that I’d won. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ and he said, ‘Yes, we nominated you,’ and I got it,” Tannehill said in an interview with The Daily Mississippian.
The National Awards for Local Arts Leadership partners with the USCM to honor individuals who consistently advocate for and support arts and culture and/or arts education in their cities.
“The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council felt Mayor Tannehill was a strong candidate for this award,” Andrews said. “She supported projects such as the Arts Incubator, a collaboration with the (Oxford-Lafayette) Economic Development Foundation and the chamber and arts council to support small creative start-up businesses.”
Andrews sees Tannehill’s ability to encourage others to support the arts, accompanied by her own support for the arts, as one of her biggest strengths.
“What makes Mayor Tannehill stand out for this award is not that she supports the arts or invests in the arts, but that she inspired others to recognize how the arts can ensure we retain that sense of community while growing,” Andrews said.
The reception of the award carries significance to Tannehill and to Oxford residents who support the arts by showing up to events, buying from local artists and celebrating Oxford’s art culture.
“It’s just my name on the award, but it’s not an award just to me,” Tannehill said. “We’ve got so many artists in town that awards like this really put a spotlight on the artists in our community, and it demonstrates that art is important here, and we value it and see it as economic development.”
From The Powerhouse Community Arts Center — a center for cultural events, performances and showcases of artistic expression — to the Yokna Sculpture Trail that runs through Oxford and public art displays at Lamar Park, Oxford is a community centered around creativity.
Tannehill’s commitment to the arts started long before she was mayor of Oxford. An art and interior design student at University of Mississippi, she graduated in 1992 and later assumed the role of the director of the Oxford Tourism Council.
“When I got the tourism director position, I said, ‘We need to celebrate the three things that brought us to the table, which is music, food and art.’ … So I started Double Decker,” Tannehill said. “From then, I have just kind of figured out ways to incorporate art and culture into whatever planning I’m doing for the city.”
Double Decker has become a hallmark of Oxford creativity, music and fun. Tannehill’s passion for the arts continues in her current role as mayor as she brings art into every aspect of her job that she can. She credits her professional team for helping her carry out the visions and plans she has for Oxford.
“My art major really translates into everything that I do,” Tannehill said. “I think when we do an arts-focused approach to planning and development, it changes things. There are a lot of people that can map out streets, but we have a staff that is more focused on place-making than just putting a building here and a street there.”
In the years since Tannehill took office, Oxford has built upon a legacy of art and music.
“We’ve adopted a public art program, so we are budgeting every year for a new piece of public art. So, you’ll see murals that have popped up over the past few years that are a part of that,” Tannehill said. “We really try to embrace public art in any public space where we can get it. We are working with developers to include public art in some of their larger developments now.”
