Vicksburg needs to get ready to ride a wave of cultural tourism, state arts agency director Malcolm White said Thursday.

&#8220I would only say to you – get ready,” he told members of Vicksburg Rotary Club. &#8220We’re entering into a new age of cultural tourism and Vicksburg is in a mighty fine place to do just that.”

White, who was named director of the Mississippi Arts Commission in October, said Vicksburg has new blood and life from what he saw of it in the 1980s when he worked in the restaurant business here, owning and operating Tuminello’s on Speed Street.

With Vicksburg’s downtown revitalization and well-known attractions, he believes the city fits the bill for a new revolution in tourism.

&#8220Mississippi is about to embark on culture – its music, literature, art,” he said.

White, who is also founder and co-owner of Hal & Mal’s in downtown Jackson, said he is involved in a project to create blues trails throughout the state, exposing the world to Mississippi’s blues heritage. Other trails – literary, Civil War and Civil Rights – would also be created to show all aspects of the arts.

&#8220This is the future for Mississippi,” he said.

The trails will give tourists a number to call on a cell phone, giving a narrative of sites pertinent to the trail. Each site will refer the person to the next site and lead tourists through the state.

White said Vicksburg will gain from the tours by being an important part of the state’s blues heritage, as well as Civil War history.

Even before acting as director of MAC, White has been involved in the arts. He started arts festivals, such as WellsFest, Jubilee Jam and the Mal’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade, all in Jackson. He also started Malcolm White Productions in 1982.

Now, as director of MAC, he continues his mission of bringing funding for the arts in order to keep the arts alive.

&#8220Art has a significant role for each and every Mississippi life,” he said. &#8220But, we don’t put the money where our priorities are.”

MAC was established by the Mississippi Legislature in 1968 to help fund artists and art organizations. The agency is funded through appropriations from the Legislature, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts and other foundation money.

The agency runs on a $2 million annual budget, which White said he is always working to increase.