The front porch has always held a cherished spot in Southern culture, and on Thursday and Friday a new conference will be centered on discussions of this prominent locale.

Main Street Taylor, LLC will be hosting its first annual Conference on the Front Porch in Taylor, at The Mill at Plein Air. The conference will consist of architectural and sociological talks regarding Southern front porches.

The keynote speaker for the conference is R. Scott Cook who authored the study, “The Cultural Significance of the Front Porch” through the University of Virginia.

Other contributors include Professor Emeritus Charles Reagan Wilson from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss who will be speaking about the social spaces that front porches create. Michael Dolan, the editor of American History magazine and Claude Stephens, the founder and president of The Professional Porch Sitters Union, will also be speaking.

“We plan on this becoming and annual happening where community, development, architecture and culture are examined within the common theme of the front porch,” Campbell McCool, the founder of Plein Air, said in a press release.

The conference will be open to everyone and the cost for a ticket is $225 which includes all panels, six meals, a front porch concert and play.