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Art Events

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“Depict for Missouri, and the rest of the world, the charm, the strength, the beauty, the way-of-life of our mid-western Missouri of today.” That was the mission in 1946 when the Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney department store in St. Louis commissioned 14 modern artists to create new works.
 
Their creations provide a unique glimpse at local life as well as the uneasy alliance between rural and urban visions of America’s future at the time. Sharing these familiar scenes of daily life inside the History & Culture Center dedicated to exploring our local culture seemed like a perfect fit.
 
We are honored to bring you Work and Leisure in Mid-Century Missouri: Selections from the Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney Heart of the Nation Collection in collaboration with the University of Missouri’s Museum of Art and Archaeology. Learn more about this fascinating exhibition. 

Guided Tours

Join us for a guided tour with a docent from the MU’s Museum of Art and Archaeology to learn more about the artworks and the stories they tell about traditional and post-war life. 

You’ll explore the familiar scenes of rural and urban life, agricultural and industrial production, folk life and mass entertainment depicted in the Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney Heart of the Nation Collection. 

Sessions are free, and last roughly one hour. No RSVP is required. 

The last session is Saturday, May 6–3:00 p.m. 

Many thanks to the University of Missouri’s Museum of Art and Archaeology volunteer docents for making tours possible.