Murals Make Missouri Magnificent
Missouri murals will inspire you
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.,– Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton, who reportedly said, “murals are the highest form of art because they are public art,” set the bar fairly high with “Social History of the State of Missouri.” Considered quite controversial when it was unveiled in the state Capitol in 1936. The mural is now considered one of the most relevant murals in the United States, according to Steve Sitton at the Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio Historic Site in Kansas City. “Benton particularly liked to paint murals because he could put so many scenes in them,” said Sitton.
Missouri Wall of Fame Mural in Cape Girardeau, MO
In the last decade, murals have become prominent all across Missouri, expressing the unique characteristics and history of a community while generating a greater sense of pride, understanding and ownership by the people who are represented in the oversized art.
16-Foot-Tall Mural in St. Louis, MO
Old Man River is also reflected in a number of the 24 murals found in the northeast Missouri community of Louisiana and the southeast Missouri community of New Madrid. Some of the best murals are those designed by the young people of a region. High school students in Lebanon created a mural for the Route 66 Museum and Research Center that depicts about 20 Route 66 sites in Laclede County. When completed in 2004, three foreign exchange students at the high school had contributed to the mural.
In Bethany, in north central Missouri, Girl Scout troop No. 8017 explored the history of their community and reminded others that Charles “Babe” Adams, pitcher for the 1909 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates, was a native of this area. One hundred years later, Chillicothe artist Kelly Poling brought an image of the baseball player and All-American pastime to life on the side of the Green Hills Insurance Building on Main Street in Bethany.
Depictions of Chillicothe as it existed in 1928
Poling is also the creator of more than 20 murals that line the streets of Chillicothe. Begun in the 1990s by the Chillicothe Development Corporation, the murals of Chillicothe highlight all aspects of the city’s history, including its claim to fame as the Home of Sliced Bread.
Baseball fans should also head to southern Missouri to West Plains to see spit-ball legend Edwin “Preacher” Roe depicted on a mural on the side of the city’s 1886 opera house. Country music legend Porter Wagoner and other real faces from West Plains also appear on the “Family Portrait Album.”
Apple picking Mural in Cuba, MO
The residents of Cuba, Missouri, on Route 66, celebrated the town’s 100th birthday in 2001 by creating the first of 16 murals, and each year, another one or two are added. Depicting everything from apple picking to the Civil War to an oversized soda fountain, Cuba has earned the nickname “Mural City.”
“It has become a real building block to spruce up downtown,” said Norma Bretz of the Cuba Chamber of Commerce. “It’s kind of like an infection, only more fun as it spreads.”
Sidebar:
Clinton
Downtown showing the Buzz Bomb, Chinker Checks and Baby Chicks.
East Prairie
Grace Bright-Campbell Park.
Independence
A Thomas Hart Benton inside the Truman Library.
Kansas City
At the River Market and throughout downtown.
Kirksville
Designed by high school students at the Kirksville Art Center.
Marshfield
Across from the Hubble Telescope on Washington Street.
More Missouri Murals
Nevada – at the Bushwhacker Museum.
Springfield – Jordan Creek Greenway Trail.
Sullivan – scenes from the Meramec River visible from I-44.
Warrensburg – at the corner of Gay and Holden streets downtown.
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Contact:
Sarah Luebbert
Missouri Division of Tourism
573-522-5501
sarah.luebbert@ded.mo.gov
