2007 Missouri Arts Awards

February 11, 2007

On Wednesday, we were at the capital for the 2007 Missouri Art Awards. Here is Russ standing between Missouri State Govenor Blunt and the First Lady, just after he received recognition in the Individual Artist category — the highest honor an artist can receive in the State of Missouri.

The ceremony was held at the State Capitol building. Although I grew in near this building, and it was always a part of our hometown landscape and culture, I don’t think I really appreciated it when I was there.

Since then, I’ve read some histories of the building. Most surprising to me was that 25% of the original architectural budget for the building was earmarked for decoration. Decoration! Do you realize what that means? That means ART! It does put some of our current 1% for the arts programs to shame, and remember that many building budgets don’t even have that.

This explains a lot about the building — the fact that there are statues, carvings and paintings everywhere throughout the capitol. Most famous are some large murals painted by Thomas Hart Benton. Above is a photo looking up through the rotunda, but I don’t know who painted these murals. There also should be a huge chandelier in the center, but it got dropped during cleaning and maintenance last fall. I think it’s going to take $600,000 to replace.

After the ceremony, we all traveled a couple of blocks to the Governor’s Mansion for a nice reception. Many friends of the arts in Missouri were there to celebrate because Governor Blunt has recommended $8 million in his budget to go the Missouri Arts budget, up from $3 million last year and up from zero in 2004. Yay! All in all, it was a good day for the arts.

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Comments

9 Comments so far

  1. gerrie on March 4, 2007 9:39 pm

    Oh, I like that Governor Blunt. He is pretty easy on the eyes, too. Now, tell me he is a Dem!! Oh, that would be too good to be true.

  2. del on March 4, 2007 9:40 pm

    Congratulations to Russ. And thank you for taking us along with you. Del

  3. mom on March 4, 2007 9:41 pm

    The art in the capitol is amazing. There is a video made about 10 years ago of the art. Your Senator or Rep might be able to get you a copy. The estimate on the value of the art was about $100 million.

  4. deirdre on March 4, 2007 9:41 pm

    Congratulations to RUSS! He certainly deserves the award, from all the hard work you show here!

    I’ve loved looking at your blog, until your recent Mother Nature posts, which scare the hell out of me!

    Congrats again and dry warm thoughts headed your way!
    :-D eirdre

  5. deb h on March 4, 2007 9:42 pm

    It’s wonderful that you have some good to balance out all the pain you’ve had to deal with recently.

    Conratulations, for both of you!

  6. lizzieb on March 4, 2007 9:43 pm

    this is so really great! His work is wonderful and so deserving of this honor…
    and all the hard work you are doing on the studios! ugh

  7. charmiane on March 4, 2007 9:44 pm

    Congrats to Russ! Looks like you guys had a great time. And hooray for MO supporting the arts.

  8. plain jane on March 4, 2007 9:44 pm

    Congratulations. Glad you had a respite from the flooding and mess. A good day for the arts and a reminder to keep on keepin’ on. Art is neccessary.

  9. debbie d. on March 4, 2007 9:45 pm

    Sometimes Brother Blunt surprises me…this was a good surprise!

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