Art Colony

I’m sure by now you’ve thought there’s no possible way we’d say, “but wait, there’s more,” again. But, here we are. This time, we spring forward to the 1930s. While the country wrestled with the Great Depression, Ste. Geneviève became a magnet for artists who weren’t interested in painting “pretty” as an escape—they painted the human condition, changing art history by crossing class and racial lines in the process. For several summers, the Ste. Geneviève Art Colony hosted a Summer School of Art, founded in 1932 (with the school established in 1934) and drawing artists who tackled Depression-era themes head-on. The colony’s founders—Aimee Schweig, Bernard E. Peters, and Jessie Beard Rickly—helped turn this little river town into a serious cultural engine, attracting Midwestern artists who would go on to become some of the most celebrated names in American art history; most notably Thomas Hart Benton, and Joe Jones. I think this story illustrates what Sainte Geneviève really is. It’s easy to get caught up in the history, but it’s really about the community that has persistently reinvented itself over the generations. We’re not (just) a museum diorama; we’re a place where creativity keeps erupting, decade after decade, like it’s part of the local weather.

Art Colony

Sainte Geneviève Art Center & Art Museum

310 Merchant Street,
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, 63670

(573) 535-9833

Sainte Genevieve Art Center & Museum – Where Historic Legacy Meets Living Creativity Nestled comfortably in the shadow of the historic Sainte Geneviève Catholic Church at 310 Merchant Street, the Sainte Genevieve Art Center & Museum occupies a place of quiet significance in both the physical and cultural landscape of Missouri’s oldest town. This isn’t just another small-town art gallery—it’s a vital institution that illuminates Ste. Genevieve’s surprisingly important role in American art heritage while serving as an active, thriving hub for contemporary creativity. A Building with Its Own Story The Art Center is housed in a stately Norman-Revival stone building that itself tells a story of community pride and celebration. Built in 1934 in preparation for the city’s bicentennial celebration, the structure reflects the civic confidence and architectural ambition of Depression-era America. The choice of Norman-Revival style—with its solid stone construction, arched openings, and medieval European echoes—was particularly fitting for a town celebrating its French colonial heritage. That this beautiful building now serves as home to the Art Center creates a perfect synergy: historic architecture preserving and presenting both historic and contemporary art. The stone walls that once marked a bicentennial milestone now safeguard the legacy of artists who Read more...

Art Colony

Silver Sycamore Gallery of Fine Art

302 Market Street,
Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, 63670

(573) 880-3757

Silver Sycamore Gallery of Fine Art – Connecting the 1930s Art Colony Legacy to Today’s Rising Stars Through Storytelling, Curation, and the Kind of Personal Service That Makes Buying Art an Experience Worth the Journey Most art galleries sell paintings. Silver Sycamore Gallery of Fine Art sells stories—stories that happen to come with extraordinary artwork attached. When you walk through the door at 302 Market Street, the paintings genuinely take your breath away, but what transforms browsing into buying, what makes people travel from St. Louis or Cape Girardeau and carefully transport large-scale pieces home instead of purchasing something similar locally, is the narrative that connects each work to Sainte Geneviève’s remarkable artistic heritage. This is the only gallery where you can purchase work by Ali Cavanaugh—the internationally recognized watercolorist whose portraits have graced Time Magazine covers and who chose to make Sainte Geneviève her home—in her actual hometown, displayed alongside the 1930s Art Colony works (Thomas Hart Benton, Joe Jones, Jessie Beard Rickly, Aimee Schweig) that established this small Missouri river town as “the Mecca of Midwestern art.” This is where M. Charles Rhinehart’s paintings connect that Depression-era Regionalist tradition directly to contemporary practice through his training with Colony Read more...