It's Time to Paint: Levee Mural to Be Painted Saturday

The Monarch-Chesterfield Levee wall will soon be a 500-foot flood of color.

After months of planning, preparation and hard work, there's only one step left for the mural at the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee wall: actually painting it. Chesterfield Arts, a nonprofit community arts organization, is inviting community members to have a hand in the public art project. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, everyone can come to the wall at Baxter Road and Edison Avenue and help paint the 500-foot mural.  Think that you shouldn't be trusted to draw a stick figure, yet alone contribute to a lasting public art project? Breathe a sigh of relief. It's a paint-by-numbers mural that incorporates about 50 different colors. Participants will be directed on exactly where to paint which color. In that regard, it's similar to another …

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Editor's Notebook

Win Prizes in the Make Your Mark Coloring Contest

Get ready for the Chesterfield Arts community mural project and win craft supplies.

In a few weeks, community members will paint a 500-foot mural on the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee wall. But you’ve got a chance to get in on the fun early! Chesterfield Patch is hosting a coloring contest featuring scenes from the Make Your Mark Project mural. Artist Stuart Morse and more than 50 area students designed the mural, which captures the Chesterfield area’s history and present in a creative and colorful way. It’s easy to enter your kid(s) the coloring contest (and if you want to enter, too, you’re more than welcome). Choose from one of three coloring pages to print. You can print them by clicking on the PDFs attached to this article, selecting the one you want, and clicking "print" at the top of the pane. They're also available on…

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Levee Wall Is Primed and (Almost) Ready for Mural

Preparations are under way on the Chesterfield-Monarch Levee Wall for next month's Make Your Mark mural event.

The Make Your Mark Mural Project is getting nearer and nearer—which means the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee wall needs to be prepped. Before the community can come out  to help paint the 500-foot mural, the wall has to be cleaned and primed. Then, the mural design will be painted on the wall with the help of projectors.  Students involved with the project cleaned the wall on May 7 and 8. This week, it was time to prime. On Wednesday evening, a small group was hard at work taping the wall off and painting an even coat of primer on the wall.  The Make Your Mark Mural Project community painting day will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 4, weather permitting. The mural will be a paint-by-numbers project, so anyone (regardless of painting skill …

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Historical Writer To Speak in Authors Series

Candace O'Connor is a freelance author and editor who specializes in researching and writing histories.

An historical writer is the latest installment in Chesterfield Arts’ River Valley Author Series, which is meant to provide an opportunity for aspiring authors to interact with established ones. Candace O’Connor will speak Wednesday evening at Chesterfield Arts. The series, which follows a casual format and is free and open to all, allows for plenty of time for audience questions. O’Connor has written seven books, including several corporate histories, such as Beginning a Great Work: Washington University, 1853-2003, which was commissioned for Washington University’s 150th anniversary. O’Connor said she has enjoyed the chance to research and write history as a story. “Some people think history is very dry, and they’re afraid to read history…

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Viewfinder: Young Artists Sample Creative Opportunities

Chesterfield Arts offered a free sampling of summer classes at Studio Night Live.

Each week, we'll be running snapshots of life in Chesterfield. We'll be at band concerts, story times, plays and other activities around town. This week, we were Chesterfield Arts for their annual open house, Studio Night Live. The Friday evening event allowed children to try their hand at pottery or build spectacular Lego creations. If you know of somewhere we should be next week, let us know in the comments or email editor Rachel Heaton at rachel.heaton@patch.com.

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Studio Night Live Offers Legos, Art Activities

Need plans for Friday evening? Check out Chesterfield Arts' Studio Night Live.

Show off your building skills or try your hand at the pottery wheel at a free open house at Chesterfield Arts Friday night. Studio Night Live will showcase the organization’s summer classes for all ages. The lively event will have something for everyone. Those who might be interested in a pottery summer class can take a whirl on the pottery wheel in a spin-off. They’ll aim to build the largest pots they can on the wheel, Chesterfield Arts Associate Director Nicole Dutton said. Kids can also take part in a large painting project. A big canvas will be spread on the floor for them to paint, Dutton said. There will also be a sculpture creation, nicknamed “Ugly Jugly.” Kids can add funny eyeballs, noses, arms and more on a clay jug, Dutton said…

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Notable Neighbors

Stacey Morse Paints The Town With Art

The executive director of Chesterfield Arts is leading Chesterfield through an arts revolution.

This week, Chesterfield Patch introduces you to Stacey Morse, executive director of Chesterfield Arts. She guides the dynamic organization in their quest to develop Chesterfield into a city of art. Residents of Chesterfield may be used to seeing the name Chesterfield Arts attached to events around the city. They may have gone to an art show at their gallery and offices at 444 Chesterfield Center, attended a talk in a literary speaker series or taken part in a workshop. But they may have enjoyed the fruits of Chesterfield Arts' labor without being aware that the organization and Stacey Morse made it possible. Although Morse began her college years studying business, she eventually switched to her first love: photograpy and the arts. She …

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Author Series Features Journalist Turned Best-Selling Author

Angie Fox, author of the "New York Times" best-selling series Accidental Demon Slayer, will speak at Chesterfield Arts Wednesday night.

St. Louis novelist Angie Fox will speak at Chesterfield Arts Wednesday night as part of the River Valley Authors Series. Fox, author of a paranormal fiction series about a demon slayer, will talk about her journey from journalism school to the New York Times Best Sellers list. Fox studied broadcast journalism at the University of Missouri. She worked in advertising for a few years before setting her sights on fiction. She had always thought about writing a book, she said, so one day she decided to go for it. Three manuscripts and many rejection letters later, Fox had learned a lot about the business but was still unpublished. One particular rejection letter, from literary agent Donald Maass, inspired her to change her direction. Maass said…

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Young Artists Receive Congressional Art Award

The high school art competition was presented by the office of Congressman Todd Akin and curated by Chesterfield Arts.

An area high school student's drawing of everyday life has won her a trip to Washington, D.C. Kelly Gruber, a junior at Parkway North High School, won first place in the 2011 Congressional Art Competition with a colored pencil drawing titled "Working Life," of objects from her desk—algebra homework, a knitting project, calendar and more. Congressman Todd Akin visited Chesterfield Arts Saturday morning to announce the winners of the competition, which 22 local high school students entered. All students were from schools in Akin's 2nd Congressional District. Annie Spiller and Nicole Dutton of Chesterfield Arts judged the competition, selecting first, second and third place winners. Akin attended the reception Saturday morning to meet the …

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