Missouri Arts Council

10/24/2026

Settle in for a scare from The State Historical Society of Missouri 😱! Archivist Hali Allen takes you down Missouri’s Route 66 to some of the most haunted places in our state. Watch at bit.ly/Supernatural66.

10/24/2026

“I’ve never been very interested in staying in one lane. Painting, design, objects, and strategy all satisfy a different part of my brain,” says Ellie Kort. She doesn’t stick with one medium, either. “Missing Piece” is mixed media on wood. The plate is ceramic adorned with spray paint and gold enamel. Travel down more of her lanes at our first Comment!

10/23/2026

🚗 Arts events all over Missouri: Cape Girardeau is singing the blues this Saturday at the 5th annual Riverfront Fall Festival. The music plays all day, plus there are craft vendors, food and drink, and family fun activities.

🎶🍂 Fall and Blues Music Is In The Air🍂🎶

Join us Saturday, October 24 at the MO Wall of Fame Lot for the Riverfront Fall Festival — a full day of family fall fun, craft b**r, local vendors, great food and some seriously good blues music.

This year, we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of Highway 61 — the Blue Highway with a blues-inspired lineup featuring:

🎸 Steve Schaffner & The Jumper Cables
🎸 Jamie Gooch
🎸 Mike & The Blue City Allstars
🎸 Bruce Zimmerman & The Water Street Band
🎸 Ivas John Band

From the first note to the last, we’re bringing the blues, the river and the fall vibes together in Cape Girardeau.

📅 October 24, 2026
📍 MO Wall of Fame Lot

Come join us — Highway 61 style! 🎶🍂

10/23/2026

Come to missouriartscouncil.org/featured-artists to enjoy multifaceted paintings, music, and woodwork by our September/October quartet of . Here’s just a sample!

TOP: “Zephaniah” by Judith I. Scott, from “12 Minor Prophets” Series, mixed media. BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT: Singer/songwriter Malena Smith; “Control” by Ellie Kort, mixed media; Rocker by Brian Noel, cedar

For even more –
- Judith I. Scott at www.athingofbeauty.info
- Malena Smith at malenasmith.com | Malena Smith Music | instagram.com/malenasmithmusic
- Ellie Kort at elliekort.com | instagram.com/ellie_kort
- Brian Noel at bearkatwood.com | Brian Noel | instagram.com/bearkatwood

10/23/2026

🚗 Arts events all over Missouri: This Friday and Saturday, go from St. Louis into the Wild West in “Joshua’s Boots,” the one-hour opera for all ages about a Black teenager who forges his dream of becoming “a real live cow-punchin’, dust-chewin’ cowboy.” The show has deep Missouri roots! Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) and Lyric Opera of Kansas City commissioned the opera in 1999 from KC native Susan Kander and New Yorker Adophus Hailstork. The second Missouri run was in 2011 with OTSL and COCA (Center of Creative Arts). Now OTSL and COCA are teaming up again for this week’s shows. (School performances were yesterday and today.) opera-stl.org/whats-on/joshuas-boots

10/21/2026

Brian Noel makes even more than furniture like his Wave Bench. He also makes hand tools for other woodworkers. No surprise, the tools are not just functional but beautiful! “I’ve sold my tools in dozens of countries around the world,” he told us. Here are a few of his saws and spokeshaves. A spokeshave is a small two-handled hand plane for shaping and smoothing curved wooden pieces like chair legs – you’ll see the blade side on the righthand plane. For more, check our first Comment.

10/20/2026

It’s just two weeks till Election Day! No-excuse early voting in Missouri swings into action today! And Americans for the Arts announces the winners of their call to artists to reimagine their classic Arts Vote logo. Head to artsvote.org/opencall to enjoy not only the top five designs but a gallery of all those submitted.

10/20/2026

“I work large, with heavy impasto contrasted with areas of breathing raw canvas and flat underpainting,” says Judith I. Scott. “I want those who look to see, to be, to enter the painting or print.” Here she is with her mixed-media “Parable of the Sower” in a showing she presented at her own Lee’s Summit studio last August. To enter into more of her art, check our first Comment.

10/19/2026

🚗 Arts events all over Missouri: Wander around Washington this Saturday, and you’ll see artists outdoors capturing the beauty of the vintage downtown and the Missouri River! Artists of all ages are welcome to participate – there are two categories, age 18 and over, youth under 18. Rivertown Arts Foundation

Grab your paints and canvases for a paint out! Saturday, October 24 from 9-3! We invite you to paint scenes of Downtown Washington and the riverfront!

Register online or in person the morning of the event. Registration will begin at 8am at Liberty Hall, and painting begins at 9am.

Guidelines, information and registration can be found at Rivertownarts.org.

We’ll see you there!