Category: Arts in Transit

If you’re heading to Busch Stadium to watch the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Chicago Cubs on Friday, arrive early and help us paint a bus outside Busch Stadium.

Painters of all ages will have the opportunity to paint two specially designed murals, one on each side of the bus, that celebrate St. Louis and the hometown Cardinals. The bus painting begins at 5 p.m., and the event is free and open to the public.

“Painting a bus with other sports fans creates excitement, energy and builds community,” said David Allen, Metro Arts in Transit Director. “It’s a fantastic way for Cardinals fans to express themselves creatively and interact with other fans before the first pitch.”

Once completed, the bus will join the Art in Motion Fleet, and the murals will be on display for one year as the bus travels along various MetroBus routes throughout the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. The bus painting is sponsored by the St. Louis Cardinals, and the murals were developed as a collaborative effort between Metro Arts in Transit and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Saint Louis Chess Club is celebrating its 10^th year in St. Louis, and Metro Arts in Transit is joining in on the celebration with a bus painting event on Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Chess players, children and others will transform a 35-foot MetroBus into a rolling work of art that will travel on routes in St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis over the next year. The bus features two chess-inspired murals.

“The Saint Louis Chess Club is excited to celebrate its 10-year anniversary with the Saint Louis community through this partnership with Metro Arts in Transit,” said Executive Director Tony Rich. “We hope this chess mural excites and encourages people to come and visit!”

“Over the last decade, St. Louis has become a leading center for chess and education in the United States, and throughout the world,” said David Allen, Director of Metro Arts in Transit. “We are delighted to help the Saint Louis Chess Club celebrate this important milestone and share it with the entire St. Louis region.”

The murals were designed by The Firecracker Press, and include bright colors and visual elements that celebrate the long history of chess and its impact to different cultures, as well as to highlight the game’s bright future here in St. Louis and around the world. The Firecracker Press is a letterpress design studio known for its vibrant, bold and fun designs.

From a young age, Sister Glynis Mary McManamon had a fascination with Eastern European culture. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and it was there that she engaged with the city’s diverse population.

“My grandmother was from Romania and was an Orthodox Christian,” she said. “Although she did not display icons in her home, I seemed to grow up with an affinity for the style. I loved seeing the ‘onion dome’ churches when we were driving around. I also have many memories of Cleveland that I try to portray in abstract from time to time: views from various bridges and overpasses, the West Side Market, experiences on public transit.”

Her love of Eastern European culture translates into the type of art she creates — Byzantine iconography. Her focus is the creation of sacred art featuring women and diverse ethnic groups. Her series Tested Fire — now on display at the North County Transit Center — is about the visibility of women and their heroism.

“I wanted to point out how women suffer and sacrifice for serious causes today, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily,” she said. “I hope that women and girls who pass by these paintings will take pride in viewing these incredible women.”

McManamon uses acrylic, a medium commonly used by iconographers, to create her works.

“Acrylic is a wonderfully flexible medium, and it can be ‘taught’ to act a bit like egg tempera, or a bit like watercolor, or somewhat like oil – depending on how it is used,” she said.

McManamon spends most of her time painting. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Good Shepherd Arts Center in Ferguson, which is dedicated to exhibiting art and offering experiences that affirm human dignity, uplift hearts and link creativity with spirituality.

For artist Nancy Schroeder, the real beauty of a flower isn’t its exterior, but what lies within.

Her mastery of waxed-based paint allows Schroeder to superimpose layers of paint, providing her audience access into the inner working of a flower to see its structure and its often ignored inner brilliance.

“When you look at a flower on the outside, you see color, shape, texture,” she said. “But, when you look at a flower through light, you get to see it in a whole new way. I think it’s this type of beauty that often gets ignored. It’s the beauty hidden underneath the surface.”

Schroeder has had a close relationship with nature since high school, when she was first introduced to the world of botany. She would later spend 10 years as a florist, strengthening her relationship with hibiscuses, orchids, lilies and roses.

“I started working with oil paint sticks in 2000,” she said. “In 2010, I painted ‘Still Life Fully Exposed,’ turning traditional still-life florals inside-out.”

Two of her paintings are now on display at the North County Transit Center in Ferguson, and will be in the transit center’s art gallery until spring.

“Through these paintings, riders are offered unique access into a world rarely portrayed,” said David Allen, Director of Metro Arts In Transit. “Her artwork can be translated to symbolize an important part of humanity – appreciating what’s on the inside versus just what’s on the outside.”

Schroeder, a resident of Ferguson, sold her first painting while serving in the U.S. Navy, and has since sold her artwork throughout the country. More of her work can be found at Corners Frameshop & Gallery in Ferguson.

For artist Cindy O’Hare of Florissant, Missouri, scanning the forest floor is like searching for the perfect color to add to a blank canvas.

Her artwork is composed entirely of sticks, flowers and other earthly odds and ends. It’s a medium that’s rooted in her love of her family, friends and the beauty that lives and grows around her.

“I’ve always been a collector of nature ever since I was a little girl,” O’Hare said. “I would learn from my grandfather about leaves and trees.”

A sample of her work is now on display at the North County Transit Center in Ferguson. Her pieces will be on display in the transit center’s art gallery until the end of the year.

In October 2015, O’Hare went on a nature walk with her granddaughter for a school art project. When they returned home, they spread their findings on the table. As the granddaughter napped, O’Hare started to tinker with the twigs. The once scattered form of nature now resembled a portrait of her father. Her creation sparked a passion and her own business — Bee in the Bucket.

“I don’t have an art background, but I realized I could do portraits of people I knew,” she said.

For riders at the North County Transit Center, O’Hare hopes her art can make an impact.

“I hope that it gives them peace and brightens their day,” she said. “Maybe it will connect them to nature just like it did for me.”

Metro Arts In Transit has selected 14 poets as part of its MetroLines poetry contest.

In April, poets from across the St. Louis region were invited to submit their work for the chance to have their poems displayed on MetroBus vehicles and MetroLink trains for up to one year. More than 230 entries were submitted this year.

The winners this year, include:

1. Jane Wayne, “Natural Habitat”
2. John Savoie, “These Nights”
3. Matthew Freeman, “You Turn Into Something Else”
4. Maria Balogh, “Oh, Empty Look”
5. Catherine Rankovic, “Babushka”
6. Linda O’Connell, “Family Reunion”
7. Becca Lozano, “Relaxation”
8. Robert Rohe, “Diction”
9. Robin Luo, “Awake”
10. Jennifer Goldring, “These petunias,”
11. Holly Goldfarb, “Interstate 70 at Twilight”
12. Monica Obradovic, “The Rising Moon”
13. Katherine Gordon. “TO A FRIEND PRONE TO ANALYZING ALL HER LOVE AFFAIRS”
14. Craig Small, “Sitting on the Metro”

“I am constantly thrilled at the abundant artistic talent and creativity that our community is home to,” said David Allen, Director of Metro Arts in Transit. “We are excited to share these winning poems with our passengers, and give them a new way to experience poetry and an even more enjoyable ride on Metro.”

The MetroLines poetry contest is supported by funding from the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council.

Poetry Reading

Before these poems are displayed on MetroBus vehicles and MetroLink trains, you will have the opportunity to meet the poets in person and hear their winning poems. Metro Arts In Transit will host the MetroLines Poetry Reading and Reception on Thursday, September 21 at 7 p.m. at the Regional Arts Commission, located at 6128 Delmar Boulevard.

Poet Dana Levin will serve as the featured reader. Levin is the author of four poetry books, and her poems and essays have appeared in several anthologies and publications, including Best American Poetry 2015, The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Boston Review, The American Poetry Review, Poetry, and The Paris Review. Levin currently serves as Distinguished Writer in Residence at Maryville University in St. Louis.