Great Rivers Greenway is currently constructing the Brickline Greenway, which, once completed, will connect 14 neighborhoods and four parks. One of the project’s most significant features is the Northern Connector, a two-mile section between Fairground Park and the Grand Center Arts District that will feature more than 60 new works of art from 25 different artists. The artwork will include sculptures, installations, a ground gallery, and more.
On August 5, Great Rivers Greenway will celebrate these artists with a free public Art Party at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Guests can enjoy food, live music, and arts and crafts activities, including screen printing, collaging, and spoken-word poetry. Several artists whose work will be featured along the greenway will attend the event, and guests will have the opportunity to view Great Rivers Greenway’s renderings to see what the completed greenway will look like.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
The party will take place from 5–7 p.m., with remarks from community leaders scheduled for 6–6:30 p.m. Live music will be provided by youth musicians from the HEAL Center for the Arts. Guests can enjoy catfish, hush puppies, and fried okra from Mother’s Fish, one of the restaurants located along the Northern Connector of the Brickline Greenway. Arts and crafts activities will be led by artists featured in the Northern Connector. Christopher Loss of People’s Art and Recreation Center will lead the screen-printing station, while Zuka Arts Guild will guide the collaging activity. Guests are encouraged to bring their own T-shirts for screen printing.
“This is really a chance to celebrate these local artists,” says Elizabeth Simmons, community program manager at Great Rivers Greenway. “St. Louis has an amazing art scene with lots and lots of talented people. And who doesn’t love a party to celebrate art in our community and really communicate what’s coming?”
The mission of the greenways is rooted in community building and connectivity. The project aims to celebrate St. Louis while asking an important question: Where can we go together as a region in the future?
“For the future of St. Louis, we need a lot of healing work. We have experienced a lot as a region, and are still coming to terms with many of those events that shape our culture as it is today. And to move forward, we need to be listening to the people who are most impacted,” Simmons says. “I’m excited that so many people gave their ideas, shared their stories, told us what they are looking forward to, but also what they’re afraid of, and how we were able to incorporate that into the [Brickline] Greenway design to address a lot of these issues.”
The Northern Connector of the Brickline Greenway will feature a variety of works from more than 25 local artists, ranging from billboards and sculptures to surface treatments. The artists’ work is inspired by the quote: “From the house, come everything,” spoken by Macler Shepard, the founder of Jeff-Vander-Lou Inc., emphasizing the importance of stable and affordable housing to the strength of a community.
Additionally, works by two internationally renowned artists will be featured through support from Edward Jones and The Gateway Foundation. At Grand Boulevard and St. Louis Avenue, a brightly colored abstract sculpture titled “Abstract Bronze IV” by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare will honor the iconic North City intersection. At Spring and Finney avenues, New York–based conceptual artist Christine Corday is creating a series of stone chairs located just off the main greenway path. The installation will sit beneath mature trees and be surrounded by native plants.
“It’s not just artwork; it’s foundational,” Corday says. “It is meant to be a place to seek solace, a place to hear each other, to share a story with one another, to meet, and to have a moment of respite. Ideas will grow, communities will grow, and I’m excited to see what it spurs.”
Corday says she is thrilled to be working with Great Rivers Greenway and views the initiative as a testament to St. Louis’ bold vision and commitment to growth that will inspire not only St. Louis, but communities across the nation and the world.
Corday will be at the Art Party on August 5, where she will share remarks about her work and the significance of the Brickline Greenway as a whole. “Public art is something that I see very clearly as a city’s cultural infrastructure. And what I mean by that is, the art of a city is its power,” Corday says. “St. Louis has had a remarkable history in public art. You have collected and commissioned works that were ahead of their time—works that other cities did not have the boldness to collect. St. Louis is a leader, and I think that Brickline is going to continue that leadership with the art that it connects to so many.”
