Photo courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society. Photo by Be Lovely Photography.
Coloring STL
After just one evening of visitors to the Coloring STL gallery at the Missouri History Museum, the black-and-white outlines of notable St. Louis buildings and home styles are already starting to look more colorful. The Fox Theater marquee features some technicolor lettering, and personal touches—a house number on the two-family flat, "Born here in 1973" scribbled near Homer G. Phillips Hospital, a pink Christmas tree in a gingerbread house window—are slowly appearing around the space.
It's just the beginning of a transformation that will continue throughout the run of Coloring STL, which opens August 20 and runs through Spring 2024. Visitors are invited to use 16 shades of dry erase markers (just about everything but yellow and black) to fill in dozens of wall-sized coloring pages featuring both current and former St. Louis landmarks.
As they do, public historian and content lead for Coloring STL Andrew Wanko hopes that they will be inspired to not only share their artistic visions, but their memories and experiences with the buildings and home styles on the gallery walls.
"We want this exhibit to bring people together in a new, fun way that we hope will get them having conversations amongst each other," he says. "As people are coloring these buildings with their family and friends, they'll start talking about buildings they like around town, or parents will be telling their kids about the home they grew up in. We're trying to spark those conversations and deeper connections to the community through something that on the surface is very fun and whimsical."
1 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
2 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
3 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
4 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
5 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
6 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
7 of 7
Be Lovely Photography, Madeline Reichmuth, Christine Jackson
Thirty local buildings and landmarks and 21 examples of local home styles cover the walls, telling the story of the city and why it looks—or once looked—the way it does. Local illustrator Rori! spent about 14 months drawing the outlines, capturing the intricate details that make these buildings so special. For some, like Union Station, there were plenty of images from which she could draw inspiration. For others, like Tony Faust's Oyster House, the artist had to extrapolate. Though the fine-dining establishment at Broadway and Elm was once the most famous restaurant in St. Louis, the museum could only find two images of the building for Rori! to work from.
"We gave her as many historic and current day images as we could find," says Wanko. "She was very creative in actually coming up with some of these perspectives that she had to build mentally...she sort of worked it out using her illustrator talents."
In addition to the many buildings waiting to be colored in on the walls, Coloring STL also features a theater showing landscapes and cityscapes of the past and stations full of architectural artifacts. One area showcases stained glass windows and answers the oft-asked question of why so many St. Louis homes feature the colorful panes. A corner beckons visitors to touch various types of bricks to better understand their origins, production, and uses. The original plans for the Gateway Arch are displayed on a wall alongside some of the contest entries it beat out, including a moon landing-inspired option. A set of file drawers reveals architectural drawings of buildings that are and that could have been, their lines raised so the intricate sketches can be felt, as well as seen.
"It's architecture in the widest scope," says Wanko. "It's not just the finished structures. It's also very small pieces of buildings, how architects think and design—we sort of cover a little bit of everything. We wanted a very mixed approach so there's something for everyone. If you're looking for the more traditional 'artifact in a case' presentation, we certainly have that. But also, if you want to scribble as wildly as you can think of on the walls, that's something you very rarely get to do in a history museum."
Coloring STL opens August 20 at the Missouri History Museum. Admission is free. Find a schedule of Opening Weekend events at mohistory.org.
