STE GENEVIEVE — In February, the Sainte Genevieve Art Guild announced plans for a public sculpture honoring the County’s first artists – Native Americans – primarily those who built a mound complex and village circa 1300 AD along the river just two miles southeast of our city center.
Archaeologists call these people the Mississippians. Their descendants include the Osage, Missouri, Shawnee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw.
A local member of the Chickasaw Nation, Donna Rausch-Harding, has guided the project and selected this ancient symbolic design found on a ceremonial bowl at the site. It represents the Sun (giver of life), the three worlds (sky, land and water) and the four directions and seasons.
The County Commission gave permission to place Ste. Genevieve’s first public sculpture dedicated to art on the courthouse square, specifically on the lawn outside the side entrance to the Sainte Genevieve Art Center & Art Museum.
The sculpture will be the responsibility of the Sainte Genevieve Art Guild and is provided at no cost to the County as part of the Art Guild’s mission to bring art to the public and to honor the legacy of the creative spirits who have lived and worked in this area before us.
A sculpture design competition was won by Honorary Guild Member Leon Basler, owner of the nearby Silver Sycamore Gallery of Fine Art.
“We are honored that someone with Leon’s professional background has come forward to ensure the success of the Art Guild’s first foray into public art,” said President Carolyn Bach. He began by rounding up a team of skilled professionals and sourcing the perfect boulder on which to place the metal sculpture of the chosen design.
The search ended at the Earthworks quarry with a huge piece of stone weighing almost four tons, and a price tag of $2,500. While beyond the Art Guild budget, the artistic concept was too impressive to ask for any compromise.
Instead, the Art Guild asked for help in the form of a grant from the Sainte Genevieve County Community Foundation, and SGCCF’s approval of the request embodies the strong community support for this public art project.
Gegg Materials & Excavating Company set the concrete platform and provided the huge crane necessary to lift the boulder into place.
Metalsmith Stan Winkler has partnered with Leon Basler to create the sculpture using “metal oxidized in different ways to create rich colors and textures, layered against the stone, creating shadows that change with the seasons.”
In order to bring this vision to reality, the Art Guild is inviting the public to bid in a Silent Auction of art created by its members.
Our initial budget was provided as part of an annual grant from the Arts & Education Council, and even though labor from the team of professionals was donated, this grand sculpture project entails additional costs necessary to be an exceptional artistic tribute.
Bids on the beautiful art pieces will be accepted through Jour de Fete weekend until 2 p.m. Sunday August 13.
The artwork, along with a special exhibit, “Ancient Art in Ste. Genevieve County”, is on display at the Sainte Genevieve Art Center & Art Museum, 310 Merchant Street, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays-Sundays. Thanks in advance to our community for your continued support of the arts!