I love archives. I love the the sense of possibility and sense of time. I think most are intimidated by the stacks and stacks of material. I find it comforting. It is not quite the wonder of a wind and water formed canyon, but it has a similar sense of possibility. What might you find just around the next bend in the river? When you are in the archive, it is best you have a well laid plan. Ultimately, when you are in an archive, you find something you weren’t quite expecting. I had been planning a research trip to The State Historical Society of Missouri library and archives for over a year now.

I recently spent a half day on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia where the archives are held in a beautiful 2019 Kansas City-based Gould Evans’s designed building. The white oak used in the atrium’s grand staircase comes from southeast Missouri and Poplar Bluff. The limestone of the structure comes from historic St. Genevieve County. I was alone with my family’s history, and with a specific goal in mind. I was recently asked by a friend, “Did I find what I was looking for?” In short, I think I found a lot more than I had planned.

In researching my family, in the same stacks, I found an artist colony active between 1930-1940 in Saint Genevieve (the oldest European settlement West of the Mississippi, founded in 1735 by my sixth great grandfather Francois Valle).

The colony was founded by Aimee Schweig, Bernard Peters and Jesse Beard Rickly. Schweig had already participated in an art colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts. When that colony ended she returned to St. Louis and founded the Ste. Genevieve colony. Over the decade, the artists centered their work on politics, social issues, and artistic innovation. Some themes included the impact of the Great Depression and the possibility of abstraction. There was a structured curriculum that provided training and critique of current work. Unlike other colonies, however, where the artists frequently worked in very similar styles, at Ste. Genevieve the artists were highly individualized and worked in varied styles, even while sharing their ideas and techniques with one another. Artists included American leaders such as Thomas Hart Benton, Sister Cassiana Marie, Fred E. Conway, and Joseph James Jones (Joe Jones). Their chosen subjects are not of the traditional bucolic landscape; instead they portray the human condition in terms both of political upheaval and of Depression era events. It is difficult to find high quality digital images of the work from the artists, which is one of the reasons I did not focus on one piece this week. There are commanding paintings from Jonas and Schweig on the race riots and those seeking work during the Depression. Most of the most paintings are in private collections and unavailable for viewing.

I had never heard of the art colony until I came upon the stacks of books in the archives. It seems that the Ste. Genevieve art colony played significant element in the cultural development of Missouri, the Midwest and the nation. The artists went on to make a mark through galleries in New York, WPA projects, and Europe throughout their careers.An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, 1930-1940 (Volume 1) 

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