Arts and Culture
in the Meeting the Ohio River Region
The Meeting of the Ohio River provides its visitors a variety of cultural options. The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is located in downtown Genevieve and provides a forum for residents and artists of the Southeast Missouri region to explore, experience and share in the diversity and excitement of the arts. The organization also has three galleries. These galleries along with private galleries in the community host a First Friday with the Arts each month. Cape Girardeau is also the home to the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L Crisp II Museum at Southeast Missouri State University and Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition which changes annually. Cape Girardeau has a large number of murals along Water Street of the old downtown district that make visiting them an attraction of their own. The old Iron Mountain Railroad Train Depot in Sikeston became a museum and cultural center in 2000.
Cape Girardeau Murals
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Murals have become a popular way for communities to exhibit their heritage and culture. Cape Girardeau has a large number of murals that make visiting them an attraction of their own. In Cape Girardeau the floodwall along Water Street of the old downtown district has become a canvas for Chicago artist Thomas Melvin’s Mississippi River Tales. This mural features 24 panels that tell Cape Girardeau’s stories, from the Native Americans to the Civil War and beyond. Other murals in the downtown district include the Southeast Missourian’s Tile Murals, the Coca-Cola Mural, the University Mural, the Bicentennial Mural, the Heritage of Music Mural, and the Missouri Wall of Fame.
Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
The Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit is a juried exhibit led by the Public Art Committee. This group consisted of representatives from the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Old Town Cape, Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Cape Girardeau. The location of the exhibition will be along the Broadway Corridor, a nine-block span in downtown Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Public Art Exhibition has been identified as yet another dynamic revitalization strategy to elevate the arts community within the region, as confirmed by the success of previous exhibits.
Rosemary Berkel and Harry L Crisp II Museum
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
The Rosemary Berkel and Harry L Crisp II Museum is located at Southeast Missouri State University's new River Campus. This museum features fine art exhibitions and interpretive regional history displays. The Temporary Exhibition Gallery features changing exhibitions displaying works by local, regional, national, and international artists.
River Campus Art Gallery
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
The River Campus Art Gallery is part of the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts on the beautiful new River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University. The 1,275 square-foot gallery space is located in the historic Seminary Building, a renovated space that houses offices, studios and classrooms for the Departments of Art, Music and Theater and Dance. The River Campus sits on the banks of the Mississippi River adjacent to a beech-shaded park with walking paths, a gazebo and sweeping views of the river.
Sikeston Depot Museum
Sikeston, Missouri
Built as the Iron Mountain Railroad Train Depot in 1916, Sikeston Depot became a museum and cultural center in 2000. The Depot features dozens of permanent and rotating exhibits depicting the area's history and art. The Depot was built in 1916 by the Iron Mountain. Soon after the building was constructed, the line was acquired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. The Depot was closed as a railroad facility in 1985. Concerned citizens met to discuss revitalized the Depot and in 2000 it reopened as the Sikeston Historical and Cultural Center. The renovated facility contains a historic museum section recounting the most important aspects of area culture, an exhibition hall where rotating and traveling exhibits are displayed, and an art gallery.
