Arts & Culture

At just 23, St. Louis-based singer/songwriter, upright bassist, and poet Tonina Saputo has accomplished more than many artists twice her age. As a high school student, she performed with her school’s symphonic orchestra at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City.

Local productions and traveling shows bring the iconic ballet to appreciative audiences here in Missouri. For professional ballet companies, The Nutcracker is often the most popular show of the season.

An independently owned bookstore is like a friend: it has its own personality that makes you love to spend time there. Despite the draw of web-based super sellers, indie bookstores are surviving.

Come out for this festival featuring Missouri-made products you can buy straight from the artists and producers.

The atmosphere was the perfect fit for the vision Holly and Bradley had for an independent movie theater in Joplin. On April 13, they opened Bookhouse Cinema at 715 East Broadway. The theater exhibits film series based on classic masterpieces and runs special features highlighting the Cranes’ favorite directors.

Every season is festival season in Columbia. Entertaining events fill the calendar, much to the delight of locals and the thousands of visitors who come to take in fine art, delectable food, good books, historic attractions, inspiring music, and extraordinary films.

Opened in October 2015, the Jefferson City Museum of Modern Art features the works of Purvis Young, Thornton Dial, and Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, better known as Aboudia. All have earned national and international acclaim for their art, which can be found in some of the country’s most distinguished museums.

Wine, chocolate, barbecue … whatever fare you fancy, you’ll find it in Columbia. The city has attracted talented purveyors and restaurateurs who take pride in satisfying even the most particular palate. Here are just a few of the businesses that give the city its flavor.

Each year there’s something new to see, and yet some components of the Fair date back from before Missouri actually had a designated State Fair. Let’s take a walk through time and look at some of the State Fair’s most proud traditions.

In 2014, with a board of five and a host of volunteers, the Rock House Center for the Arts gained nonprofit status with the mission “to enrich and educate the community through the presentation and support of live music and the visual arts.”