St. Louis is not a perfect city by any means, however let's take a look at what is darn near perfect in our city -- the arts and culture scene. I really believe that we are the most culturally rich city, per capita, in the country. We are not New York or Chicago, but we have a top notch line-up for all the arts in our wonderful St. Louis.
Let's take a look at some of our shining stars in most of our arts disciplines. Of course in opera we remember Grace Bumbry, Robert McFerrin and the currently active Christine Brewer, but our native Julia Bullock got her start right here at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She just made her Met debut and has sung in major theaters throughout the world. Another native who also started at Opera Theater, Jennifer Johnson Cano, sings regularly at all the major houses around the world.
Kim Eberlein, Chairperson of the board of OTSL, reminded me that St. Louis's Jermaine Smith has been deeply connected to OTSL since high school. He made his debut in the 1990s and became the definitive 'Sportin' Life' in Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," performing this role worldwide.
To narrow our native visual artists down to a few is virtually impossible, but let’s look at two who live in our city who are world renowned.
Katherine Bernhardt's art is a reflection of her diverse influences, absorbing elements from Pop Art, Graffiti and street art traditions. She skillfully employs brush and spray paint to craft her pieces, which are characterized by their rhythmic patterns reminiscent of Moroccan rugs and African textiles. Her work is not just aesthetically pleasing but also serves as a subtle critique of the environmental degradation caused by consumer waste, as seen in her depictions of sea creatures navigating a sea of household products.
Bernhard's work has been shown and lauded all over the world and we are thrilled to have her back in St. Louis
The St. Louis based Kahlil Irving creates assemblages made up of layered images and sculptures composed of replicas of everyday objects. He often compares systems of control, compression and histories of Anti-Blackness which operate on the edges of our attention. Like sifting through archaeological strata, Irving's work reveals how our present moment is made up physical remnants that begin to tell a fragmented story.
We remember greats such as Katherine Dunham, dancer, archaeologist, and educator of years gone by. Now we have Antonio and Kirven Douthit-Boyd who came to St. Louis in 2015 to take the helm of COCA's dance program. Antonio, originally from St. Louis is said to have danced 10,000 miles and come full circle. Both have retired as professional dancers with Alvin Ailey
Antonio not only heads the dance program at COCA but also teaches at Washington University and Kirven is now the Artistic Director of St. Louis Dance Theater, formerly Big Muddy Dance.
And the music scene in St. Louis is and has always been a major force. Just touching on the music scene, we remember Chuck Berry, Josephine Baker, Miles Davis and Scott Joplin.
Two incredible jazz pianists are Peter Martin and Adam Maness. They are both in a class by themselves. Martin has been a member of Chris Botti's touring band and has toured with Christian McBride. He has recorded with Victor Goins, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman and Diane Reeves, just to name a few, and Adam Maness has recently created "Pop, Pop, Pop" an orchestra which plays pop music and has the mission of spreading the incredible music, stories and artistry of the greatest song writers in history via the most iconic medium: the symphony orchestra.
And our own Keyon Harrold crisscrosses musical styles on trumpet and with vocals. He is a composer, writer and producer and has made St. Louisans proud.
T.S. Eliot, Maya Angelou and Eugene Field were all from St Louis but our city is still is producing very talented young poets such as Jessica Baran who writes about art, place and identity.
Baran has written "Equivalents" and "Remains to be Used." She has been nationally recognized and awarded for these and other works and has written art criticism and other writing for "Art Forum" and "Art in America."
And we just can’t forget our star of stars, John Hamm, who lauds his native city all the time and who looks like a work of art.
I hope all who hear or see this will come share the joy with me and enjoy some of what St. Louis has to offer in the world of art and culture.
Nancy Kranzberg has been involved in the arts community for more than forty years on numerous arts related boards.