St. Louis is home to many artistic and cultural gems, and one of the most enduring is the St. Louis Mercantile Library at UMSL. As the oldest library in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River (founded in 1846), it has remained a vibrant community asset for approaching two centuries. The library provides members with access to several collections of books, art and archival materials, including historic newspapers and presidential and Civil War-era letters.
The St. Louis Mercantile Library is more than just a library. “We were the first art gallery in St. Louis and have remained a center for education and culture for almost 180 years,” fine arts curator Julie Dunn-Morton notes. “We have an extensive selection of rare books, artwork and artifacts, including the largest collection on railroad history in North America.” The library also is home to one of the largest river collections in the country, and it is dedicated to collecting and preserving the regional art of Missouri.
To better share its extensive collections with the public, the St. Louis Mercantile Library has created a new art gallery, the Wallace H. Smith Gallery of Art. The state-of-the-art space will feature changing art exhibitions. “The gallery also includes dedicated storage, a programming room for lectures and an additional meeting room,” Dunn-Morton says. “During the planning process, we not only considered what is needed to display art, but also how the space could support comprehensive art programming.” The gallery was made possible thanks to the support of the Bellwether, Kemper, Orthwein and Kranzberg foundations as well as individual donors.
The gallery’s first exhibit will be Casting a Long Shadow: Frederick Oakes Sylvester & His Circle, which explores the time the artist spent in St. Louis around the turn of the 20th century. It will showcase the library’s impressive collection of Sylvester’s work alongside that of his contemporaries. Many of the works featured in the exhibition are being shared with the public for the first time. “The idea comes out of our ongoing research into documenting all of Sylvester’s paintings,” Dunn-Morton explains. “He was involved in many local and regional arts organizations, so it’s exciting to see shared influences with his peers as well as succeeding generations of artists. People who are familiar with St. Louis history will be able to see aspects of it in this exhibition through a new lens.”
The Wallace H. Smith Gallery of Art will be dedicated Oct. 17 in a special event for donors, which will include a preview of Casting a Long Shadow before it opens to the public Oct. 20. For those who would still like to experience the exhibit early, a special free reception will be held for members of the St. Louis Mercantile Library on Oct. 19. Memberships provide access to the library’s collections and special events, while supporting its programming. “The library has deep and broad resources for academics, historians and artists, but also individuals doing personal research,” Dunn-Morton notes. “It’s a museum of fine art and historic artifacts as well. The St. Louis Mercantile Library is open to everyone.”
The St. Louis Mercantile Library at UMSL is the oldest library in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. Its new Wallace H. Smith Gallery of Art opens to the public on Oct. 20. Pictured on the cover: Frederick Oakes Sylvester (1869-1915), Live Man, Live Strong Another June is Here, 1910, oil on canvas. For more information, call 314.516.7240 or
visit umsl.edu/mercantile.
Cover design by Julie Streiler
Cover photo courtesy of St. Louis Mercantile Library at UMSL
Pictured at the top: The Wallace H. Smith Gallery of Art at the St. Louis Mercantile Library at UMSL
Photo courtesy of St. Louis Mercantile Library at UMSL