Art League to promote art and education

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- As far as Bob Bussabarger is concerned, the local art scene's roots are in the Columbia Art League.

The 86-year-old retired University of Missouri professor remembers when the arts in Columbia resided largely in the halls of academia, seemingly out of reach from the rest of the community.

Imagine no downtown art galleries, festivals and shows. Consider Columbia without its creative edge, and you begin to appreciate the effect of what Bussabarger and others did when they founded the Columbia Art League in 1959: They brought the arts to the people.

Columbia hasn't been the same since.

"The art league set the tone for later arts development in the community," Bussabarger said. "There is a whole lot more going on" in Columbia "than there used to be."

Today, CAL offers a variety of art opportunities, from festivals and public exhibitions to classes and weekend workshops taught by professional artists. A community exhibits program places original art in public buildings and businesses. Children can attend CAL summer art camp, where they delve into such creative endeavors as fiber art, glassmaking and larger-than-life murals and sculptures. Folks 50 and older can attend classes where they revive their inner artist or paint for the first time.

Now, the art league is preparing to move next month into a new, 2,850-square-foot space in the renovated Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts. It is the latest in a long line of homes, including a spot over Buchroeder's, the D&M Sound building and a long stint on Walnut Street. CAL also has hired its first education director, Amy Meyer, who will oversee the organization's push to offer more classes than ever.

Executive director Diana Moxon said the new space will provide the art league with a bigger gallery and room for two classrooms, plus window frontage -- something CAL sorely misses at its current location.

Meyer's plan to expand the education program includes new classes for young and old.

There is an afternoon art club in the fall and spring for students in grades four through seven, and Meyer would like to add another club for students in the first through third grades.

"The goal of that program is to partner with senior art education students and local professional artists so that young people can learn from artists and see them work," Meyer said.

She also is planning an after-school program dubbed "N2 Art" for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The idea is to allow youngsters to work in a more laid-back atmosphere than a formal classroom.

"They can come one day or every day; it doesn't matter," Meyer said. "It will have a loose structure with games and storytelling, offering the kids a variety of ways to get into art."

Meyer also has plans for a morning preschool class called "Mini-Monets," which would be offered simultaneously with an adult class. So, if a parent doesn't want to leave her child, he or she can stay and take an art class, too.

Finally, Meyer plans to offer art classes to home-school students in grades one through eight, providing participants with the same education they would receive in a formal school setting.

Students will learn about art composition, art history, production and more.

"Part of my goal is to find out what the community has and expand on it," Meyer said.