How the State Historical Society wrapped up its yearlong Missouri bicentennial celebration

The State Historical Society of Missouri hosted a public event Tuesday evening at its downtown Columbia center in celebration of 200 years of Missouri music, art and culture to wrap up the state's bicentennial year.

Guests were treated to refreshments in the museum lobby as they looked at the Missouri Bicentennial Quilt, which features a square from each of the 114 counties, showcasing an element of each county that sets it apart from the others.

At the conclusion of its tour across the state, the quilt will go on long-term display at the Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton in fall 2022.

Attendees received the opportunity to go on a casual tour of the art gallery and ask Curator of Art Collections Joan Stack questions while looking at the newest exhibit, "Cultural Crossroads: Missouri in the Era of Statehood."

"It's not comprehensive," she said. "We just worked with what we already had."

Stack wrote the captions for each piece and helped select which art would be featured. She was hopeful that in her selections a new, fuller story of Missouri would be depicted, even the parts that many are likely to avoid.

During her casual tour, she gave visitors an in-depth look into each piece on display, including its history and its purpose in the exhibit.

Paintings and prints included portraits of Native Americans, the original painting used during Missouri's centennial and pieces of currency used in the early days of statehood.

Visitors also looked at a few of the state's earliest maps and petitions for statehood.

Each caption dove into the basics of the painting along with Stack's analysis of its meaning. She said with each caption, she tried to encompass the good and the bad.

"We are hopeful that (the exhibit) will make people think about who we are," Stack said. "The team worked to bring into focus the meeting of different peoples."

The exhibit will remain in the art gallery until the end of February.

For another look into the art of Missouri, guests could take part in a virtual reality exhibit of 98 paintings from the 1940s called "Missouri: Heart of the Nation." The collection and virtual experience were developed by students and faculty at the University of Missouri College of Engineering Information Technology and Museum of Art & Archaeology.

At the conclusion of the evening, guests listened to a performance by the Columbia Chamber Choir, which honored Missouri composers, poets and artists. Special to the program was a premiere musical composition by award-winning Missouri composer Hans Bridger Heruth as a tribute to the bicentennial.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: State Historical Society wraps up Missouri bicentennial celebration